Summicron 50 vs. Summilux 50 ASPH - stopped down

[el.nino]

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let's say f5.6 - f8:

is there really a difference in detail resolution, sharpness etc...?

especially when shooting on film.

[Michael Hiles]

There may be, but I'll bet a cheap lunch that you will never see it. Most of us do not make photographs that are so technically optimized that such differences can be seen. In the real world there is camera shake, sub optimal processing, fast film that carries less information than the lens can deliver etc. etc.

[lars_bergquist]

You are asking the wrong question. First, resolution and lp/mm contrast is as good with the Summilux ASPH as with the Summicron, f-stop for f-stop, a situation formerly unimaginable---until now, you had to pay a penalty over the board for using the 'speed lens'. Second, the 'lux ASPH is just about as good at 1.4 as the 'cron is at f:2. In other words, you get speed without having to pay for it in performance.

 

Third, they are not the whole question. In practical use, resolution and contrast are nowadays of less concern than resistance to flare, veiling glare, irradiation and internal reflexes. These are especially dangerous in a rangefinder camera, where we do not see the actual image in the viewfinder. In this department, the Summilux ASPH is markedly superior, making for great clarity of image---and fewer totally ruined pictures.

 

I have owned the current Summicron. I dumped it and bought a Summilux ASPH instead. Not because I need the extra speed---I don't---but because the 'lux consistently gave me superior clarity. The Summicron is extraordinarily sensitive to flare. In situations where there is a large bright surface on the periphery of the subject, such as a lightly overcast sky, it does in fact tend to produce a patch of flare in the image or in other cases a badly degraded image overall. What a lens can do under controlled laboratory conditions does not say all about what it can do 'out there'.

 

If you don't want to pay the price for a 'lux ASPH you may try the Summarit, which by some reports is less flare-prone than the 'cron. But the safe way is to get the 'lux. You will love it.

 

The old man from the Age of the 5cm Elmar

[el.nino]

thanks for the long explanation.

to be honest, i already have both lenses. a leitz tabbed summicron with the slip-on-hood and a recent summilux asph.

i do a lot of landscape and cityscape stuff. most of the time focussed on infinity and often from a tripod.

the thing is, it's pretty hard to get all the details in the background and i was wondering if the summilux (due to its better microcontrast) will serve me better in this concern.

the other thing is, that i often just carry around just my MP with the summicron because it's so leightweight and small and i much more prefer the vented slip on hood.

 

d.

[wizard]

...and i much more prefer the vented slip on hood.

 

d.

 

Then get an LHSA Summilux asph., it has a vented hood, too.

 

Andy

[el.nino]

Then get an LHSA Summilux asph., it has a vented hood, too.

 

oh believe me, i'd love to have one, but that's mostly a cosmetical issue.

[delander †]

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I'm going to have to go and test this flare problem with the summicron, I've not noticed it so far and I also have the summilux ASPH. Of the two lenses, because I like small versus large, I often take the summicron.

 

jeff

[alanwilder]

I don't want to appear rude, but if you own both lenses, why not shoot similar subjects on a tripod with both under various demanding situations and check for yourself? I personally have owned both and found under very critical test situations with USAF resolution charts the ASPH does perform better with the difference being most obvious from f/2 to about f/3.4. By f/4 and beyond the difference is minimal but one area that the Summicron performance does exceed the ASPH is sharpness at the far edge and corner even at f/5.6. This is also borne out in the published MTF graphs. While the ASPH does appear to be more flare resistant than the Summicron, it's not perfect and I've encountered some unexpected ghost images in adverse lighting with the ASPH. To better overcome this problem you need to consider the 50/1 Noctilux, 50/2.8 Elmar-M or 50/1.5 C-Sonnar.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[delander †]

No problem Alan, I just have not got around to it yet. I have had the Summicron for 2 years now but recently succumbed to all the comments here about how good the Summilux is and bought a copy. At the moment I'm just more comfortable with using the lens I know best (the cron) and really have been completely happy with it. I'll get around to using the lux over the next year or so but I'll probably keep both.

 

Jeff