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To any who may knock the M8 and Summarit lenses


Nicoleica

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Not being a megazillionaire, I cannot afford the top-of-the-range Leica lenses. However, I am still very impressed with the 35mm Summarit. (Which shares my M8 with my 24mm Elmar.) To my eyes, this lens provides beautiful results, and the resolution is brilliant. Combine this with the lovely shadow detail of the M8 and I have a combination that satisfies my needs. :)

 

I've attached a couple of images I took last week that show detail that I had not noticed with my naked eyes. :D (Don't worry, the rest of me was fully clothed. :eek:)

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While I own some of the high priced spread, my experience over decades with Leica glass is that most everything is super quality. The marketers (and some owners of the expensive stuff) would lead you to believe otherwise.

 

And, while I'm no engineer, I believe that the somewhat slower lenses (still pretty darned fast) are easier and less costly to produce when the quality doesn't have to overcome design difficulties generated by that last ounce of speed. I find there is more difference in "footprint" (contrast in some newer generation lenses,for example) than in quality per se, and that comes down to personal preference.

 

Jeff

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Not being a megazillionaire, I cannot afford the top-of-the-range Leica lenses. However, I am still very impressed with the 35mm Summarit. (Which shares my M8 with my 24mm Elmar.) To my eyes, this lens provides beautiful results, and the resolution is brilliant. Combine this with the lovely shadow detail of the M8 and I have a combination that satisfies my needs. :)

 

I've attached a couple of images I took last week that show detail that I had not noticed with my naked eyes. :D (Don't worry, the rest of me was fully clothed. :eek:)

 

Nicole, I have a 75 mm Summarit that I absolutely love on my M8. I am curious about the software you are using for the enclosed photos, There is a lot of data available under the photo, what software is this? Russell

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Nicole, I have a 75 mm Summarit that I absolutely love on my M8. I am curious about the software you are using for the enclosed photos, There is a lot of data available under the photo, what software is this? Russell

 

Hi Russell,

 

The pictures are screen-shots from Aperture. I'm a Mac user. :)

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Nicole, I have a 75 mm Summarit that I absolutely love on my M8

Same here, although the aperture ring got loose and it's now being fixed by Leica:(

At the same aperture, the difference in image quality between the Summarit 75 and the Cron was, to my eyes at least, undiscernible - so that the price gap could not be justified by half a stop. This is the only Summarit I own, and likely the best value for money (if there's such a thing in the Leica world:rolleyes:) in my collection of Leica lenses.

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The 75mm Summarit is one of my favourite lenses, particularly for candid portraits indoors. Even when light levels drop, the use of ISO 320 gives me an extra stop with no detriment to image quality. There are several examples on my website (Leica section) of my use of this lens.

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Quite a relief to find someone who's not fixated on ultra fast lenses. Quite why people should knock the new Summarits I'm not sure, but some Leica users seem to have a rationale built on the philosophy that "faster is better, fastest is best". And I remain puzzled as to why they then shoot at open apertures in broad daylight ... still, they've paid their money and they can chose whatever f numbers they want.

 

I haven't used a new Summarit, let along an aspheric Summilux or Noctilux. I'm still stuck in the past using my 1960s-vintage 35/2.8 Summaron and 90/2.8 Tele Elmarit on my M8. The results look good to me, just like they did on Kodachrome. And (although it's a bit awkward to use) so do the results from my even-older 135/4.5 Hektor.

 

So, I'm with the Summarit crowd, in spirit if not in ownership.

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I have both the 35mm Summarit f2.5 & 35mm Summicron F2.0 (latest version). I find that I have had far more pleasing results with the Summarit. I agree, fastest IMO is not always best. I'm seriously thinking of offloading the 35 mm Summicron.

 

Two shots below with the Summarit.

 

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Same here, although the aperture ring got loose and it's now being fixed by Leica:(.

 

This is interesting. I have the Summarit 90 and it too, had to be returned to Solms with a loose aperture ring. Is this a hint of a generic fault with this relatively new range of lenses? Has anyone else had this problem?

 

Incidentally, I entirely agree with Nicole - the Summarit lenses are a little slow, but technically excellent otherwise, not least in their small dimensions - With the lens hood reversed the Summarit 90 fits inside the nose of my Luigi case (unlike the rectangular-hooded Elmarit 24)! It is hard to fault Summarit images aesthetically (perhaps not the most intriguing bokeh, but contrast and sharpness are very satisfying).

 

Sometimes product snobbery and price consciousness get in the way of sound decision-making. I chose the Summarit 90 because it produced excellent images at a focal length I knew I'd use only occasionally, with the added advantage of its diminutive size and weight, the Summarit 90 is easy to carry around - just in case its needed.

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I've attached a couple of images I took last week that show detail that I had not noticed with my naked eyes. :D (Don't worry, the rest of me was fully clothed. :eek:)

 

Ehi Nicole, that's the town hall of my town... Have you been in Turin?

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Nicole, how did you get that building to lean to the right?

 

Sorry about that, but I didn't lean on it very hard. :D

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