If you can’t make a great photo with this lens it’s certainly not because the lens isn’t sharp enough. The Summicron R 50mm has a personality that eschews quantifiable metrics. Nail your focus at any aperture setting and unless you’re a serious pixel-peeper, you’ll be pleased.īut this whole sharpness paragraph doesn’t really matter much. By f/4 we’re seeing acceptably sharp rendition from corner to corner, and at f/8 it’s a world-class lens. Close the aperture down and (predictably) things tighten up. Shots made with the Summicron R 50mm are sharp in the center at all apertures, a bit spongy in the corners wide open. The barrels are made entirely of metal, as are the filter retaining rings and lens hoods (whether detachable or built-in). Aperture rings click with mechanical precision, focus throw is smooth and perfectly weighted. Fit and finish is what we’d expect from a lens bearing the Leitz name. This lens performs better than the earlier single cam version due to improved optical coatings, but lacks the increased contrast and flatness found in the later Leitz Canada version.Īny and all versions of the Summicron R 50mm feel utterly fantastic in practical use. The version that I shoot is the earlier optical formula sporting the two cam mount, made contemporaneously with the Leicaflex SL2. It should be noted that none of this matters if you’re shooting with an adapter fitted to a mirror-less camera. There’s also a Safari version (painted green) to match the Safari R3. This later lens was produced in various configurations to fit earlier Leicaflex and later SL and SL2 cameras, as well as the more modern R cam cameras. It also provided a built-in collapsible lens hood. The six elements in four groups construction provided higher contrast and improved flatness of field compared with the earlier lenses. At this time, the optical formula was updated and improved. In 1977, production of the Summicron R was shifted to Leitz Canada. Close focus distance is just twenty inches. Aperture increments actuate in single stops from f/2 to f/16.
FUJI XF 50MM F2 VS LEICA 50MM SUMMICRON SERIES
For later R series cameras, these lenses could also be supplied with the required three cam mounts.Īll three of these Summicron models were made in Wetzlar, with optical construction consisting of six elements in five groups. It remained in production until 1968, at which time a version with two metering cams was made to fit the new Leicaflex SL (and the subsequent SL2). This lens is differentiated by later lenses by its single cam mount. The original Leicaflex saw the first release of a Summicron 50mm in R mount. Which is a shame, because I’ve been shooting the 50mm Summicron R for the past year and it’s a stunning performer in nearly every way. No surprise Leica shooters skew toward rangefinders, and sticker shock keeps kids looking for cheap legacy lenses from buying an R. Made to fit Leica’s R mount SLR cameras, Leitz R series lenses don’t enjoy the fanfare heaped on their M mount brethren.