Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50 review

For the opportunity Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50 lens overview Many thanks to Nikolai.

Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50 review

Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50 review

TTX Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50
Diagram: 6 elements in 4 groups
Focal length: 50mm
Diaphragm: F / 2.0-f / 16
Number of aperture blades: 6 pieces
Front Filter Diameter: 55mm
MDF: 50sm
The weight: 290g

My lens has been converted to a Nikon F mount without the ability to automatically control the iris, although there is a warning on the lens For leica r only, there you can find the inscription Lens made in canada. Due to the large working distance of the lenses Leica r, such lenses are easily redone for Nikon and other systems. You can read how to use old manual lenses on modern cameras in the section on AI-S.

View Leica leitz summicron-r 1: 2/50

View Leica leitz summicron-r 1: 2/50 from different sides. Aperture view of the lens.

There are many modifications of the Leica Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50 lens, mainly modifications relate to the frame of the case and modifications to the optical design. Since the release of Summicron in 1964, it has been modified and made a real very high-quality fifty dollars.

View of Leica leitz summicron-r 1: 2/50 on the modern Central Control Commission

View of Leica leitz summicron-r 1: 2/50 on the modern Central Control Commission

Focusing

The lens has only manual focus. The focus ring rotates as much as 270 degrees, which creates the possibility of fine and error-free focusing. The focus ring is metallic, in fact, like the entire lens. True, focusing on the clean viewfinder of modern CZKs is quite difficult. When focusing, the trunk of the lens lengthens by 1cm, while the front lens does not rotate. The front lens is deeply recessed in the frame of the body, like a lens Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 1: 2.8 f = 50mm T and many others. When focusing in the middle of the lens barrel, all helicoid lenses move. Focusing on the Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50 is nothing special.

Sample photo on Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50

Example photo on a Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50. Focusing near infinity.

Diaphragm

The lens has a maximum aperture of F / 2.0, which is 2 times (1 stop) darker than F / 1.4, which is available in many fifty dollars, for example Nikon 50mm f / 1.4 Nikkor-S Auto NON-AI. Such aperture you won’t surprise anyone. Despite the fact that this is not the cheapest 50 mm fix, which has a lens Leica only 6 pieces of aperture blades, which give the most common 'nuts' in bokeh. Aperture blades are matte. There is a depth of field scale for F / 2, 4, 8, 11, 16. Considering the readings of the scale for F / 2, we can say that the depth of field of the lens is quite large. On the lens you can find the A / M aperture control mode switch.

Sample photo on Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50

Example photo on a Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50. Contrast and depth of field.

Image quality

The lens gives a sharp image, even at F / 2.0. The lens has good contrast, even in backlight. Aberrations and other distortions in the lens are well corrected. Color rendering is normal, automatic white balance it averages the color imperfections of old lenses, and I did not notice any changes in warm or cold tones through the optical viewfinder. Cat's eye bokeh with lemons out of focus at F / 2.0 and 6-sided nuts at other F values.

Sample photo on Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50

Example photo on a Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50. Open bokeh

Sample Photos

All photos in the review are made on Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50 and the camera Nikon D40, APS-C, K = 1.5x. Photos without processing, only the size is reduced to 2MP and the data from EXIF. In the gallery you can see the pronounced bokeh of the lens.

All photos below were taken on a Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50 and camera Nikon D80, APS-C, K = 1.5x. Photos without processing, only the size is reduced to 2MP and the data from EXIF. On crop EGF lens is 75mm for Nikon DX cameras.

Personal experience

There is nothing better than a good fifty dollars. Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50 is a classic, good functionality, good build and good image quality, and you can hardly find a bad fifty dollars in Leica. Therefore, the review is small.

View Leica leitz summicron-r 1: 2/50 with cover

View Leica leitz summicron-r 1: 2/50 with cover


Conclusions

Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50 is an affordable 50mm prime from Leica. Gives good image quality.

Help to the project. Thanks for attention. Arkady Shapoval.

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Comments: 33, on the topic: Review Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50

  • MK

    Yakі hostility in the portions of the 44th Geliosami? Well, 50 and 58 mm are not reeling.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Personally, I liked Helios more.

      • anonym

        Me too!

  • Ivan

    It was interesting to see the lens from Leica.
    Thanks for the review.

  • Andrei

    And here is the confirmation that a famous brand is not always the best of the best.

  • Sergei

    The Leica R has always been a by-product, so it doesn't make sense to talk about extra quality here. Their rangefinder optics are another matter.

    • VALENTINE

      Forgive me, Sergei, but this is sheer stupidity: Leitz did not and does not have any “by-products”. Another thing is that the 44s, smacked and spat upon by our home-grown "experts" sometimes turn out to be no worse than the vaunted "eminent" ones. As I have already noted, this primarily applies to the products of KMZ and MMZ (not BELOMO !!!), especially the 60s and early 70s.

      • Leonid

        Not a word about the resolving power of Sumicron.
        By the way, I saw with my own eyes in the London “lump” TENS “R”. Moreover, not in one lump. Most London photoblocks.
        And I quite agree that PHOTO LENSES for Leica are a by-product and with a non-market price. Such a "faberge".

        • Leonid

          There is not a word - about the resolution of the Summikron. It's a pity

  • Dima

    This is the best fifty kopeck who held in his hands
    Price from 500 cu probably scares many away, especially the lens with F2 .. but this lens is not for schoolchildren and gel enthusiasts 44
    When I tried it for the first time (I myself was skeptical before) .. I was just amazed ... I sold all my trash with 1.2 types of Nikor (rare shit) of Revunen and Rocor (although it is excellent)
    Sharpness is striking by 2 (at least shoot landscapes) detail at 21Mr (you increase the photo to 150%, but it does not drop), by the way about detailing .. on 6Mr-12Mr most of the lenses are ideal, at 16-24Mr they float at 100% viewing (no detail ... just not enough resolution in the lens) ... .That's why Zeiss released Zeiss Otus 55mm f / 1.4 and set the price tag of 4000u.e - for 36MP ... and for the same reason canon is in no hurry to make cameras larger than 21MP
    In general, about the sumicron ... the objective is definitely better than such objectives as the topcore 1.4 planar 1.4 for contax and bayonet ZE and ZF many fifty rubles 1.2 .. well, and any trash like Helios 44 - all versions of pentacons, etc. ... it is true that this is my opinion
    Good luck to everyone in choosing !!!

    • Alexander

      I completely agree, those who say that Leica is nothing special and Helios was better than just seeing Leica in the pictures) I also sold the whole zoo of scoops and even Zeiss when I moved to a watering can.

      • Richard

        Zeiss Planar is at least as good. Your answer is similar to trolling, or you had bad copies. How can you "change" to Lake, if there are different generations of M ASPH, R, L - and all are different and shoot in different ways. Zeiss is also different. I like my Pentax more than what is in these examples. I'm not talking about 77 and 43 mm - Leitz simply does not have this. They called him Mr. Nikkor 50 / 1.2 Ai-s above, so it's just laughing on the lawn. Most of the working professionals do not rent with Leica, although they could afford. This is an empty hype. Yes, the Summilux R 50 is not bad, but it is no better than the Pentax or Zeiss of the 1970s.

  • willow

    without a doubt this fifty dollars is the best of the best. it can only be criticized by someone who did not shoot them.

  • Jury

    The main feature of Leek is that the average quality spread is the smallest of all, and the optimization of the circuit for working at open apertures. By itself, Canadian leitz for DSLRs is good, and nothing more. The same planars produced by Tomioka under Kontaks are for the most part never worse than these Leitsev, and if you choose, you can find Zenitar, which will not be worse. By the way, Planar 50 / 1.7 is a cheating glass, and it will receive the sum of R-type microns even in the same edge sharpness on the open one, because this planar is essentially a 1.4 lens according to the scheme, but forcibly squeezed half a stop to correct spherical aberration in an open hole.
    The watering cans, from which it is worth talking with a breath, are the M-series watering cans, and that's not all.

    • anonym

      Yuri! Do you have this watering can? If not, then your words are worth a penny. And this applies to everyone who writes negative reviews about lenses without having them in their backpack ... BALABOLY

      • Richard

        And this example shows that THIS can be removed with many glasses (Zeiss Planar, Pentax 43 limited, Nikkor 50 / 1.2 Ai-s, Wave 50 / 1.8) at least not worse, and Nikkor 105 f2 DC - and better. And if you upload a photo of 46 megapixels and equate with Milvvus or Canon RF 50 / 1.2L, then in general - tears. Leica is good, but ASPH and M series. It's just a good lens. No more.

      • Yura

        I have. Excellent sharp glass. But he does not fry eggs, and does not replace his wife.
        But I have 3 more in my collection, which, if we discard the taste in the field of art, will be at least no worse than Summikron's “karalya bakekhs”.
        Just in case, if that - I generally had a lot of things in my hands, and Summikron, Elmarites 28 and 35, as well as Varioelmar 70-210 (which is a Minolta) - these were generally working horses.

  • Vadim Fedorov

    I would add that Leica has one important nuance that she actively uses in advertising - volume. It is achieved by a very smooth transition to the blur zone. It is also interesting that in this zone, many lines consist of very small circles - visible at high magnification. Of course, the rangefinder option is simply not decent sharpness compared to the bayonet R. But its bokeh is worse. In general, this is the taste of pure water, but for some reason, of all brands, this is the most interesting, in almost all focal ones. And zooms from Letz shoot much better than many fixes. The main disadvantage is the chromaticity due to the color of the enlightenment, which gives the photographs a kind of "fat brown" tint.

    • anonym

      Another myth-making. R and M Summicrons are identical in terms of sharpness: there are discussion threads in English on the site, where all shanks with 40 years of experience. Google to the rescue. In general, having reviewed all the examples on Flickr, Evtifeev's examples, we can say that the lens is just good, no better than Zeiss ZF and ZE, no better than the Pentax limited series (31, 77) or K55 / 1.8 Yes, it conveys volume well, but no better than Loxia (there is a pairwise comparison on the net). Yes, and it's cheaper on Avito than Loxia or the limited series. Which proves ...

      • Michael

        T.N. "Volume", i.e. the lens has little effect on a smooth transition from sharpness to unsharpness (rather in no way) - here the frame size rules

  • Vladimir

    I have tried many lenses, including Zeiss lenses. I liked Planar 1.7 very much - the most predictable lens - he shot elements of landscapes in the open - and with a bang. But… I tried Letz Colorplan 90 / 2.5 (I sawed it myself) - volume !!! Everything, it seems, I got sick with Leica - I don't want to put on other lenses.

  • 1

    Tell me how the interaction with the camera, i.e. How does he transmit aperture information to Nikon, for example?

    • Alexander

      There is no interaction with the diaphragm. It's just that the aperture is usually covered with hands, and the camera already selects the shutter speed according to the amount of light. The jump rope usually does not work - the adapter is simply covered and the diaphragm is closed as far as it is closed, when it is closed, focusing and shooting occurs.
      And not all cameras can do this. The Nikons, if I remember correctly, knew the older models. Now I don't know - I switched to canon a long time ago.

  • Vladimir

    Leitz Summicron-R 1: 2/50 The lens is characterized by a completely recognizable "thoroughbred" bokeh, and is very plastic.

  • koba

    There is one common drawback to the reviews here - it is necessary to simulate a certain scene at home, and all lenses must also be programmed on it, so that you can see how different lenses behave when photographing in equal conditions, only then you can compare them with each other, otherwise it turns out that the top lens is from Leica is almost no different from Helios. This is definitely not the case. I used this lens, and I also have the M version, and both of them are head and shoulders above the majority of fifty dollars precisely in the transfer of volume. The new Sigma Art 50 / 1.4 was returned to the seller after the very first tests, since it basically does not transfer the volume. By the way, in terms of volume, everything is great only with Leik lenses, Zeiss and Fochtlander lenses are very close to them, for example, I personally can confirm this with Zeiss Loxia 50/2, Zeiss Milvus 50/2. These Lakes probably use some kind of glass known to them alone, maybe this is even their secret, and therefore the pictures from them have been the best for almost a century. I would very much ask respected Arkady, if possible, to simulate a couple of different scenes at home and leave it forever, with the same lighting, and after testing the lens, play it on these scenes. Then it will be possible to really compare them with each other. Also, there is no way to test a lens for a full-frame sensor on a cropped sensor from a camera of the lowest price range. I understand that a Canon 5D is not always on hand, but at least this should be taken into account in the reviews. By the way, Helios also convey volume and very well ...

    • Peter Sh.

      Koba, do not languish, show us where the volume is and where it is not! It's so simple, took and put pictures here, and we will admire. Since you are so skilled in entom polyglot.

  • spitzer

    As for the lemons in the corners, I do not agree, here the same helios have 44x standard lemons, and here are ovals, which indicates a more elaborate optical scheme, correct if I am mistaken ..

  • Yura

    Dealt with this glass disguised as Nikon. Sony A7 III camera, adater for nikon
    What I didn’t like: color. Blue. Cold. The skin tone is not very pleasant, and due to the bluish image, the micro-detailing of warm tones visually increases, the skin becomes excessively embossed and detailed.
    What we liked: Sharp, very high detail, almost complete absence of HA in the open (at least in comparison with 1.4 planars). When shooting without focus-picking on Panasonic cameras (I also tried it), it is much more convenient to aim manually than the same planar. I don't know why, but on Lake the transition from “image out of focus” to “image in focus” is almost a “click”, and a sharp image is very different in appearance from an unsharp one, in contrast to a planar, where you can miss, since a little nearly out of focus looks almost the same as out of focus. As if the spherical aberration clack - and abruptly disappeared completely.

  • Yura

    Summicron-R on crop 2 (Panasonic GF3). Shot at open aperture

  • Miklukha

    In life, Helios does not fall on Helios. although I have seen Helios and more sharply Summikron. As for accessibility, Shabolovka 53 is much more affordable.

  • Vicente

    Por que hay tanta diferencia de precio entre la optica de Leitz Summicron-R 1:2/50 y la misma optica para leica M.
    Tienen idéntica construcción e igual peso. Calidad exceptional:
    La de Leitz Summicron-R 1:2/50 para Leica analógicas Réflex oscilan en El mercado de 2 mano por los 280€ y la óptica Leitz Summicron-M 1:2/50 pala cámaras de la serie M de Leica oscilan entre los 1,500 €. a 1,800€.
    Es asunto de moda?
    No creo que leica haga una optica igual y la construya de peor o mejor calidad.
    Yo tengo una R y es tan compacta y fiable que no creo que sea peor a la misma optica -M
    Un saludo Vicente

    • B. R. P.

      La razón del costo diferente es la calidad diferente de las lentes en el interior. Las ópticas para la montura R se fabricaron en Canadá, para M solo en Alemania y de forma manual, en lugar de ensamblaje de cinta transportadora y rectificado de lentes. Sin embargo, hay algunas lentes muy caras en la R. Y, en general, la cuestión del precio de la clase premium es un tema aparte.

  • Een zeer bijzondere lens met een mooi verloop,krachtig ,scherp een goede stofuitdrukking en vergrotingen van 90×70 cm geen enkel probleem en daar werk ik al 30 jaar mee!! Classic

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