CONTINUING THE “ONE LENS” THEME

The May 8th entry reported on my experience using the Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux-M ASPH as the only lens for the Leica M8. Shooting with one lens for the Leica M8 comes down to economics, Most modern Leica ASPH lenses cost $2000+ on the second hand market, so I have to really want a lens to justify the expense. I tried a number of Leica lenses and all were very good. $1500, $2000, $2500 good? Eh... I can find plenty of other good uses for that money. I enjoy using the Leica M8, but its financial budget is limited, so the 50mm Summilux-M ASPH will be the only lens. Being the only lens in the kit, there is alot of pressure on the ‘Lux to hit home-runs over and over again. And frankly, for $2500 (used) the Leica 50mm Summilux-M ASPH should be hitting home runs.

For what the Leica M8 and 50 ‘Lux cost used, the same money buys a used Canon 1Ds Mark III. A new Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 50mm F1.2 L is ~$4000. A Nikon D700 with a 50mm-something-another could easily be put together for $3000-$4000 depending on the 50mm lens selected. With medium format prices falling, ~$7000 buys a Mamiya 645AFD II, 80mm F2.8 AF kit lens and Aptus-22 digital back. It is impossible to argue the Leica M8 is a ‘good deal’. To appreciate the Leica M8 & 50mm ‘Lux, one has to transcend the dollars and cents. Whoah, I used “transcend” in a sentence - scratch that off the bucket list.

THE PATH TO... ERR... TRANSCENSION

My favorite lens on the Canon 1Ds bodies is the Contax 100mm F2 Planar. For the last three years I have tried to find a 50mm “walk-around” lens with a similar character as the Contax 100mm F2 Planar. I have tried many lenses with prices ranging from $100 to $4000. Unbelievably, none of the 50mm lenses wow’d me with the exception of the Zeiss 50mm F2 Makro-Planar ZF. When Zeiss releases the 50mm F2 Makro-Planar in the ZE mount, I’m there.

While playing with SLR lenses, somehow the Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux-M ASPH snuck into the running and won the race. To be honest, it was quite unexpected. I am not a rangefinder shooter by nature and still consider myself a dSLR kind-a-guy who happens to own a M8. The irony is - when grabbing a camera to take snaps at sunset or whatever, the camera I reach for is the Leica M8. I have a Canon 1Ds Mark III and Mamiya ZD (dSLR) and the camera I am picking is the Leica M8? I am still trying to understand how that happened.

The 50mm ‘Lux earned its place based on performance and ease of use. At F1.4 the 50mm ‘Lux performs as well as most 50mm lenses do at F4. The 50mm ‘Lux is sharp wide open with no CA or color fringing. I can shoot wide open in horrible conditions (full noon-time sun) and there is no color fringing on metals or shiny objects. Likewise, there is no purple fringing around leaves in landscape shots. In terms of sharpness, time and time again the lens nails the shot. The 50mm ‘Lux has very impressive resolving powers. A landscape picture at F4 is simply amazing. F5.6, F8 and F11 just buy more and more DOF. In terms of sharpness and detail the 50mm ‘Lux is probably the best lens I have ever used in the 50mm focal range.

In terms of use of ease I find the Leica M8 faster to use than a manual lens on the Canon 1Ds Mark III with stop down metering. After five years of stop down metering, I am tired of it. I miss shots with stop down metering because of the time involved. Some lenses (like the Zeiss 50mm F2 Makro-Planar) have poor aperture ring designs which make stop-down metering difficult or awkward. With the Leica M8 there is no stop down metering, so that frustration is alleviated. When it comes to focus, sometimes the M8 can be easier to focus than manually focusing a dSLR. And the Leica M8 may be easier to focus in low-light settings than the Canon 1Ds Mark III. That is a difficult call to make because it depends on the lighting conditions and subject location in the frame.

THE X FACTOR

While the 50mm ‘Lux won its trophy based on merit, there are also some qualities that do not fit neatly into sharpness, contrast, color, etc. In the right light, the Leica M8 produces a wonderful, warm saturation that adds to the image quality. The 50mm ‘Lux has a 3D quality which mimics the medium format feel that I like. The 3D look occurs more often when shooting near field subjects. The Contax 100mm Planar delivers a nice 3D look, but with subjects a little further away. So with the 50mm ‘Lux on the Leica M8 and Contax 100mm Planar on the Canon 1Ds Mark III there is a nice ying & yang. And probably most important, the Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux-M ASPH has not “burned me” yet. Thus far the 50mm ‘Lux has done everything asked, and has done so with excellent results. It is becoming a trustworthy, dependable workhorse.

The pictures on this page are some random samplings from this past weekend. For more pictures, see this previous 135 Blog entry. Or, click on “Pictures” in the menu and then select “Equipment” and then “Leica 50mm Summilux”.