The ZM’s performance wide open is so-so. I used to think it was quite good - until the Summilux ASPH arrived. The ZM is indeed good, but the 50mm Summilux-M ASPH is simply outstanding - and it has spoiled me. The 50mm F2 ZM’s wide open performance is certainly as good (maybe even better) than the Leica 50mm F2 Summicron. Distortion is well controlled and I did not incur any flare issues in normal shooting conditions.

As always, there are some trade-offs. Infinity focus with Zeiss 50mm F2 ZM Planar is very difficult to hit. I have tried four or five copies across four M8’s and without a doubt, infinity focus is NOT the lens’ strong suit. When the ZM is stopped down, DOF hides this shortcoming. My advice is - if shooting landscapes at or near infinity focus, stop down to F4 to F8. Most landscape pictures are F8 anyway, so this is not a “deal-breaker” in my opinion, but it is something to be aware of - and of course, your results may vary.

Another Zeiss option is the Carl Zeiss 50mm F1.5 Sonnar ZM. Usually I would suggest the faster aperture lens; however, in this case the Zeiss 50mm F1.5 Sonnar is well known for its focus shift (the plane of focus shifts backwards as the lens is stopped down). This can be a frustrating phenomenon, resulting in many out-of-focus images when shooting at between F2 and F4. When shooting wide open (assuming the lens’ focus is calibrated for F1.5) focus shift is a non-issue. And when the lens is stopped down to F5.6, etc., typically the added DOF masks the focus shift.

CONCLUSION

Had I written this review when I first had the Leica M8, I would be telling everybody they need a Zeiss 50mm F2 Planar ZM in their bag. But I am older, wiser and have played with some other lenses along the way. The Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH is the best 50mm lens I have used. The downside is its budget-busting price tag. The Zeiss costs 1/5 of the Summilux’s price tag. Is the Summilux worth 5-times more? Any reasonable person would say “no”, but when it comes to camera gear, “reasonable” is an ugly, ugly word.

The Zeiss 50mm F2 Planar ZM provides excellent optical performance at reasonable price. It is a well built lens that travels well (fairly compact, certainly light weight). There is some character to the ZM’s rendering and it has all the Zeiss qualities (good contrast, bold colors and sharpness) that most people expect from a Zeiss lens. If deciding between the ZM and the Leica 50mm Summicron-M, my vote is for the ZM.

All the pictures in this review were taken with the Leica M8 and Zeiss 50mm F2 Planar ZM. The files were processed in Phase One Capture One (C1) software and Photoshop (mostly for cropping and resizing).