LEITZ SUMMAR 5cm F2

Review and Photo example of the LEITZ SUMMAR 5cm F2.

Gallery

The sample photo were taken with the LEICA M9

Review

The Summar 5cm F2 is a standard lens released by Leica in 1930.

The previous lens, Hektor, was a modified triplet, but this lens is a Gauss type lens. Perhaps because it is an early Gauss type whose design was not yet fully developed, when shooting at the maximum aperture of F2, the image is beautiful in the in-focus area, but the image becomes soft in the out-of-focus peripheral area, and double-line blur can be seen.

I didn’t have high expectations because I didn’t get this lens at a very high price, but when I saw the results, I felt that it was a rather mediocre lens, so I got rid of it after a while. Since it is a Leica lens, I was able to sell it for about the purchase price, so I was fortunate that it didn’t cost much to play with.

This bad impression may have been due to the fact that I used a LEICA M9 camera. If I had used it with an EPSON R-D1 or a LEICA M8, the peripheral areas would not be captured, so I may have used it for a longer period of time, so I think the timing of my acquisition was bad.

The lens I owned was a standard retractable lens, but fixed-barrel versions are sometimes found on shelves at second-hand stores under the name “Hyottoko Zummar (Zumar)”. They are very expensive and are a collector’s item. Looking at the examples in the book linked to, I don’t think there is a big difference between this and the regular version, so I don’t think it’s worth going out of your way to get one.

Specification

Items	Hektor	Summar	Summitar	Summicron
Focal length	5(cm)	←	←	←
Max aperture	2.5	2	2	2
Min aperture	18	12.5	12.5/16	16
Leaf blade	6	6/10	6	10/16
Lens Construction	6elements in 3groups	6elements in 4groups	7elements in 4groups	←
Min distance(m)	1.0	←	←	←
Lens length(mm)	32	–	–	–
レンズ最大径(mm)	47	47.8	47.8	47
Filter size(mm)	A36	←	36.5	39
Hood	FIKUS	FIKUS/SOOMP	SOOPD	SOOFM / IROOA / ITDOO
Weight(g)	190 130	205 180	240	–
Release date	1930	1933	1938	1951
Production number	5,600	127,950	172,390	253,314

Reference links

Leica Wiki Summar 5cm F2
Classic Camera Selection Book 19 How to Identify Leica Lenses (Asahi Sonorama)
- It describes the specifications and the differences between the specifications, and there is no mention of lens description.
- A lens configuration diagram is included in the appendix.
Leica Lenses (Shashin Kogyosha)
- The Summar is reviewed by Hiroto Takashi on page 86
Leica Lenses of the World (Shashin Kogyosha)
- The fixed-barrel Hyottoko Summar (Summar 5cm) is reviewed by Kawamura Shiro on page 78

Update history

2024.04.27

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