LEICA SUMMARIT-L 50mm F1.5

Review and Photo example of the SUMMARIT-L 50mm F1.5.

Gallery

Review

Summarit 50mm F1.5 is a bright standard lens that was released in 1939 and was the predecessor of Summilux.
Approximately 75,000 lenses were manufactured between 1939 and 1957, and this lens is often found on the used market.
There are M-mount and L-mount versions of the lens, and because the M-mount version has an old mount shape, it cannot be officially modified to add the 6-bit code for lens recognition used by Digital Leica.
There are early and late models with different appearances, but the lens composition is the same. The number of aperture blades is large at 15.

The Summarit 50mm F1.5 is not related to the Summarit 50mm F2.5 released in 2007 and the Summarit 50mm F2.4 released in 2014.
For Leica in the 2000s, Summarit was used for M mount lenses of 35, 50, 75, and 90mm, and the name was conveniently used for S mount lenses.

Perhaps because the lens surface of the original Summarit is soft, many used lenses are often covered in scratches. Items with a clean lens surface should be very expensive if the originality is guaranteed, and if it is a cheap lens, there is a possibility that the surface has been polished.Surface polishing can be done by amateurs or professionals, and it is up to the user to decide whether it is good or bad. I think it depends on the judgement.

The solid object I was holding had some scratches on its surface and was cloudy, so the image was blurry and soft.
When backlit, a large amount of ghosting appeared and the contrast decreased. I think this is a lens that can be enjoyed as an old lens, which is rarely seen with the latest Summilux and Summicron 50mm.

I remember that the hammertone hood I purchased after getting the lens was extremely heavy and expensive. I still keep the supplies on hand because it is difficult to get them again if I part with them.
In the midst of the 2023 recession, prices for lenses in good condition have been maintained, but lenses with defects such as cloudy lenses, scratched lenses, and damaged lenses have returned to the prices of the early 2000s. Cheap lenses may not deliver the lens’s original performance, but as I mentioned earlier, it may be fine if you enjoy photos with ghosts and low contrast.

The beautiful silver barrel and rugged hood satisfied my desire to own it, but in the end I sold it because it was rarely used among the 50mm cameras I owned. I purchased the lens from Kato Kaiyodo in Kannai, Yokohama, which sold medicine and cameras in the same store. This store no longer exists.

Specification

Item	Value	note
focal length(mm)	50
Maximum aperture	1.5
Minimum aperture	16
Lens configuration	5groups 7elements
Leaf blade	16
Minimum distance(m)	1.0	Camera distance meter interlocked in all areas
Lens length(mm)	43	L39 mount / distance from mount flange
Lens max diameter(mm)	47	L39 mount / Focus lever excluded
Filter diameter(mm)	A43/E41
Weight(g)	–
Release date	1939
List price(Yen)	–