LEICA SUMMILUX M 50mm ASPH.

Adopts aspheric lenses and new generation standard lenses

A review and Photo example of the SUMMILUX M 50mm F1.4 ASPH. .

Gallery

Example photo taken with the LEICA M9

Example photo taken with the LEICA M6 +KODAK-E100G+NIKON COOLSCAN-V

Review

Usage
Overview
Differences

1．Usage

The aspherical Summilux lens gives satisfactory results in both film and digital photography, but when the aperture is open, the depiction of the focal plane, which has a sense of resolution, and the image that blurs smoothly from there make you feel like your photography has improved. When used with a narrow aperture, it is a very ordinary lens, but I think that the true value of this lens is when used with an open aperture. When shooting with an open aperture, depending on the situation, the background blur becomes noisy when shooting close up, and vignetting at the open aperture can cause a rugby ball blur, which can be disappointing.

Both the black and silver helicoids are very smooth and feel almost too light, and although I sometimes had trouble with overfocusing and precise focus adjustments, once I got used to it, I could operate them quickly and sometimes thought that they were better than helicoids that were too heavy.

I used both the black and silver lenses, and the silver was heavier and the black was lighter. This is due to the difference in the lens barrel materials, but since the lens elements are the same, there is no difference in the image between the two.

This aspherical Summilux lens has a built-in hood, and by pulling out the hood and rotating it, you can fix it to the lens in the extended state.
I had a black lens that I owned, but the hood fixing part had a problem and I couldn’t fix the hood, so I sent it in for repair. After the repair, the hood was fixed so that it clicked into place, and it was comfortable to use, but if you drop the camera with the hood fixed, the area around the lens hood fixing part will definitely break, so it may be safer to just pull it out and leave it loose. There are pros and cons to which is better, and it’s best to avoid dropping the lens, but you never know what’s going to happen in the field.

2．Overview

The Summilux-M 50mm F1.4 ASPH. (order number: 11891-black – 11892-silver) is a standard lens with an aspherical lens released in 2006.

In addition to the model with an integrated hood shown in the photo, a limited edition lens with a lens barrel that imitates the original Summilux (order number: 11628) is also available.

In the 2023 renewal, the specifications of the finer details were changed, such as shortening the minimum shooting distance and increasing the number of aperture blades to make the aperture shape closer to a perfect circle. The price has increased further with the renewal.

For the regular model, the lens hood can be pulled out and screwed in place.

The material change between silver and black has been eliminated for the improved model in 2023, and the weight is the same.

3．Differences

The Summilux-M 50mm F1.4 ASPH. (order number: 11891-black, silver-11892) is a standard lens with an aspherical lens released in 2006.

In addition to the model with an integrated hood shown in the photo, a limited edition lens with a lens barrel that imitates the original Summilux (order number: 11628) is also available.

The black and silver versions have different barrel materials, with the silver version made of brass and weighing 460g, while the black version is made of aluminum and weighs 335g, a difference of about 100g.

In the 2023 renewal (order number: 11728-black, silver-11729), the minimum shooting distance was shortened to 0.45m, the number of aperture blades was increased to 11, and the aperture shape was made closer to a perfect circle, among other minor changes to the specifications, but the selling price increased further with the renewal. In addition, the only difference between the silver and black versions is the paint, and the weight is the same.

Specification and Competitor

Item	IV　＞New2023	III	I,II
Lens name	SUMMILUX-M 50ASPH.	SUMMILUX-M 50 III型	SUMMILUX-M 50 I,II型
Focal length(mm)	50	50	50
Max aperture	1.4	1.4	1.4
Min aperture	16	16	16
Leaf blade	9 ＞11(New)	12	16 or 12
Lens Construction	8elements in 5group	7elements in 5group	7elements in 5group
Min distance(m)	0.7 ＞0.45(New)	0.7	1.0
Lens length(mm)	52.5 ＞59.3(New)	54.5	–
Lens Max diameter(mm)	53.5 ＞58.6(New)	47.7	–
Filter Size(mm)	46	46	43
hood	Build in	Build in	XOOIM 12521 12586
Weight(g)	335(B)　＞337(New) 460(Sv)	275(B) 380(Sv/Titan)	–
Release year	2006　＞2023	1992	1961