LEICA SUMMILUX M 75mm

Review and photo examples of the Summilux 75mm F1.4

Table of contents

Gallery
Photo example by LEICA M9

Review
The Leica Summilux 75mm is a bright medium telephoto lens for the Leica M mount.
It was released in 1980 and about 15,000 units were manufactured until 2007. The early model had a separate hood, which was shared with the second generation Noctilux 50mm, while the later model had a built-in hood.
The mount part is a common screw mount, so a 6-bit code for lens recognition, which can be used with digital M-type Leica, can be added.

At the time I owned this lens, I was using a LEICA M9. With the M9’s viewfinder, it was difficult to focus with the maximum aperture of F1.4, and when mounted on the M9, which has a lighter body, I felt the weight of the lens tip was very heavy, so I did not think the weight balance was good when shooting.
For this reason, although I purchased the lens, I used it very infrequently.
In the days of film cameras, the only way to avoid focusing problems would have been to stop down the lens, but fortunately I was using a digital camera, so when I was worried about focusing, I shifted the lens back and forth slightly from the position where the double image matched and took a picture, and when I selected a picture in which the focus was correct, I could see the centered focus plane and the blurred background. The focus and the blur of the background give you the real pleasure of using a large-aperture medium telephoto lens.

In those days, bright mid-telephoto lenses were more commonly used with SLR cameras than with rangefinder cameras, and the acquisition of the Summilux R 80mm, which was considered a sibling of this lens, further reduced the utilization rate of this lens, and it became a fodder in the moisture-proof cabinet. I traded it in and sold it before the price skyrocketed in order to buy another lens. The lens was in good condition, so if I had sold it in 2024, I would have made a good profit, but that’s not worth mentioning.

If I had owned it in the days when full size mirrorless cameras and LEICA M typ240 VISOFLEX were available, the result of utilization rate might have been different. I am romantic, but I don’t think I will get it again because of the price hike.

Specification

Item	SUMMILUX M	SUMMILUX R
focal length(mm)	75	80
Maximum aperture	1.4	←
Minimum aperture	16	←
Lens configuration	5groups 7elements	←
Minimum distance(m)	0.75	0.8
Lens length(mm)	80
Lens max diameter(mm)	69
Filter diameter(mm)	60	67
Weight(g)	560	700
Production number	14,752 *1	12,250 *1
Release date	1980	1980