Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH M Lens

The Leica 50mm Summilux is my favourite lens of all time. It offers amazing image rendering and that signature Leica look. The optical performance on this lens is simply stunning and the physical design of the lens is almost perfection.

Image Quality

The Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH produces my favourite image renderings out of all Leica lenses. The images are sharp and contrasty with that signature Leica look. The rendering is very modern and dramatic as the lens offers high contrast and extreme sharpness. When shot wide open, the shallow depth of field and smooth bokeh making the subject stands out. The Aspherical element design resolves all the issues normally associate with lenses, which in turn made the optical performance of this Leica 50mm Summilux almost flawless.

Build Quality

The Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH Lens is built to last. It is constructed solidly and designed to be used on daily basis. The build quality is what you would expect from top of the Leica range with stunning German craftsmanship. The Lens is offered in either black anodised or silver chrome version, with the chrome made from brass been slightly heavier. There is also a built-in sliding hood which making this lens convenient and practical. The hand build workmanship with all metal solid construction making this lens among one of the best lenses ever built.

Practical Use

The Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH Lens is designed to be used on daily basis. The size is compact for a fast lens and the weight is perfectly balanced on Leica M Rangefinders. Everything is convenient hands on including the built in lens hood making it without any external interferences.

The aperture clicks in place solidly when selecting the aperture and the focus ring is exceptionally smooth when turning. Every design on this lens is very intuitive to use and once you get familiar with it, the Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH will become an extension of your eye.

Specifications

Production Year: 2004 - Present

Construction: 8 Elements / 5 Groups

Diaphragm: 9 Blades

Design Features:  One Aspheric Element and One Floating Group

Maximum / Minimum Aperture:  F1.4 - F16

Closet Focusing Distance: 0.7m

Filter Size: 46mm

Weight: 335g (Black)  |  460g (Chrome)

Conclusion

If you want a faster lens than the Leica 50mm F2 Summicron and a smaller lens than the Leica 50mm F0.95 Noctilux ASPH then the Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH is the perfect lens in between offers nothing short of breathtaking performance yet practical for daily usage.

Nikkor-S.C. 5cm f/1.4 | Nikon 50mm F1.4 LTM Lens Review

See comparison with the Legendary Lens

Nikkor 5cm f/1.1 | Nikon 50mm F1.1 LTM

If you are looking for a vintage lens with classic character and don’t mind the sharpness then look no further. The Nikkor-SC 5cm f1.4 or commonly known as the Nikon 50mm F1.4 LTM lens is the perfect choice. It is compact, solid, unique and affordable at the same time.

Build Quality

The First Impression of the Nikkor 50mm f1.4 lens is that it feels incredibly solid and dense. The lens is small and compact but it is well constructed as the entire body is made of chrome brass. It is extremely high quality lens and feels balanced when mounting on Leica M rangefinders. Overall, It offers a compact and solid package.

Image Quality

The Nikkor 50mm f1.4 provides great image quality with full of character. When shot wide open, the image sharpness isn’t clinically sharp like some Leica lenses but it produces a soft glow common only to certain vintage lenses. However, it also lacks contrast and clarify like on most modern lenses.

At its minimum aperture of f1.4, the point of focus is relatively sharp and the out of focus area provides the soft vintage glow. The sharpness increases dramatically when stepping down the aperture with its peak image performance between f5.6 - f8. The lens does suffer the common issues with older lenses such as chromatic aberration and vignetting. The image quality isn’t perfect but it is unique with classic characteristics, which makes it perfect for monochrome renderings.

Specifications

Lens Mount: Leica Thread Mount | LTM

Production Years: 1950s

Construction: 7 Elements / 3 Groups

Diaphragm: 10 Blades

Maximum / Minimum Aperture:  F1.4 - F16

Closet Focusing Distance: 1m

Filter Size: 43mm

Weight: 275g

Practical Use

The Nikkor 50mm f1.4 LTM is a small, compact, lightweight and solidly built lens. It feels very balanced on Leica rangefinders and easy to carry around to everywhere. This lens is in Leica thread mount (LTM), therefore will require a LTM-to-M adapter to work properly on Leica M bodies.

The aperture ring provides a soft click when selecting the aperture unlike distinctive aperture clicks on most Leica lenses. The focusing ring does have a lock mechanism for infinity but once unlocked by pressing down the little lock button, the focusing ring feels very smooth with a long focus throw when turning.

Overall, the Nikkor 50mm f1.4 LTM Lens is intuitive to use and simple to operate once familiar with practicality of the lens. It is a vintage fast lens from the 1950s with classical rendering and yet it works perfectly on modern Leica Rangefinders.

Leica 21mm F1.4 Summilux-M ASPH Lens

The Leica 21mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH is the first of its kind lens offers ultra fast aperture of f1.4 at wide focal length of 21mm. The lens is a versatile performer and at its full aperture offers extremely shallow depth of field. It also incorporates a series of anomalous partial dispersion glass elements, and one aspherical element to help to control color fringing and various aberrations for improved clarity and sharpness. A floating elements system is used for maintained image quality throughout the focusing range to ensure maximum performance.

Comparison

I have had the pleasure of owning both the Leica 21mm F3.4 Super-elmar ASPH and Leica 21mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH.

Although the Leica 21mm F1.4 Summilux is a much larger and heavier lens, it offers much more depth-of-field when shooting subjects at closer distance. It is a Lengendary Leica wide angle lens and unique due to its large aperture and capability to shoot in low light.

Image Quality

The Leica 21mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH lens offers very sharp images with distinct Leica colours. The contrast and colour rendition is excellent towards saturated side. The lens exhibits minimum distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting due to its lens design. 

When shooting closer subjects at its widest aperture, the Leica 21mm F1.4 Summilux offers great separation of the subject from its background and produces pleasant and smooth bokeh.

Build Quality

The Leica 21mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH is a large and heavy lens due to been a ultra-fast wide angle requires to carry a large portion of glass. The lens specifications is stated below and when mounting the lens on Leica M Camera bodies, it can feel front-heavy due to its size and weight.

However, the lens is extremely well-built to Leica highest build quality and feels solid during practical use on hands. The aperture ring clicks in place firmly and the focus ring is very smooth when turning. Overall, it is one of the highest quality wide angle lens you can get from Leica.

Specifications 

Lens Code: 11 647

Production Year: 2008 - Present

Construction: 10 Elements / 8 Groups

Design Features:  1 Aspherical Element, 5 Low Dispersion Elements and 1 Floating Elements System

Maximum / Minimum Aperture:  F1.4 - F16

Closet Focusing Distance: 0.7m

Filter Size: Series VIII Filter in Lens Hood

Dimensions (Diameter x Length): 70mm x 66mm

Weight: 580g

Viewfinder Options

• Leica 21mm Plastic Finders
• Leica 21mm Metal Finders
• Voigtlander 21mm Finder
• Zeiss ZI 21mm Finder
• Contax 21mm Finder

Conclusion

The Leica 21mm F1.4 Summilux ASPH is a wide-angle prime features a bright and fast maximum aperture to benefit working in low-light conditions and for greater control over depth of field. The lens design and construction overall contribute to maximum performance and offers unique Leica rendering.