Summicronicles

[meastman@adobe.com (Mark Eastman)]

Dr Lombardia writes:

 >I have several Soviet made rangefinders which are Contax and Leica
 >(screw mount) copies (more or less). Here is my first question:
 >How can a screw mount summicron 50mm f2 could be compared with
 >a recent M-mount summicron? I am looking for a 50mm f2 screw mount
 >summicron for a recently aquired IIIf Leica.

Although most all 50mm f2 Summicrons have had a legendary status *in their 
time* some of the older screwmount versions suffer from the organic cements
used to join glass elements that have gotten cloudy from separation or moisture 
over the years. TIn some cases this might tend to make the lens performance
on the soft side by today's standards. But that doesn't mean you can't make
good pictures with them :^). The trick seems to be to try to find the latest
versions you can, dates for serial numbers can be found in many current
Leica Books.

I have current M-mount 50 & 35 summicrons and they are absolutely outstanding,
particularly in the way they render color. 

It's seems as though it's getting really hard to find clean examples of
screwmount lenses in general. IMHO compared to the other 50mm screwmounts
the summicron is probably the best choice of that eras 50mm next to a 50mm
1.4 Nikkor. (Here we go...:^)

- Mark Eastman
meastman@adobe.com