Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/07/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I had a coated Summitar (50mm f/2, not to be confused with the 50mm f/1.5 Summarit) for a while. I wasn't impressed with it. The one I had didn't have that indefinable Leica look that we all know when we see it, and it had quite a bad tendency to flare, even with the barndoor shade on it. Maybe flare isn't the right word, but I was using it to take pictures around twilight one evening, as street lights were coming on, but with plenty of light from the sun left. There were lots of "ghost" images of the street lights in the pictures. Of the older lenses, I think the Elmar's probably the best. It doesn't have as much glass in it as the faster lenses, which is probably why even uncoated ones have pretty decent contrast and low flare. If you really need the two extra stops, why don't you spring for a Summicron? Frankly, I even prefer the Summar I have to the Summitar I got rid of, though Summars are almost universally despised. (The Summar does lose lots of contrast in any backlighted situation, though--be warned. However, they're dirt cheap because no one wants them.) Howard Sanner flagstad@mindspring.com