[Leica] 50 asph lux: any mushy feel on focusing?

[don.dory at gmail.com (Don Dory)]

Andrew,
Yes, the feel of the focusing gets a little different as you focus closer
than about 5 feet.  Oh well, I've used my 50 ASPH hard for the last year and
it is probably the best lens I have, bar none.  Sharp, contrasty, good oof
almost all the time, very little flare in some very harsh conditions,
extremely useful at F1.4.  The point of a lens is to deliver an image on the
film, when I want to see the detail the 50 ASPH is the lens I pull out.  I
have other lenses that I will use to be romantic, most often a Summarit but
sometimes a Summar.  But you know what, I can add a little gaussian blur in
a layer in PS and become romantic.

Don't worry about the mechanicals of any Leica lens, it will be focusing
light long after you and I are gone.  Choose the lens based on what you need
cut on film and shoot away.

Don
don.dory@gmail.com


On 4/11/06, Andrew Moore <moore@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> I handled a 50/1.4 Summilux-M ASPH (black) briefly and found the focusing
> to
> be ever so slightly "mushy" or "spongy" at one end (close focus, I think).
> This is similar to the feel I found on the second version Tri-Elmar (never
> tried first version).  On all other M lenses I've found the focus to be
> smooth and solid from one end to the other - no change in resistance as
> you
> move the ring.  I wonder if there's a difference in the way the focusing
> is
> designed (I think Erwin's site confirms a difference in the 50/2
> "anniversary edition" summicron focusing helix, for example).
>
> I'm not trying to start rumors, and I know it sounds silly and it's not
> too
> big a deal but I'm curious if anyone has noticed anything similar.  Maybe
> the brass (silver/chrome coated) lenses handle differently from the black
> anodized ones.
>
> Thanks,
> --Andrew
> NO ARCHIVE
>
>
>
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