Leitz Summar lens

[David H. Bebbington]

Does anybody use a Leitz Summar lens? I acquired one today which, unusually, is entirely free of scratches (I previously owned a rather poor example 35 years ago). It probably could do with a clean to remove slight internal haze, I am wondering if it will produce interesting pastel-like colors, particularly at larger apertures, or does it simply come under the heading of "Good for its time, but now just a footnote in history"?

Regards,

David

 

[erikg]

Yes, I have one. Both things could be considered to be true. It certainly does not compare in terms of sharpness and contrast to modern glass, but it does have its own charm. As in all things Leica, many opinions abound. My opinion: it is a nice lens with a distinctive look that can work great in the right place. Not too pricey either. Plenty of yak about these guys over on P-Net.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Dave,

Everyone I know who has ever owned an unscratched one (about six people) has been mightily impressed.

Consider Balham Optical (in Croydon...) who do superb clean-ups: they did my 50/1.2 Canon.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Um, David, did you know that Leitz made a range of Summars for photomacrography? And a fixed aperture 25/2.8 Summar for a projection microscope attachment for some of their Prado projectors?

I have one of these last, asked about it on usenet shortly after arrived. The reports that came back were that it was a first class dog. Tried it out later, its actually a little better than a 25/3.5 Luminar, but only at much higher magnifications than 25 mm macro lenses are usually optimized for. Makes sense, given its intended application.

The other photomacrographic Summars are supposed to be a generation behind, e.g., Photars and Luminars.