If you could only have 1 Leica Screw Mount 50mm Which would it be and why

[flipflop]

Hi,
Just got a Canon P and im looking for a nice 50mm. I have a 50mm summitar and a 50mm canon 1.8. I like both the lenses but I dont like the filter sizes of the lenses.

I am new to the leica screw mount and I am just wondering which is 50mm to have.

Thanks!

[Uncle Bill]

If you have a Canon P then I would look for a LTM Canon 50 f1.4 which was their answer to the Summilux. I own the lens and use it on my M3 with M adapter, great performer and I must look into.

Bill

[Les Lammers]

Keep what you have and bird dog filters.

[flipflop]

those 1.4's dont go cheap...what size filters does it use?

[wlewisiii]

Only one? The Canon 50/1.8 easily. Very good & underappreciated lens. Look for the 40mm to series VI adaptor ring - they're out there and only a couple of bucks and Series filters & hoods are plentiful and cheap. That's what I use on my 50/1.8.

It really is one of the greatest lenses out there. Fast enough and a good fingerprint - it really was the lens that made the photographic community notice Canon. It got eclipsed in the speed wars, but I'm really not sure any of the later lenses are enough better to be worth the price differences. I'll probably get many more 50s as I find them for cheap, but I really like my 50/1.8 alot.

The only other possibles would be the Industar 61L/D (50/2.8) or the Jupiter 8 (50/2). Both dirt cheap lenses that perform better than most give them credit for. Plus the 40.5 filter size is a bit easier to find.

William

[back alley]

the canon 1.4 usually goes for 300 u.s. and uses 48mm filters, also not easily obtained locally but usually can be found on ebay.

[VictorM.]

There's also a 40mm to 40.5mm adapter available. That would open up a world of convenient filtration.

[Gabriel M.A.]

As an owner of nine different 50mm rangefinder lenses, five of them LTM, I cannot answer your question...

[bmattock]

Shatter the lens and grind it into sand
One measured exposure
Scatter the seed and furrow in our land
The future is roses! Roses!
Switch off the mind and let the heart decide
There is no enemy!
-Windpower, Thomas Dolby

[Brian Sweeney]

She blinded me with science, da-do-do-blank-ca-cha

Just get the Series VI adapters. You can use the same filters for both lenses after that.

And If I had to choose just one 50mm lens to keep, I would flood the market. Economic disaster for small used camera shops. You wouldn't want that, would you?

[Ronald M]

I carry a Summitar or Red scale elmar. The Summarit stays at home unless I know I will use the speed.


It has been over a month since I bought my 111c and I am getting nervous again. Who can I call for help?

[Brian Sweeney]

Ronald, you can call me for help.

That Summarit needs a body so that it does not get left home. Size-wise, it is a great match for a Canon 7 or Canon P.

[Sonnar2]

Canon 1.5/50. Perfect for portaits atf f/4 or wide open, sharp enough for landscapes at f/8. Even good in low-light bar scenes. Small size.

cheers, Frank
http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras

[raid]

My favorite LTM 50mm lens currently is the Zeiss Sonnar 50/2 lens, but a close second is a Nikon 50mm/2. The J-3 50/1.5 is not shabby at all, and it gives you a fast lens.

[Will]

Hi,
Just got a Canon P and im looking for a nice 50mm. I have a 50mm summitar and a 50mm canon 1.8.

Well done!

Tell us how you think of the P when you get around to it!

Why not go for a Sonnar clone like Canon 50mm f/1.5?





Will

[rover]

The Canon 50/1.4 is a great match for your P. As Joe mentioned it takes 48mm filters, which are a bit easier to come by than the 40mm ones for your 1.8. It is also a very sharp excellent lens contemporary with your camera.

I will toss my hat in for two other excellent lenses that I don't use enough, the Canon 50/1.5 and Nikkor 50/2. I have taken to carrying my IIIc with the Elmar 3.5 and these two lenses together, or my Canon IVSB2 with the 1.5 and Nikkor. Sure, you need more than one 50mm lens when you go out right?

[rbiemer]

ONE 50 LTM? Don't think I can answer that. Don't have as many as some people but I do own and use five different ones: Industar 61LD, Industar 50 f3.5 collapsible, Jupiter-8, CV 50 f 2.5, and the Canon 50 f1.8 that I just got.
I like the Canon quite alot! And I found a 40 to 40.5 mm step up ring so I'll be able to use my various filters and hood I have in 40.5 on the I-61,J-8 and Canon.
My suggestion is to keep the Canon for now and get an adaptor(step up or Series).
Rob

[FrankS]

There are 2 possible answers here:

1.) Use what you have - they are both excellent.

2.) You can never have too many 50's. I have 9 in LTM and M-mount.

[Gabriel M.A.]

As an owner of nine different 50mm rangefinder lenses
My name is Gabriel, and I am a 50-olic. A Leitz Xenon 5cm is now on its way. So now it's ten 50mm rangefinder lenses (I'm not counting the fixed lenses).

FrankS is ever so right (as in "correct"): you can never have too many 50mm lenses; unless, of course, you're crossing the dessert. Maybe. :D

I go for fast lenses, though. I have four f/2 (one of them supposed is really f/1.9), one f/1.2, four f/1.5, and one f/1.4 (that is actually f/1.49, but now I'm splitting hairs).

Perhaps a 50 Elmar is in my future?

Do you like everything "in focus" or do you like narrow DOF? Do you like to shoot in available light in dim conditions, or mainly outside during the day?

[back alley]

after reading and looking at lots of (web) pics i too want a 50 elmar, maybe a 2.8 or 3.5.

but not today.

joe

[RayPA]

Just one is tough. I'll toss in with the Canon 50/1.4 (but I like the Nokton 50/1.5, too).


.

[planetjoe]

Like FrankS (and others) have said, "run what you brung." In paraphrase, of course; use what you have, and enjoy. But in the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I have the "LTM 50" disease:

Jupiter-3, 50/1.5
Canon "Serenar" 50/1.8
Jupiter-8, 50/2
Industar-26L/D, 50/2.8
Industar-26L/D, 50/2.8 (another one, yet to be re-lubed)
Industar-26M, 50/2.8

I'm a big fan of the J-3, since I have a well-sdjusted one; it has the "eyeball" symbol, or whatever you call it; I've read elsewhere (perhaps here, Brian Sweeney would know) that these were cherry-picked "good" examples used for military purposes. Whatever the case, it makes very nice images. I shoot with it on a P, as well. I think I'd keep it, if everything else HAD to go.

But I hope they don't.

Your Canon 50/1.8 is well-married to the P, and should be enjoyed. It's a Planar-formula lens, no? I have the earlier chrome Serenar version, and it's a peach. That said, I'm currently waiting on a late UPS shipment containing a Summitar, so I'm a little high-key on 50s right now. What's your impression of the Summitar on the P?


Cheers,
--joe.

[raid]

Gabriel,
Tell me more about your Xenon lens. I don't know much about it.

[lmd91343]

Like Frank said, you can never have too many 50s. I have only 8 LTM, 2 M42 and 5 Canon FD SLR.

This won't apply to you. But I'd only use the Canon f0.95, because of it's three uses:
1) Use it at speeds f2 and slower, its like a regular 50
2) Use it as an "available darkness" lens
3) Given its size and weight, it makes an excellent weapon :)

[wlewisiii]

3) Given its size and weight, it makes an excellent weapon :)

Though if you need that, get a Speed Graphic instead... even more effective and it will still work to take a shot of your handywork afterwards ... :eek:

:D

William