I was going to put this in the Alternative Image Thread but I figured it would be preaching to the choir I recently picked up a Leica 50mm f2 Sumicron.. and I have to say with only half a dozen test shots so far I'm blown away. I highly recommend that anyone with an EOS system pick one up. This is one of the beautiful benefits of the EOS systems, not only do we have access to some of the best AF lens's for sports, action and wildlife... but with adapters you can attach almost anything that resembles a peice of glass in a tube to it. Dont get me wrong.. I love my canon glass.. it's sharp and has speedy AF but after trying out a leica lens I've got a few observations:

- If the Canon 1.8 mkII is on one end of the build quality spectrum.. the 50mm Sumicron is on the other.. the thing's a TANK, if a puma was chasing me, I wouldnt hesitate to brain it with the lens and still be confident it would work perfectly to take a picture of my kill

- the Sumicron is SHARP.. there may be Canon lens's as sharp or sharper at the same aperatures but sharpness isnt everything.. my 50mm mkII is sharp but side by side shots from it look ugly. The mkII's highlights and bokeh especially look garish. The leica glass truly is smooth as silk when it comes to tonal gradiations and bokeh.. the background just MELTS.

- I own some CZ glass as well, and while definatly better in the bokeh and build area than most modern glass, the Leica goes a step further.

I highly recommend that anyone that owns a canon pick up a 50mm Sumicron, it's a cheap way to try some leica glass, the lens and adapter cost me a total of like $300, not bad when you compare it to some L primes like the 50L or 85L, you wont regret it. I'm not going to suggest you abandon your canon glass though, it is top notch as well and definatly has it's place, I wouldnt want to be focusing manually for birds or soccer or fast little kids, but I will definatly be using the Leica whenever I have the time to slow down and take my time.

PS - when I have a chance I'll post some side by side comparisons.

Edited by SmegHead on Jul 19, 2007 at 01:11 PM GMT

Although I haven't tried any Leica glass yet (don't really want to because I know I'll get addicted) I completely agree with you regarding alternative glass and the EOS system's adaptability. The choices seem virtually unlimited and most that I have tried continue to produce excellent results. "L" quality or better can be had for very, very low prices in many cases.

This thread is worthless without pics.

This thread should be over on the alternative systems board.

The reason I posted it here is it's relavance to Canon shooters specifically because Canon is the only system I know of that can adapt easily to all these alternative lens's. And when I get home and post some pics to show a comparison to Canon glass specifically.

The Summicron is not even considered as one of the top shelf lenses..... Try the latest (preferably ROM) version of the 28mm Elmarit, 19mm Elmarit and 100mm Elmarit Macro, among others.

Yup, this thread belongs to the Alternative System Board alright though.

Depends on which Summicron you are referring to.
The Summicron 90mm APO and 180mm APO are the best F2 lens at this focal length.

AGeoJO wrote:
The Summicron is not even considered as one of the top shelf lenses..... Try the latest (preferably ROM) version of the 28mm Elmarit, 19mm Elmarit and 100mm Elmarit Macro, among others.

Yup, this thread belongs to the Alternative System Board alright though.

s23chang wrote:
Depends on which Summicron you are referring to.
The Summicron 90mm APO and 180mm APO are the best F2 lens at this focal length.



Well, the OP was referring to the 50mm....

I had and used the 90mm APO for about 6 months and sold it here on FM. I never used the 180mm f/2.0 but in that focal length, I prefer my 200mm f/1.8L. The DOF at wide open or close to wide open is really shallow on my 1Ds MarkII and an AF lens comes in handy.

AGeoJO wrote:
The Summicron is not even considered as one of the top shelf lenses..... Try the latest (preferably ROM) version of the 28mm Elmarit, 19mm Elmarit and 100mm Elmarit Macro, among others.

Yup, this thread belongs to the Alternative System Board alright though.
He didn't even compare it to other Leica Glass. He said it was a cheap way. Recommending expensive Leica glass to adapter newbies won't peak most people's interest.

SmegHead wrote:
The reason I posted it here is it's relavance to Canon shooters specifically because Canon is the only system I know of that can adapt easily to all these alternative lens's. And when I get home and post some pics to show a comparison to Canon glass specifically.

Yes, But all the lens via adapter talk is done over on the Alternative Digital Systems & Lenses board since the Canon board use to get filled up with non Canon mount lens talk.

There is allot of discussion over on the other board with users of lenses via adapters mounted on Canon bodies.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/55

Canon users don't necessarily have to chose between Leica and Canon lenses. I shoot with both on both Leica and Canon bodies. When I need AF and/or IS, I use Canon. When I want detail and bokeh and great color, I use Leica. The APO lenses are superb. So are the ASPH zooms - 21-35mm, 35-70mm,70-200mm. They all work on the 1D III. Only the 21-35 needs a mod that takes 30 seconds. The wides, including the Leica 19mm have no equal among Canon offerings.

I assume you're speaking of the R?

Nice bit of writing, BTW:

SmegHead wrote:

- If the Canon 1.8 mkII is on one end of the build quality spectrum.. the 50mm Sumicron is on the other.. the thing's a TANK, if a puma was chasing me, I wouldnt hesitate to brain it with the lens and still be confident it would work perfectly to take a picture of my kill

foghorn wrote:
He didn't even compare it to other Leica Glass. He said it was a cheap way. Recommending expensive Leica glass to adapter newbies won't peak most people's interest.

The OP was blown away by the 50mm Summicron and my remarks on that was more like, "Wait, until you have tried out the other lenses". I am not recommending other people to try Leica lenses. Yes, Leica, Zeiss or other alternative lenses have their special place within a Canon shooter but they are not without drawbacks.....

I do agree with AGeoJO.. alternative glass is not without it's drawbacks.. lack of AF is a big concern on crop bodies.. I transplanted an AF confirm adapter from one of my CZ adapters to help with this... Leica or other glass is NOT a substitute for good Canon AF glass.. it's an amazing suppliment to them.

PS- I really didnt mean to cause a ruckuss over putting this in the Canon forums.. I put it here because it's not really new news to people over in the Alternative lens forums.. I wanted to share my experience with those that shoot Canon specifically because of the wide range of adapters and because when I started shooting I was afraid of adventuring into "expensive" glass because of the price so I avoided the Alt Lens Forums all together... the point of this post I guess was to those with Canon bodies specifically.. Leica glass is NOT out of your reach... try it on the cheap..you may like it.. but DONT forsake your canon glass, it's great stuff and excells in other areas.

Can someone tell me what sort of adapter I need to use a Leica lens on my EOS body?
Also, do I need different adapters for different types of Leica lenses?

This kind of info IS available in the Alt Lens Forum.. I sent you a PM with more details.

Remember that, in this digital age, the "Look" of these lenses as well as many other looks (film too) is possible with PS (color, contrast, etc).

Color and contrast yes.. PS is amazing in that respect.. but it still takes time to do it well and have it look natural. Bokeh though can be very difficult in most cases to replicate well.. no matter how good you are with gradient masks, gaussian blur layers and the blur tool it takes alot of time and skill to replicate bokeh and prevent it from looking "digitally altered".

Where did you find this for $300? When I look on B+H, it is about $1500.

J.

you're probably looking at the ROM versions that have electronic contacts for the later Leica camera's.. the older 1,2 and 3 cam versions are cheaper and since you're using an adapter they work the same.

Leica has been making lenses longer than most of us have been around on the earth (including myself, BTW). There are at least 3 generations of Leica 50mm Summicrons (I can be off here since I don't have the Leica Compendium by Erwin Puts handy). In general, each time they introduced an upgrade, the upgrade is approximately 2 stops better than the predecessor in terms of contrast, resolution, etc. With other words, the new f/2.0 lens will perform approximately at wide open aperture at the same level as the f/4.0 setting of its predecessor. In general, you want to get the latest version if sharpness, contrast, (lack of) vignetting, etc. is what you are after. Some people prefer the "softer" look of an older lens without coating or a single layer of coating can give for portraits. Yes, they can be pretty and flattering but that effect can easily be created on PS. On the other hand, images taken with soft lenses cannot be made to look like they were taken with modern lenses showing the brilliance, contrast, sharpness, colors, etc. without showing too much of the digital artifacts.

One word of caution, beware of the slippery slope ahead of you...

optically, I believe the 3 cam Summicron is identical to the ROM 50... nearly as good wide open as stopped down.

Contrast is hard to fudge in Photoshop... bokeh near impossible.

Yes, you need to know your lenses...

Leitz Summicron lenses superceded Summar-named lenses in the 1950's on normal (50mm) focal length lenses. Other focal lengths using the Summicron name followed. Elmars and Hektors bacame Elmarits. High speed normals
started with the Xenon name then bcame Summarit, Summilux and Noctilux
in succeeding iterations.

AGeoJO wrote:
The OP was blown away by the 50mm Summicron and my remarks on that was more like, "Wait, until you have tried out the other lenses". I am not recommending other people to try Leica lenses. Yes, Leica, Zeiss or other alternative lenses have their special place within a Canon shooter but they are not without drawbacks.....
forgive me. I read you wrong.

mh2000 wrote:
I ended up prefering the more distinctive and classic look from my Super-Tak 50... but that is just a personal taste.

One more reason I haven't tried the 50 Summicron-R. The Super-Tak 50/1.4 is simply superb, with a signature like no other that I have used.