Name: Leica 50mm f/2 APO-SUMMICRON-M Aspherical Lens for M System - Black / Chrome Finish
Brand: Leica
SKU: LC502MABS
Price: 10595.00 USD
Availability: Discontinued
Rating: 5 (4 reviews)

Leica 50mm f/2 APO-SUMMICRON-M Aspherical Lens for M System - Black / Chrome Finish

Leica 50/2 APO-SUMMICRON

Leica

Leica 50mm f/2 APO-SUMMICRON-M Aspherical Lens for M System - Black / Chrome

Adorama

Photography

Lenses

Rangefinder Lenses

Leica Rangefinder Lenses

Leica 50/2 APO-SUMMICRON 

Top Rated Gear: Leica 50mm f/2 APO-SUMMICRON-M Aspherical Lens for M System - Black / Chrome Finish

The Leica APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0 ASPH is a premium, hand-made, compact normal prime lens for the Leica M rangefinder camera that delivers superior image quality for the most discerning photographer. MTF chart test results show this to be one of the highest-rated lenses ever made, with corner-to-corner sharpness at all apertures, and over 50% contrast. A manual focus lens with clear foot/meter and depth-of-field indicators on the lens barrel, this lens virtually eliminates vignetting, imperceptible linear distortion, and extremely high sharpness and resolution. This lens is especially designed for photojournalists, street photographers, portrait photography and travel photography.  What you should know about this lens:  &#149; Best image quality: Hand-built to precise specifications, the lens is made with superior glass that produces absolutely no image degradation at f/5.6, vignetting restricted to 2 stops at full aperture, and 0.4% pincussion distortion, which is practically imperceptible.  &#149; Best in class glass: The lens has 8 lens elements with apochromatic correction, reducing in sharp edges throughout the frame, plus high anomalous partial color dispersion in three lens elements, while the other five elements have a high refractive index.  &#149; Fantastic focus: Image quality is consistently outstanding throughout both the entire focus range and at all apertures.

This is the end all lens for my M10 Monochrom.  I just keep it bolted to it.  It's "only" f2, and I had the Summilux before, but, with the monochrom, going a little higher ISO doesn't hurt at all.  I read a bunch of reviews and comments about it not being as good as the Summilux and not as magical, but I absolutely love how the subject is super sharp at f2 and the out of focus areas have smoother bokeh than say the Summicron V5.  For me, it's too hard to manually focus a 50mm at f1.4 consistently, so I have a f1.4 35mm and then was using the Summicron 50mm V5. In addition to better bokeh than the Summicron V5, you also get this really dramatic contrast drop between the isolated subject and the background so the look is pretty amazing to me at least.

My favorite lens I own or have owned, ever

leicabuff

The lens arrived in the original beautiful box. More like a package for Jewelery or high end watches with velvet lining etc.  Adorama secured it professionally with several layers of air cushioning and double boxed. Delivered ontime. Very smooth process from purchase to delivery.
The lens itself is a masterpiece of German optics. Flawless glass, solid metal and robust mechanics. Feels great in the hand. Sharp from corner to corner. It's simply the best 50 mm lens in the world, period.

Very smooth process from purchase to delivery

I own nine Leica M lenses, two of which are the 50mm Summicron (non-APO) and the 50mm Noctilux.  Of all my M lenses, this lens, far-and-away, excells the others in contrast, tonality, edge-to-edge clarity, and zero chromatic abberation.  And with respect to these characteristics, this lens really shines on the M Monochrom and/or black and white film formats.  Granted, it's an expensive lens, which is somewhat due to high manufacturing scrap rate and expensive glass, but the superior nature of the optical configuration gives crednence to its high price tag.  In my opinion, it's worth every penny.

Leica 50mm f/2 APO-SUMMICRON-M Aspherical Lens for M System - Black / Chrome Finish

Recommended Alternatives

Leica 16-18-21mm f/4.0 Tri Elmar-M Aspherical Lens for M System, Black

Leica 21mm f/1.4 Summilux-M Aspherical Lens, Black

Leica Super-APO-Summicron-SL 21mm f/2 ASPH Lens for L Mount, Black

Leica 21mm f/3.4 Super Elmar-M Aspherical Lens for M System, Black