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Just ordered a 75 Summarit - right choice?

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wilsonlaidlaw

Guest
Having given up trying to find a 75mm Summicron at anything approaching a reasonable price (in the UK they fetch more than a 75 Summilux), I have ordered a new 75 Summarit to arrive tomorrow. I had a fair amount of credit at a London Leica dealer after selling my 50 Summicron and 50 Elmar-M, which since I got my 50 Summilux-M ASPH, had remained wholly unused. I am wondering if I have made the right choice. Would I have been better waiting for a Summicron or gone for the cheap choice the CV Colour Heliar, which I believe is just becoming available in M mount instead of LTM + adapter? What do folks think?

Wilson
 
Jack

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Hi Wilson, and welcome to the forum!

I would say you made an EXCELLENT choice! You can read Guy's extensive review here and see lots of images he produced from it compare to the Cron and Lux. When all said and done, i is an excellent lens, more so considering the cost and size and only gives up half a stop to the Cron. If I didn't have a 75 Lux, I'd own one of the Summarits in a heartbeat. (FWIW, I actually sold my 90 Cron AA in favor of the smaller, lighter and 1/2 slower Summarit 90, much better as a travel lens.)
 
M

Mark Gowin

Member
Wilson, I think you made a good choice - I received 75mm Summarit today, just in time for a trip to London tomorrow. I tested a 75mm Summarit back in November ( http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/38393-first-impressions-75mm-summarit.html ) and really didn't want to send it back to Leica. I knew then that I would buy one as soon as I could gather the money.

In my view, the 75 Summarit is a great combination of image quality, build quality, size, and cost. I had lusted for a 75mm Cron ASPH, but settled on the Summarit for the reasons stated above.
 
H

Huwge

Guest
Wilson,
is a great choice. As much as I love my 'lux it is gathering dust as it is just too heavy as a walkaround lens. I find that on the M8, it compliments either my 24 elmarit or 35 lux really well. Also, it is remarkable the extent to which you can handhold - so much more forgiving than the lux. As a portrait lens the lux is imho unbeatable but the summarit is a more than acceptable alternative in all other respects. The attached was really a snap shot but I think highlights the qualities of the lens, isolating the subject and pleasing blur. I am more than happy with this purchase.
Huw
 
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wilsonlaidlaw

Guest
Well my Summarit arrived and what a disappointment. It is backfocusing to the extent that the focus point is pretty unsharp at f2.5. I did a cross check with my newish 50 Summilux and the focus with that and the M8 is spot on, so it is definitely the lens and not the M8. I had thought Leica had pulled their socks up and stopped sending out lenses in this state, that is so far wrong, I could detect it on the very first image I took. It is pretty basic stuff to get right and if they continue to send out lenses like this, it is only going to drive buyers into the arms of Zeiss and Voigtlander.

The only plus point is that when I phoned Richard Caplan to let them know, they immediately said "we will put another new lens aside for you right away. I am going up to London on Tuesday, so I will swap it then. I am beginning to wonder if I should have got an M mount CV 75 Heliar and saved my money. At least it might have focused correctly.

Wilson
 
carstenw

carstenw

Active member
Wilson, the 50 Summilux is much more likely to be off, IMO. You might want to cross-check with other lenses before trading in the 75 Summarit.
 
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wilsonlaidlaw

Guest
carstenw said:
Wilson, the 50 Summilux is much more likely to be off, IMO. You might want to cross-check with other lenses before trading in the 75 Summarit.
Click to expand...
Carsten,

My Elmarit-M 90 is OK as is my T-E 135, Nokton 35, Biogon 35 and the various wide angles, so I am fairly confident it is the Summarit. The images from the Summilux are in focus and the distance reads correctly plus the infinity is right so everything points to it being OK. It would need two errors in the lens and the M8 exactly canceling each other out for the Summilux images to be in focus which they are. The Summarit has the same symptoms as my Noctilux had. Correct at infinity but wrong at mid and short focus distances. It is either the rangefinder cam in the lens wrongly set up or the internal focus going wrong.

Wilson
 
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