Summitar the star...

[FPjohn]

Excellent! Especially #1 and #5.

yours
FPJ

[photo4ls]

Mauro
Amazing talent for B/W. You just have the
knack for getting the most out your gear.
Really nice images.
Nelson

[raydm6]

IIIf | Summitar | Ektar 100



Skylight Detail - Leominster Public Library

[Disaster_Area]

The Summitar is my first Leica lens as well... picked it up for a song, although it doesn't extend smoothly the optics are great. It really seems to be the best of all the Leica worlds with a great price point. At large apertures you get the dreamy Summar like rendering and by f4 you start seeing Summicron like crispness. Flair is a problem but a decent lens hood does wonders.

[Leigh Youdale]

I was about to sell my Summitar until I reviewed the shots in this thread. I might have to reconsider!

[Uwe_Nds]

I'm not going to sell mine, either.



Cheers,
Uwe

[LeicaFoReVer]

I sold mine but I loved that lens, beautiful colors and swirly bokeh produced...

[Mr_Flibble]

I agree


Summitar cheating with an Epson R-D1 at the Royal Engineer Museum in Vught (NL)

[fotomeow]

Glad this thread was bumped, love the images. I had spoken to Sherry K. about this lens: she loves this lens for its 3D rendering. She stated this is one of the early Leica lenses that really put "Liker" on the map of fotog equipment.
Again, I love the images presented here, but Im not able to see any more of a 3D rendering than any other Leica lens. Am I missing something?

[rodt16s]

I don't mind keeping the military theme going.



Well stopped down it's pretty sharp.



Have Two Summitars now, I liked the first so much.

[Leigh Youdale]

Originally Posted by Leigh Youdale

I was about to sell my Summitar until I reviewed the shots in this thread. I might have to reconsider!

Well, I am reconsidering. I've run some test shots with the Summitar and the same shots on the CV 50/2.5 on a second film but the same emulsion.
Hope to finish the second film and process it this coming week to help me decide if I keep one or both!

[Leigh Youdale]

Originally Posted by Leigh Youdale

Well, I am reconsidering. I've run some test shots with the Summitar and the same shots on the CV 50/2.5 on a second film but the same emulsion.
Hope to finish the second film and process it this coming week to help me decide if I keep one or both!

OK. Decision made. Tomorrow I'm going to put the Summitar up in Classifieds for a week and if not sold by then I'll put it on EBay. 1952 model, good condition, CLA'd and around the $250 mark including postage.
Send a PM if interested.

[khc1013]

Leica m6 TTL 0.85 with 50mmf2 Summitar.
A little haze in the rear elements.
fuji superia 100 expired 20years without cold stored.

[dogberryjr]

Mine's stuck at f2, but I'm not certain I mind.

[khc1013]

dognerryjr - nice portraiture.

[Mr_Flibble]

Nice indeed DogberryJr,

I found that working a tiny drop of oil into the rear seem of the aperture ring frees it up nicely. Mine had the same problem as your, but it's moving freely now.

[Ronald M]

I have two in factory fresh condition. Glass is perfect.

Both soft full open. Both get amazing sharp closed to 5.6. They have a wonderful old quality to them

[dogberryjr]

Thanks for the compliments, guys. I can actually get mine to loosen up with a bit of lighter fluid, but then it gets stiff again in a few days. Apparently this is because of deteriorated grease. I'll send it in for a once over one of these fine days. Strange thing is I was not all that impressed with its performance on film, but I really like it on my new-to-me M8. I've been totally bit by the legacy glass bug and now I want to try a Summar.

[khc1013]

Just a series i put together for fun. It seems all of them look like posed for, but none of them were.
All taken by the Summitar M6. Fuji superia 100 expired 20 years ago. and the bw with XP2.
As I putting this together. The summitar is probably getting a bath.
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

hopefully it's not too overloaded here.

[khc1013]

m6ttl+Summitar with xp2

[je2a3]

ca. 1950 on a Leica II
APX100/Diafine

[rodt16s]

M2 HP5 250asa

[khc1013]

First experimental roll of Kodak HIE infrared. Most of the frames were overexposed and over-developed in processing. here is one that i rescued.

[helenhill]

Originally Posted by khc1013

Leica m6 TTL 0.85 with 50mmf2 Summitar.
A little haze in the rear elements.
fuji superia 100 expired 20years without cold stored.

so BEAUTIFUL the way the Summitar Draws !

[Bingley]

Here's a thumbs-up for my 1949 coated Summitar. These shots were all taken before I sent the lens off to Sherry for a cleaning:

[Todd.Hanz]

Summitar
Kodak 160NC



Todd

[Todd.Hanz]

Summitar
Kodak 160NC



Todd

[Todd.Hanz]

Thanks, the lens and film are made for each other.

Todd

[Benjamin Marks]

She told me the same thing. I think that the Summitar was an early version of the Summicron. Kind of like a first draft. I have one CLA'd by Sherry and it does have a nice look. However, I wouldn't want to get carried away describing its virtues compared to modern glass. Because it does not have modern multi-coatings, it doesn't have the contrast of a modern lens and doesn't suppress flare nearly as well. If you were looking for a portrait lens that is less cruel than a latest generation Summilux or Summicron, then this lens offers a pleasing alternative. I have some test pictures I made last week at f:2, 2.8 and 4 with a variety of lenses on the Olympus EP-2 of a teacup sitting on a windowsill. I tested the Summitar first, but sadly, the index of which pictures go with which lenses is on a computer that had a little Windows automatic update crisis last week. If the re-install goes as I hope I can post some direct comparisons with the camera on a tripod that I think will illustrate what I mean.

Short version: the pictures bear out Sanmich's comment above. Don't get me wrong, it is a lens with fine qualities and worth owning, but not a 'supersharpness machine' -- more of a palette choice than a Summicron-killer, if you know what I mean.

[Todd.Hanz]

sometimes they flare nicely though...



Todd

[Benjamin Marks]

Found my lens notes. (Laptop has recovered). I have posted images showing 100% crops from a Summitar, Opton, modern Summicron, Summilux and 50/3.5 Heliar at:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/foru...23#post1347023

Hopefully these pix will communicate some of the differences I mentioned in my post above in this thread.

Ben Marks

[Edit: That portrait by motion_runner is a great example of what I'm talking about. Brilliant image, full of warmth -- the picture conveys a lot. Hard to see how the clinical sharpness of the 50 Summilux Asph would improve the image. Nice work.]

[dogberryjr]

I just got mine back from a CLA at Steves Camera and it is smooth like buttah. The haze is gone from the elements now, so I'll be interested to see how it renders now. I love this old lens.

[ray*j*gun]

Its the Rodney Dangerfield of Leica lenses......I love that...and I love mine!

[raydm6]

Some exquisite examples being posted here!

[reuno]

Hey love your pics guys. Some pretty nice stuff, i'm really surprised how sharp and clean your pictures turn. I've got one summitar on my M3 but affraid of getting it out as I heard it flares like hell. Are you mouting some kind of hood on it or are you shooting it naked ?

[ray*j*gun]

I use the "Barn Door" hood on mine most of the time. Works well, plus it looks cool!

[John Shriver]

I have a coated one, no flare problems without hood. Contrast is low for the first few stops, very different look compared to stopped down.

[jbr]

I use the barndoor only if I really need to impress the audience , otherwise I use the 12585H. A mounted sunshade is better than being sorry afterwards!

[khc1013]

i never had any fare problems at all... mine is a coated version. not sure if that makes a different.

[Todd.Hanz]

though not known for it's bokeh it performs admirably.





Todd