Leica 50mm Lenses – The “Goldilocks Leica Lens Challenge” Day Two – Summicron vs. Summitar…

For me, a good photo outing starts before I pick up a camera or leave the house.  Of course, I’d never go out shooting without a loaded camera, and depending on how ambitious I’m feeling, maybe some extra lenses & accessories or even a second camera.  But I’m also learning not to leave the house without an idea.  There have been times, especially early after I came into my film cameras, where I just went out to shoot because I had some free time but no creative or technical impulse to shape my choices.  Those expeditions almost always result in ‘nothing’ shots and part of my evolution has included getting better at not shooting just for the sake of it. 

That initial idea may be small, ill-formed or hopelessly vague, and I might drop it like a cold potato when the world gives me something else that catches my photographer’s eye & brain, often something better than what I had in mind when I set out.  That’s what happened to me more than once on Saturday, February 28th, Day Two of the “Goldilocks Leica Lens Challenge”, in which I took out matching Leica M’s to compare different Leica 50mm lenses.  One was sporting a real classics of the Leica line — a 1960 Summicron 50mm f2 Dual Range, the other mounted with a lesser-known predecessor — a 1949 Summitar 5cm f2.

As on Day 1, the plan that got me out of the house was to shoot both lenses side by side to get broadly equivalent shots in the same conditions, using identical camera settings and film stocks (Ilford Delta 100), and concentrating on the late afternoon when I could see how the lenses performed across the range of apertures from f8 to wide open.   However, as I was itching to get myself out shooting on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, I decided to head out a little early and load up with matching rolls of Fuji 400 Color film, and take the boat over from Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan and work my way up the island, shooting as I went.

I wasn’t in love with the bright high sun of the early afternoon, and I didn’t think photos taken at f11 or f16 would tell me much about the differences between the two lenses.  So I decided to start my day on the shady side of the street, and the canyons of Lower Manhattan is a great place to find a fair amount of consistent shade on a bright sunny days.  The first thing to catch my eye was a small group of “skate kids” practicing tricks in a small pocket park near the ferry landing.  Actually I think it caught my ear before my eye, because there was a loud group of ‘bro’s’ who were cheering on the skaters in a way that seemed a bit loutish to me, more amused by themselves than they were by the skaters who were doing their best to ignore them.

I think both lenses look pretty good on these early shots, and I like the energy of the fast moving skaters, including a bit of motion blur, at 1/125th.  It might be fun to try experimenting with slower and faster frame rates next time I come across a similar scene.

Learning to shoot documentary style action is an area where I’d still say that I’m very much ‘entry level’, especially trying to get past being overwhelmed by the camera settings and learning to snap the shutter at the right moment.  I think shooting with a 50mm is significantly more challenging than a wider lens like a 28mm or a 35mm, where it’s much easier to zone focus and keep a moving object or person in the frame.  Here I was trying to anticipate focus by choosing on some stationary object like the brick steps as a focus point and then waiting for a skater to cross through at that depth.  Sometimes I had to be patient for someone to take the route I had staked out, but when I hit it, I think it worked well.

It’s hard for me to compare the different qualities of the lenses on shots like these because so much is dependent on the moment captured and skate tricks are wildly different and often hit or miss in terms of whether you get a good one.  And while it’s more challenging, I do think there is a payoff with learning how to use a 50mm for action — for me there’s more of a sense of energy and motion with a longer lens and shallower depth of field than you’d get in a wider image with everything in focus.

After the noisy ‘frat bros’ left, I approached the skaters and asked for some portraits, which they were happy to oblige.  They seemed like cool people and the mood felt a little more relaxed than when they were on display.  As usual, I told them a little about the vintage camera gear I was using and exchanged Instagram information so they could see the photos when I posted them.

Side by side, I think both lenses deliver very solid results that have a decent amount of personality in the lower middle f stops (I didn’t keep disciplined records, but I think I was somewhere around f4 or f5.6 here.)

But I think there is something a little richer and more vivid in the Summitar’s color rendering along with a little more ‘pop’ between subject and background that is more noticeable on closer shots like these portraits, especially the side by side shots of Riley, where the Summitar image has a much more vibrant and dimensional look and feel.  I like her game face and determination that comes through whatever lens I had on the camera.

Feeling like the day was off to a good start, I decided to wander over to the New York Stock Exchange to see if anything interesting was going on there…

Just as I arrived at the NYSE, I stumbled onto a group portrait of the NYC FurWalk, a regular event for people who like to dress up in “Furry” costumes.  Of course I had to follow along with them and grab some photos!

The group included a number of photo enthusiasts, including their official FurWalk photographer, but also a number of people who were quite excited to see my vintage twin Leicas.

At these lower middle stops, the background has a nice amount of softness without becoming unreadable.  Again, I see a bit more vibrance and ‘pop’ with the Summitar.

Admittedly, Dayglo cartoon animal heads may not be the best subject for judging subtle gradations of optical performance.  But it was a lot of fun to shoot!

I love this two shot which I think of as this couple’s “Christmas Card” shot.

Well, that was really something!  I certainly had no idea that was in store when I left the house that afternoon.

I shot a couple of reference images to help ID the film with the help of Adam, one of the most enthusiastic photographers in the Furwalk.  He was very excited to shoot a frame on an M3.  We traded Instagram handles and he is a very talented photographer in his own right.

After reloading both cameras with the “official” Goldilocks Challenge stock, Delta 100, I grabbed the subway to head to my favorite photographic stomping grounds these days, Washington Square Park where I had also shot on Day One.  Just outside my subway stop, I ran into, Isack who was doing a personal photo shoot with a buddy of his.  I thought he had an interesting look and the light was getting really good, so I asked him for a couple of shots.

As usual, in the middle f stops, the two lenses are pretty close.  I particularly like this thoughtful portrait on the Summitar* and love the way the light makes Isack’s hair glow while his face is mostly in contemplative shadow.  He had an interesting ability to take direction but kind of ignore my presence at the same time and not mug for the camera.

*  Embarrassing Note:   I got a little caught up in the momentum of shooting, and neglected to shoot the reference photos on Delta 100. I’ve done my best, including closely comparing the B&W to the look of the color shots which were properly ID’ed, and I’ve also gotten some more expert 2nd opinions on which roll was the Summitar and Summicron.  I welcome input from the readership if you disagree with my lens assignments.

From Bleecker Street, I headed over to my main destination for the day, Washington Square Park, a hub for the kind of street shooting I’ve been enjoying over the last several months.  Not surprisingly for a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the park was hopping.

There was a bit of a street party on the south end of the park centering around Alan, a drummer who plays over a bed of echoing electronica, most frequently appearing without a shirt.  Part of his act is based on the idea that he’s out there playing to get enough money to buy a shirt.  Based on the buzzing scene and how much money was in the ‘hat’, I think he does okay.  I always try to make a contribution in gratitude for the atmosphere he provides.

In black & white, these lenses are pretty closely matched and on busy shots like these, the quality of the image feels a little more based on the moment I captured than the optical differences between the lenses.

I’ve started to know some of the regulars at the park including Ian, who introduced me to his friend Demetrius, who has a colorful sense of fashion and liked the pink watch cap I was wearing (his rather ‘animated’ outfit was mostly hot pink.)

And shooting close up portraits is where I start to see a little more of the character of the two lenses.  I think both portraits are quite nice here, but as on the color, I think the Summitar has a bit more sense of dimensionality and depth, i.e., ‘pop.’

As usual, there were a lot of people in the park with cameras that day, but my shooting style has slowly but surely evolved to the point where I’m getting well into the mix, getting close to my subjects, as opposed to hanging back and shooting from a distance.  I think I was the only photographer moving in and among the people dancing to the music that day.

I definitely feel the energy and connection with people when I get in close.  Even if I don’t end up communicating with them verbally, a lot is shared with gestures and eye contact.  That day I noticed another photographer in the park who had a very expensive looking kit that looked like a high end wildlife or sports setup with a very long lens (probably going up to 500mm) on a tripod.  He was staked out on a bench shooting people from a remote semi-hidden position.  I kind of felt sorry for what he was missing out on by not getting into the mix and feeling the connection I had with the people I was shooting.

I like that style of shooting and enjoy connecting with the people I meet, even if they have a bit of a sultry, “I can’t be bothered” look.

This fellow decided to jump into my frame when I switched cameras, which might have been a bit annoying if I didn’t already have a good single on the young woman.  As it is, you get to see how the lens and film stock perform differently on different skin tones and textures.  I like that she didn’t break that sultry pout, whatever might be going on around her.

Unlike the previous sitter, this young woman, newly arrived to NYC from New Orleans, loved playing for the camera and has a vibrant personality that pops for the camera, whatever lens I had on it.

If these photos are any indication, she seems destined to be a comedy star on Broadway or the cabaret scene very soon!

This nice young man, Belkhir was intrigued by my matching Leicas and very happy to pose for side by side shots.  As the late afternoon light faded and I was shooting at the wider apertures, the bokeh starts to get more abstract on both lenses.  I think they both look pretty good here, and are satisfyingly sharp at wider apertures.

For my last side-by-side shots, now fully wide open, I went to the north side of the fountain and grabbed some portraits of friends who had met up in NYC for the weekend.

The woman on the left is an Australian studying in NYC, and her friend was up from Maryland for the weekend to visit.  It’s often tricky hitting focus on two shots at a narrow depth of field; I think I hit focus for a two shot a little better with the Summitar, but both lenses perform pretty well all the way down to f2 and have a nice ‘glow’ in the soft, late light.

So that was quite a day of shooting, from skate kids, to Furries, to a street party, from dodging the sun, to some beautiful backlight all the way to “WFO” (a term I learned for using your maximum aperture from the great cinema DoP Wally Pfister.)  It was a wonderful shooting day and so much fun that I didn’t really feel burdened by the ‘task’ of comparing the lenses and got more and more caught up the joy of shooting — at the cost of forgetting to do my reference shots on the final side-by-side rolls.

So what did I learn from the two day Leica lens “Goldilocks Challenge?

Comparing the Summicron and Summitar, two Cold War era 50mm f2 lenses that were intended for the essentially the same spot in the Leica roster when they were released feels much more ‘fine margins’ than the 21st Century Summmilux which has a dramatically different look than the 1957 Summarit, made in the UK by Taylor Hobson.  The Summicron was the first Leica lens I bought when putting together my own kit after borrowing my son’s M2, and it may have suffered a bit by being my main lens on the most painful parts of my early learning curve.  I’m happy to see that I can get much better shots with it now than I could when I first started, but somehow it feels a little ‘flatter’ and a tiny bit less vibrant in both color and b&w.  Given the lofty reputation of that particular lens, I’m a little surprised by this finding.  I’d value thoughts from the readership about my shots and your experience with Summicron’s — maybe there’s an issue with my particular ‘Cron?

If you have been dreaming of shooting with a genuine Leica lens, but are intimidated by the $4 and $5 figure price tags, I would highly recommend checking out a Summitar.   Like any vintage equipment, you need to make sure you get one that has been well-treated and doesn’t have fungus or dust or cleaning marks or scratches.  Also, there are some variations over the Summitar’s manufacturing run — the early versions have uncoated glass and the later versions have a six blade aperture that can impact the bokeh.  But I got my Summitar from the ‘prime’ era that comes with coated glass and the 10 blade aperture for under $300, and I think it more than holds its own side by side with lenses that costs 2 to 10 times as much.

One of my biggest takeaways from this ‘project’, as with my B&W film stock survey, is that there is no single lens that is perfect for every kind of shooting.  Going forward, I may be doing a little more “horses for courses” both with lenses and film stocks, depending on what I’m looking for on any given day.  I think the real value of this ‘project’ has been more about learning how to get the most out of each of these lenses.

But all that being said, I haven’t come this far to sign off without some kind of overall conclusion/rankings…

Again, this is all about my personal taste, but I think the Summicron may be the least exciting of my four Leica 50mm’s – super solid and reliable, but maybe not ‘best in show’ in any single area for me compared to the others.  The one exception is shooting close range shots with the dual range feature, a valuable option, but not something I’ve ended up doing all that often.

If I was doing a high stakes shoot where I wanted to be sure to have as close to ‘professional’ results as I could deliver, or going out in low light, I’d make sure to bring the Summilux.  And I plan to try it out with some different film stocks to try to reduce the digital edge that sometimes creeps in with that lens.  ‘Rediscovering’ the Summilux after light use for about a year may have been the biggest revelation of the Goldilocks Challenge.

If I wanted a vintage, arty, ‘lost film’ look, I think I’d grab the Summarit.  But I’m also really intrigued by it’s performance on portraits in the middle apertures where I might prefer it’s lower contrast look and more detail on skin tones.  A lot of my early shooting with the Summarit was in lower light between f4 – f1.5, and I think I might want to see more of this one in the f5.6 – f8 part of the dial, where I think it looks pretty great.

But I’m not sure there’s a lens in my collection I like shooting with more than the Summitar, by far the least expensive Leica lens of the batch.  I feel like it’s a really terrific lens for street shooting, with its compact, collapsible profile that makes my M3 fit nicely into a coat pocket, and the slightly quirky looks that make it a bit of an ice breaker when I’m engaging with people I’m shooting.  And most important of all, it provides consistently great results — loads of vintage personality, but not at the cost of sharpness, contrast or really great color rendering.  It has been my ‘default’ lens on the M3 since I bought it in late 2024, and If I want a beautiful, rich, film photo, I think I’m sticking with the little 1949 collapsible!

This has been a fun project/rabbit hole, and I think I achieved my goal of doing my lens comparisons in a ‘live’ situation with lots of fun people to shoot, and got quite a few keepers, and more than one ‘hang on the wall/portfolio’ shot along the way.  Perhaps more exciting than the results of the lens comparison is what this series has shown about my progress as a self-taught photographer in my second year of shooting.  I feel like I’ve gone up a level, which is exciting!

Actually, I take that back. I’m not self-taught, a huge part of my learning has been looking at photos and talking to other photographers I read about or meet in person, either out on the streets or here on 35mmc.  Many thanks to all.

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