Legendary - yet uncomromisingly modern This extremely compact lens, which retracts into the camera housing, stems from the tradition of the legendary Elmar lenses, a major factor in the success of the first Leicas. The classic four-element design has been continually enhanced in its optical and mechanical components over the decades, in line with advances in technology. The current version has been brought up to an uncompromisingly modern standard. The use of high-refraction glasses and the new computer-aided optical design are key factors in its outstanding overall performance. This classic with its 45° coverage angle is closest of all to human eyesight. That's why the perspective appears so natural in the images it produces. Its medium speed, small size, and light weight make this lens a practical choice for many uses.
Superb, But Expensive, Collapsible 50mm Leica M-Mo, Sunday, 24 December 2006
Overall rating (weighted)
4.3
Sharpness
5.0
Build Quality
4.0
AF Speed
4.0
Value for Money
4.0
The cheapest lens currently offered by Leica for M-mount rangefinder camera users, the Leica 50mm f2.8 Elmar-M lens is the perfect lens for the rangefinder camera user who wants to travel with a collapsible, relatively lightweight lens. Optically, this lens performs better than the 1950s and 1960s versions of Leica's venerable 50mm f2 Summicron lens, thanks to the usage of some special glasses. Indeed, its optical performance has been rated as superb in a lens test conducted and published by Popular Photography a few years ago (One interesting observation I saw from this test is the fact that this lens doesn't perform superbly wide open as the current 50mmm f2 Summicron-M lens, but under practical, real-life conditions, users will not really notice any differences.) Otherwise, it has the same four element Tessar design that is optically indistinguishable from the earlier vintage 50mm f2.8 Elmar. If you are willing to pay the extra money, then I would recommend instead considering the purchase of a current version of the 50mm f2 Summicron-M lens.