Recently I sold off my R8 and lenses, not because I did not like it but I found myself seldom using it. I have become very comfortable with the M6 and find it meets the majority of my photographic needs. I am contemplating adding another body and a couple of lenses to my kit. I have no Lux's currently, and really don't like duplicating focal lengths. So the 75mm Lux interests me. I do a lot of portraiture and wedding work. My M6's are classic .72's. I would like to hear comments from users of the 75mm. My current M portrait lens is a 90mm Tele elmarit. Thanks in advance.

-- Steve Belden (otterpond@tds.net), September 13, 2001

Answers

I also have an R system and would use it more if I liked it. Anyway the 75mm Summilux is a wonderful top performance lens. The drawback is that it is big and heavy enough so I don't reach for it as a travel lens unless I specifically intend to use it. Wide open it exhibits a characteristic not unlike the Noctilux though probably due to an even narrower depth of field. Unlike the Noctilux the 75 Summilux from wide open to f/8 is second to none. It would serve as an excellent fast companion to your 90 Tele-Elmarit. Another peeve tough is the poor framelines on the M6. I just bought a Voigtlander Bessa T and will use it with the 75mm Summilux with an external finder.

-- Ray Tai (razerx@netvigator.com), September 13, 2001.

Steve, I have a 75 Summilux and love it. Some of the posters on this board do not like the 75 because of weight / size. Let's face it, Leica M is not designed for long lenses (and the M bodies are more comfortably married to the smaller lenses), but I do not have trouble with the moderate telephotos. The quality of this lens demands that if one has the inclination, he/she should at least try it. I enjoy the 75 Summilux for its optical characteristics, and do not find the lens difficult to use except in focusing at maximum aperture in the near focus region. Care must be taken for proper focus, but no less so than focusing my 90 APO Summicron ASPH at maximum aperture in the near region. I use a .85 M6. FYI, I have the latest German lens, which is optically identical to the older lenses of Canadian manufacture, but whose weight is some 40 grams less. I like the focal length - very versatile. I am now using it more than my 90's.

-- David (pagedt@attglobal.net), September 13, 2001.

Sorry; I meant to say that focusing the 75 Summilux at full aperture in the near region is NO MORE DIFFICULT than focusing the 90 Summicron AA at full aperture in the near region.

-- David (pagedt@attglobal.net), September 13, 2001.

David does the 75 let you get in closer then the 90?

-- Hank Graber (hgraber@narrativerooms.com), September 13, 2001.

Hank, Yes the 75 Summilux focuses closer than either of my 90's.

-- David (pagedt@attglobal.net), September 13, 2001.

But becareful....the 75mm can focus closer than your M6. Toward extremely close range the lens/camera uncouples.

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), September 13, 2001.

I have got 10 lenses (M-mount and LTM), which I use for my M6 and CLE. I have the feeling that my Summilux 75 is the best lens I possess. But yet I must confess that I donīt use it very often. The reason is that it is too heavy for me sometimes to take it along.

By the way the lens construction is comparable to the R-lens Summilux 80.

I have got an interesting information from a former Leica-coworker. He told me that the reason for Leica to have kept on producing both M- lenses Summilux 75 and Noctilux 50 in Canada in former times was the fact, that at least one element of those lenses is made of a Beryllium-containing glass, which is not allowed to be melted in Germany. Leica sold their glass melting equipment some years ago. Nowadays Leica gets its glass from different sources also from abroad. Thus there is no reason any more to produce those Beryllium- containing lenses in a different country than Germany.

Jochen

-- Jochen Kriegesmann (Jochen.Kriegemann@t-online.de), September 16, 2001.

I have got 10 lenses (M-mount and LTM), which I use for my M6 and CLE. I have the feeling that my Summilux 75 is the best lens I possess. But yet I must confess that I donīt use it very often. The reason is that it is too heavy for me sometimes to take it along.

By the way the lens construction is comparable to the R-lens Summilux 80.

I have got an interesting information from a former Leica-coworker. He told me that the reason for Leica to have produced both M-lenses Summilux 75 and Noctilux 50 in Canada in former times was the fact, that at least one element of those lenses is made of a Beryllium- containing glass, which is not allowed to be melted in Germany. Leica sold their glass melting equipment some years ago. Nowadays Leica gets its glass from different sources and thus can produce Beryllium- containing lenses even in Germany.

-- Jochen Kriegesmann (Jochen.Kriegesmann@t-online.de), September 16, 2001.