Embracing one camera one lens - six months with the Leica 50mm Summicron Version 4
The greatest street photographers that I admire all tended to stick to one main focal length for most of their famous work. They say this removes indecisiveness, keeps you more in the moment, enables you to visualize an image without looking through the camera, creates a concise body of work and kills the dreaded gear-acquisition-syndrome. With a cabinet full of great lenses all fighting for a trip outdoors anytime I pick up the camera, this idea has appealed to me recently. Less time deciding, more time shooting is the idea. But which camera and which lens?
I have long gravitated to the 50mm. I do like to experiment with a wider 35mm or 28mm and some of my most interesting pictures from last year have come from my 15mm lens. If I had to commit to one lens for half a year though, it would have to be a 50 and though I love my FE mount 55mm Zeiss, this challenge would have to be with my Leica. The TTArtisan 50mm 1.4 ASPH is such a well-built lens that produces amazing shots but there is one problem - it weighs a ton (aka 395g), so I was on the lookout for an alternative. After months of research looking for my perfect M mount 50, I saw a great deal on my dream lens that I could not pass up. Upon purchase I made one promise to myself - I will use this Leica Summicron with my Leica M10 exclusively for six months, to really put it through its paces, get to know how they perform together and concentrate more on the composition rather than which tools to use.
The first thing that struck me about the lens was the size and weight. Coming from the TTArtisan goliath, at only 195g the ‘Cron felt so small and nimble. It is so perfectly balanced on this camera, no more tipping forward to aching wrist if I carried it for more than an hour. I also love how it looks on the camera - the quintessential M camera combination with a lens coating that gives off a beautiful orange hue when shone in the right light. When I got it, I only had a 39mm filter in silver, but I really love the silver-black-silver look this combo gives off. Very vintage looking with many people asking if I am shooting on film.
The image quality should not need to be mentioned - the Leica 50mm Summicron has been a benchmark lens that all others are measured against since its inception in 1953. Though, being older than me (these were manufactured from 1979 - 1994 with my copy coming from 1984) I am still stunned how much detail there is and how vivid the colours are on my digital sensor. Sure, if I had to be picky, I would say the images from some of my modern Zeiss or Voigtlander lenses are even sharper with a bit more pop but I love shooting a lens with as much rich history as this one, in such a tight package that does not fall victim to many of the shortcomings often found in vintage glass, such as soft focus, washed out colours and excessive flare. Speaking of lens flare, the V4/V5 Summicron’s are often chastised for their shabby flare control, but I can honestly say I have only seen one or two images in these six months that were negatively affected by flare. I normally only attach the hood on very sunny days or just when I want the camera to look even more vintage, so I am glad I didn’t let all those naysayers put me off the lens for this reason alone - in my experience anyway, flaring is not an issue.
One thing I thought might be a bit more useful, would be the lens tab. I have long had this romantic notion of being able to get to know a lens so well that I can perfectly zone focus with the aperture wide open and get tack sharp shots. I am finding this more difficult than initially expected and I have realised the people I see using this method all use wider focal lengths like 35mm, 28mm or 24mm. I think 50mm is significantly harder to do this and I might have to practice a bit longer than six months to be as quick at focusing as lifelong 50mm shooter Elliot Erwitt.
I have really enjoyed this half a year taking out the camera and not wasting energy decided which glass to attach to the front. It is quite freeing and has led me to think about what's in front of me a lot more. Since I have had the M10 I have struggled a bit more than I expected with framing a scene using range-finder frame lines rather than a mirrorless EVF, but I feel like I am a bit better now at visualising what will be in my image and what I am cutting out. Occasionally I miss the separation of f1.4 and longingly check if prices for a Summilux ASPH have come down (they never do) but in reality, with the right placement and the ISO ranges of modern sensors, F2 should be enough in almost all situations.
Now that the six months is up, I feel myself being drawn to the 28mm again and giving it another chance. I am also thinking about getting my Summicron serviced to smooth out the focus throw a bit and get the mount changed for a 6-bit coded one (I’m a sucker for accurate EXIF details). If this does not cost too much and doesn’t take too long it might be nice to send it off over winter, ready to be shot again in lovely fresh condition in the spring.
For now, I love my 50mm Summicron V4, for me it is the perfect everyday street photography lens for a Leica and hope this is just the start of my journey of taking meaningful photographs with it.
