Whenever I remove the $4000 Leica 50mm 1.4 Summilux ASPH lens from my Leica M-E and mount the Leica 50mm 2.0 Summicron, 20 years or so old, made in Canada, that set me back just $475, I’m always blown away.

There often seems to be a color explosion on my M-E’s monitor. The lens is so incredibly capable. So sharp. So perfect. So much color and contrast. If you think you have to spend thousands to shoot the very best Leica glass, you’d be wrong.

The 50 Summicron lacks NOTHING in terms of the sharpness, color, and contrast that you find on the 50 ‘Lux. In some ways, it seems to exceed the ‘Lux.

With the Summiluxes you get a capability provided by the extra stop of light available and the fact that the performance of the lens at that 1.4 aperture is stellar. But that capability and the expense of making that lens does not mean that it’s a better lens than the Summicron. Leica says their 50’Crons are ‘without compromise’, implying what many know, that in order to create a lens that will perform at 1.4 like the Summiluxes perform, there will be some compromises.

This website is named for the 50’lux, but my heart belongs to my 50’cron. Here in iffy iffy light, all shot at f/2 from a moving car. Huh?