Leica M8, SUMMARIT-M 35 mm f/2.5, SUMMARIT-M 50 mm f/2.5, SUMMARIT-M 75 mm f/2.5, SUMMARIT-M 90 mm f/2.5 User Manual
The new Leica Summarit-M family
Precision lenses for unsurpassed pictures – analog or digital
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Summarit-M : Amazing quality plus outstanding value
With four focal lengths of 35, 50, 75 and 90 mm, the new Summarit-M
class covers all of the traditional applications in rangefinder photography. Our philosophy is to consistently reduce things to their absolute
essentials, and the new Summarit-M lenses represent the very best that
can be achieved today using traditional spherical lens design, for both
analog and digital Leica M photography. All are 6-bit coded for optimum compatibility with the LEICA M8, but also demonstrate their full
capabilities on all M models from the LEICA M3 onwards. Because film
materials and image sensors are increasingly sensitive, all members
of the Summarit-M line provide a moderately fast lens speed of f/2.5,
but have been designed using the latest optical calculations, yielding
a compact construction without compromising their excellent image
quality.
World-class lenses from our factory in Germany With its
new Summarit-M lenses, Leica is opening up the challenging world of
rangefinder photography to a wider target group. High-performance
Summarit-M lenses are the culmination of decades of striving to achieve
perfect optical and mechanical quality by using premium materials,
precision production techniques, cutting-edge multi-coatings, and
in dividual hand adjustment. They are all produced at our factory in
Germany and carry the “Made in Germany” quality mark. The new
Summarit-M lenses deliver beautiful, natural rendition, brilliant colors,
a wealth of detail and rich contrast – even at full aperture. The
mechanical system is pure Leica – the parts have no backlash and
their movement is silky smooth. Summarit-M is a contemporary interpretation of classic lens construction in the re nowned Leica tradition.
LEICA SUMMARIT-M 35 mm f/2.5 The new Summarit-M models
feature compact construction in a lens speed class that is totally new
for Leica. The LEICA SUMMARIT-M 35 mm f/2.5 gives all users of rangefinder cameras with a Leica M bayonet access to the smallest and light
-
est 35 mm lens available, offering the outstanding image quality that is
the hallmark of all Leica M lenses.
Extremely compact, extremely good The LEICA
SUMMARIT-M 35 mm f/2.5’s small, handy and stylish
design is matched by its impressive performance.
It produces excellent contrast and outstanding resolution across the entire image field. On the digital
LEICA M8, the image quality is superb right to the
edges of the picture, even at full aperture. In analog
applications, performance in the extreme corners
of the image can be improved slightly by stopping
down to f/5.6.
Natural pictures in the medium
range With the 35 mm Summarit-M,
you can produce brilliant and realistic looking shots of people in their
environment. The relatively short
focal length and wide depth of field
this lens provides means that at
medium apertures there is often no
need for precise focusing. This makes
it easy to take spontaneous and lifelike unposed pictures.
Lens cutaway
Sophisticated lens design The LEICA SUMMARIT-M 35 mm f/2.5 has six
lens elements in four groups, arranged symmetrically with respect to the
diaphragm. Three elements are made of special high refractive index glass
with anomalous partial dispersion. This improves the image results and provides outstanding color correction that could never be achieved with normal
glass. Light falloff is minimal, measuring only around 1.5 stops in the corners
at full aperture in 35 mm format. Stopping down to 5.6 visibly reduces light
falloff towards the periphery of the image. When used on the LEICA M8, virtually all vignetting is compensated electronically. Precise optical measurements reveal very slight barrel distortion, but in amounts that are negligible
in almost all practical applications.
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Relative Distortion
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The heart of your equipment In the Leica M system the 35 mm
lens is used by many as the standard focal length, while on the digital
LEICA M8, the LEICA SUMMARIT-M 35 mm f/2.5 corresponds approximately to a 50 mm standard lens. As a genuine all-rounder, it is indispensable choice whenever you are putting together a new equipment
configuration since it can deal effectively with all photographic situations – from vivid shots of people at medium range all the way to dramatic landscapes.
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