The 40mm Summicron-C f/2.0
on the Leica M9.
© Thorsten Overgaard.
Leica 40mm Summicron-C
f/2.0
Between 1973 and 1979,
Leica Camera AG produced 54,000 lenses of the Leica 40mm Summicron-C f/2.0
(order no 11542), made for the Leica CL (also known as the "Leica Mini
M") film camera they developed with Minolta. It's lens it's easy to get
around, and it's not expensive.
© Thorsten Overgaard.
The Minolta CLE and the
Leica CL were sister cameras in an age where Leica tried to catch up with the
Japanese camera producers of the so popular SLR cameras. The idea was to work
with Minolta. A lot of Minolta staff went to Leica in Wetzlar to learn the
German way of engineering and assembling, which obviously took quite some
resources.
Despite the success of the
Leica CL and the Minolta CLE, the innovative cameras didn't save Leica. In
early 1980's the Leitz family had to sell the Leica company. But that's another
story for another day.
What we are left with is
the hidden gem of the Leica lens lineup, the Leica 40mm Summicron-M f/2.0 that
sells second-hand on eBay and elsewhere for around $350 - $600.
© Thorsten Overgaard.
Should I buy the 40mm
Summicron-C..?
If you are looking for
something to tweak things a bit, the 40mm Summicron-M f/2.0 offers the usual
high lens quality, the look of the 1970's and a very compact lens. So if you
lust for something different, this is the one to throw your love at. It fits
straight onto the Leica M.
Leica M9 with Leica 40mm
Summicron-C f/2.0.
© Thorsten Overgaard.
Imagine the framelines
As the Leica M only have
35mm framelines and 50mm framelines, and never had 40mm framelines you have to
imagine or approximate where the frame is. If you use an EVF (electronic
viewfinder), you see the frame exactly..
Raven and David Campbebll.
Leica M9 with Leica 40mm Summicron-C f/2.0.
© Thorsten Overgaard.
The look of the 1970's
The Leica 40mm Summicron-C
f/2.0 is pretty detailed and with very good control of light, colors and
contrast. What you see, compared with for example the current Leica 35mm
Summilux-M f/1.4 FLE (which is a $5,500 lens), is that newer Leica designs tend
to be able to pick up more details in the shades.
For me, the Leica 40mm
Summicron-M f/2.0 represents a somewhat 'film look' because it doesn't have the
crisp high-contrast details as modern lenses have.
Leica M10 with Leica 40mm
Summicron-C f/2.0.
© Thorsten Overgaard.
Close focus
A feature of the Leica
40mm Summicron-C is that you can close focus as near as 80 cm. If you pick a
long background with some sparkling light, you will get some nice sparkles.
Leica M10 with Leica 40mm
Summicron-C f/2.0.
© Thorsten Overgaard.
Compact lens
With just 120g and a
length of 23mm (1 inch), this is as compact as it gets for street photography
and travel.
Designers
Optical designers of the
40mm Summicron-C is Georg Knetsch, Hermann Desch (also 21mm and 28mm Elmarit),
Heinz Marquardt (also 60mm Macro-Elmarit-F, 28mm Elmarit-M and 50mm
Summilux-R), and Walter Watz (also 35mm Summilux-M and 35mm Summilux-M
Aspherical AA).
Leica M10 with Leica 40mm
Summicron-C f/2.0.
© Thorsten Overgaard.
Leica M9 with Leica 40mm
Summicron-C f/2.0.
© Thorsten Overgaard.
Lens shade
The
original rubber hood (order no 12.518)
The Leica 50mm Summicron-M
f/2.0 comes with an original rubber hood (order no 12.518), which was a popular
hood back in the 1980's. The original rubber hood is not worth pursuing as the
rubber will be pretty old looking. I prefer mine to look a little more
sophisticated, so I fitted the E39 Ventilated Shade that I designed myself for
Leica lenses.
Leica 40mm Summicron-C
f/2.0 with the E39 Ventilated Shade designed by Thorsten Overgaard.
Thorsten von Overgaard is
an award- winning Danish writer and photographer, specializing in portrait
photography and documentary photography, known for writings about photography
and as an educator.
For more information go here
For other articles on this blog please click on Blog Archive in the column to the right
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Order: info@gmpphoto.com
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Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
Click on image to enlarge
Order: info@gmpphoto.com
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography
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