How different are these Leica lenses in terms of quality?

[third3rdwheel]

Visited a Leica AD recently, and was shown Summarit, Summicron and Summilux lenses......a bit confused...

 

[falterego]

Leica uses these names to represent the widest aperture of the lens. Summarit is f/2.5, Summicron is f/2, Summilux is f/1.4. Others include the Elmarit at f/2.8 and the latest Noctilux at f/0.95. So a 35 Summicron is a 35mm f/2 lens, a 50 Summilux is a 50mm f/1.4 and so forth. Hope that helped.

 

[glorybox]

When I was new to Lecia, I was also confused by the terminology used to classify the lenses.

I don't think Leica market or produce their lenses like others (say Canon or Nikon), where L is the top of the line and everything below is rendered useless (should you get the L equivalent) - eg. 50L versus 50 f/1.8 or f/1.4)

I think it's very very very safe to say that all leica glasses are top notch in terms of quality (not too sure about the "budget" sumarit lineup - as I haven't had the chance to use one yet) It's not like other brands where the faster the lens the better it is. A Leica 35 summicron (f/2) has just as many die-hard fans as the Leica 35 summilux (f/1.4).

I hope some of this makes sense, because it doesn't seem like it does to me, haha

 

[falterego]

The Summarit lenses (for M, not the new S, cameras) share common parts, hence the lower cost of production and price tag. They are not necessarily inferior, other than the fact that at f/2.5, they are slower than the Crons and Luxes.

Also, many Leica lenses have 'unique' signatures in the way they draw, giving the pictures a character of its own. Leica fans/collectors look for specific variants because of this and other collectible traits, which may drive prices up without the lens being 'better' or 'faster'. In the case of the 35 Summicron, Glorybox may be referring to the 4th version (7 elements), aka bokeh king, which is technically a little undeserving. The 35 Lux is still a superior design and one of Leica's best lenses to date.

 

[third3rdwheel]

Thanks guys for the input. There's clearly a group of serious Leica users on this site.

As you can see, I am in the process of doing my "homework".

 

[third3rdwheel]

I don't think Leica market or produce their lenses like others (say Canon or Nikon), where L is the top of the line and everything below is rendered useless (should you get the L equivalent) - eg. 50L versus 50 f/1.8 or f/1.4)

This is a particularly useful comment from you, as the salesman tried to tell me that L is top of the line.......

 

[welspain]

Summarit
Refers to the maximum lens aperture — here ƒ1.5. Presumably the name is a derivative of the root "Summicron" name in the same way "Elmarit" was derived from the slower "Elmar".

Summicron
Refers to the maximum lens aperture — here ƒ2.0. There are many guesses how this name came about, the most popular being that the "summi" came from "summit" (of lens performance) while the "cron" came from "chroma" (ie. for colour).

Summilux
Refers to the maximum lens aperture — here ƒ1.4. "Summi" for "summit of performance" (same root as "Summicron"), with "lux" added for "light" (ie. enhanced light gathering abilities).

http://nemeng.com/leica/002e.shtml