Soeren Engelbrecht 
, Mar 21, 2010; 02:49 p.m.
Hi all,
my IIIa is going back into service after I reskinned it (Aki-Asahi DIY kit - really nice, BTW), and I would like to exploit its compactness the most by getting a nice, compact 50 mm which does *not* collapse. Otherwise, the Elmar would have been obvious :-) I have the 35/3.5 Elmar, and that size would be perfect - only in 50 mm so I could avoid the use of an external finder for compactness. Incidentally, I already have the "most compact" rigid 50 by Leitz - the 50/1.5 Summarit, which is really not compact at all. But all the slower LTM 50s by Leitz all collapse, it seems.
So an "off-brand" lens seems to be the only option. I know of the Voigtlaender 50/2.5, and that is supposed to give a "classic" look - does anyone have experience with this, for instance ??
Thanks in advance !!
Soeren
Alan Clayton , Mar 21, 2010; 03:38 p.m.
The Voigtlander Skopar 50mm f2.5 has had many mixed comments. Mine is great (link ) - optically, the lens is plenty sharp enough for enlargement to A3. There is no vignetting and no discernible distortion. Contrast is high and colour rendition is pretty neutral. It's quite compact and ergonomically easy to use, but rather it's heavy - however it (thankfully) doesn't have an infinity lock. Some of the earliest production lenses are reputed to have centering issues which adversely affect image quality.
Alternatives that I will happily use are: Canon 50mm f1.8 and f1.4. The late version Canons are styled to suit the 1960s Canon r/f cameras and may not look as elegant as a Leitz lens (or silver Skopar). The older (non-Serenar) silver 50mm f1.8 is not dissimilar to the Summarit. Its only drawback is in finding 40mm filters and hoods (I use a step-up ring to 40.5 available on-line).
The ultimate 50mm is the rigid LTM 50/2 Summicron (both vintage and modern limited edition) - but they are pretty rare and very desirable - hence expensive (in the order of Eur 1000).
Kelly Flanigan 
, Mar 21, 2010; 04:07 p.m.
Here I own a 50mm in the rigid LTM 50/2 Summicron modern limited edition; but use my 5cm F2 Nikkor-HC LTM on my Epson RD-1/s alot more. It is smaller; lighter in weight; is use a Russian Jupiter-8 lens cap. teh lens cost me 1/100 what the Summicrons cost me!. The Canon 50mm lenses mentione by Alan are great; I have a 50mm F1.2 Canon LTM I use at times. In Russian stuff the Jupiter-8 5cm F2 is a better bet for Russian stuff; an Industar-50 50mm F3.5 LTM rigid here is about as good as my LTM Summicron!
Jean-Yves Mead , Mar 21, 2010; 04:47 p.m.
I don't think you can get a more classic look than that from a properly-adjusted Jupiter-3.
Kelly Flanigan , Mar 21, 2010; 04:57 p.m.
Here are a shot with a Leica M3; using a Russian rigid Industar-50 50mm F3.5 at F3.5; and a new LTM Summicron 50mm F2 wide open at F2:
Kelly Flanigan , Mar 21, 2010; 05:17 p.m.
Heretwo of my Jupiter-3 50mm F1.5 's that focus abit off. A third one focus spot on wide open; and came right of a sub 20 buck zorki/len/case/with shipping combo.
The Canon 50mm F1.2 at F1.2; focuses ok wide open; it just is not tack sharp at F1.2
Alex Shishin 
, Mar 21, 2010; 05:19 p.m.
I use a Color Skopar 50/2.5 on my IIIf. Good lens and nice balance. The Canon 50/1.8 is also very good. And cheap. If you can get an old Nikkor 50/2 in LTM you'd have a lens with both super optical and build quality. A 50/2 or 50/1.5 Sonnar in LTM would also be great. As I discovered, the Soviet Jupiter 50/2 (a Sonnar clone) is also very good, though the build quality might be questionable.
paul wheatland , Mar 21, 2010; 05:55 p.m.
My two favorite rigid LTM lenses: Nikkor F2 50mm and very rare Hexanon f1.9 50mm!
Christopher M , Mar 21, 2010; 10:34 p.m.
In addition to the above mentioned, there is also the Canon 50/2.8
