does max.aperture affect bokeh of LTM Leitz 50 at mid-aperture

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dear ALL, i was advised to get an LTM 50mm Leitz to appreciate the nostalgia. Without the means of getting them all at one go, i'd like to ask which should i go get first? i'm looking at a dealer's coated Summarit and an Elmar Red Scale. Both clean.

my understanding when using SLR primes is that larger aperture enhance separation, as does the shop keeper in saying a (f1.5)Summarit gives better bokeh than an (f3.5)Elmar. But i also read that an Elmar, being an older design, does it better.

my use of a 50mm is mainly on "found" still life in close distance of about 3-5 feet, candids/portraits of friends & family from 5-7 feet. Aperture ranges from f2 to f5.6 for DOF reasons only, with no interest on subjective opinions like sharpness, contrast, resolution and the like.

-- y.shawee (shawee@pacific.net.sg), November 01, 2001

Answers

Your uses sound perfect for a good SLR.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), November 01, 2001.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the Summarit's bokeh, but it's not famous for it, either. If you don't need f/1.5 for anything, I wouldn't make a point of getting a Summarit. The Elmar will exemplify the good bokeh of Leica lenses; but I wonder if you might not rather have an early Summicron--collapsible, rigid, or dual range--so as to get adequate speed and good bokeh too.

And because your main interest lies in still lifes at close distances, do give some thought to Bill's response. An SLR allows for precise composition and focus at close range.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), November 01, 2001.


Oh, and if you decide to do your closeup still lifes with the rangefinder camera, the Dual Range Summicron focuses in to 19" with the "eyes" on.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), November 01, 2001.

i find RF better in telling if my body is shifting to and back from the point of focus. Very obvious to tell if i've shifted out of my intended point of focus. SLR viewfinder is not so straight forward to me.

Am i right to say that even if the Summarit is about 2 stops faster, the bokeh is not like the f3.5 Elmar, simply because of optical design or the present of in-corrected abberation that era that LTM is special for?

-- y.shawee (shawee@pacific.net.sg), November 01, 2001.


Y: Could you make a few shots with the Elmar and the Summarit in equal terms (f-stop/ss, a background, a subject, light conditions) and then compare them. I suggest the Summarit at f3.5-5.6 will give you a better ”bokeh” than the Elmar at same f-stop: smoother in both directions and with no doubling images, and at f 1.5 – much better though with a low contrast,....because of symmetric Hauss-type design of a Summarit.

-- Victor Randin (ved@enran.com.ua), November 01, 2001.


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