First Look: The Leica 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-SL ASPH II
- Catalog
- 11195
- Max Aperture
- f/1.4
- Min Focus
- 0.5m
- Focal Length
- 50mm
One of my favorite lenses for the Leica M system is the 50mm Summilux-M close focus that Leica updated a couple of years ago. The character of this lens wide open is really something special for an aspheric design. It’s not overly clinical. It strikes that nice balance between the character you expect from a Leica M lens and the precision of modern aspherics. I’ve always enjoyed that middle ground in Leica’s optics, and the newer Summilux lenses tend to pull it off beautifully.
On the SL side of things, though, we’ve always had the APO-Summicron-SL lenses. They’re gorgeous, wonderful optics, but they’re extremely clinical. That might be exactly to some people’s taste, but my personal preference usually leans toward a little more character out of the lens.
So while we were in Wetzlar for the launch of the Leica SL3-P and some training, it came as a real surprise that Leica announced the new 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-SL ASPH II. And guess what? It’s smaller than any 50mm Summilux on any full-frame mirrorless system on the market today. It’s the smallest 50mm Summilux, or any prime for that matter, that covers the full SL sensor. For me this is a rather exciting development, and honestly a great addition to the SL lineup. It shows the diversity of optics between the APO-Summicron lenses and the Summilux lenses, something we’ve come to appreciate in the M lineup with the APO-Summicron-M 35, 50, and 90 sitting alongside the Summilux variations from 21mm through 50mm. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. The different renderings lend themselves to different tastes and different personas. That’s always been one of the joys of Leica’s optical system, and now we get to experience it for the first time in the SL lineup.
One of the very first pictures I took with the new Summilux-SL 50 ASPH II was a shot of Sean’s ZM 1 Urban Green and the new Billingham “Icon” bag, wide open. You could immediately tell this lens was different. It has a softer rendering. It doesn’t overload the photo with detail. There’s a really nice aesthetic to it: not too soft, still plenty of detail, but with a character that glows a little more. It’s hard to put into words, but I really love that photo. The rendering is fantastic. Leica designed this lens to carry the typical Summilux-M character, and after that very first frame, I’d say they nailed it.
The Smallest Mirrorless Full Frame 50mm f1.4
A lot of us have been using Leica M lenses on our SL cameras for some time now. Why? Because we love what the SL system can do, but we don’t always want to lug around the larger autofocus SL lenses. The new Summilux-SL 50 ASPH II solves that problem. At 74mm across, 75.5mm long, and just 584g, it’s genuinely compact. It doesn’t have a much larger footprint than my 50mm Summilux-M on an M adapter on the SL, and you get fast, silent autofocus on top of it. Leica is calling it the most compact 50mm f/1.4 full-frame autofocus lens on the market, and I believe it. Those are huge advantages for anyone who loves the SL system. Honestly, I’d run the SL system just to use this lens alone. It’s that good.
How did Leica make it this small?
If you remember the 35mm f/1.2 Noctilux-M, Leica has started building its optics a new way: Precision Glass Molding, or PGM. Instead of grinding the aspherical elements, they’re molded, which lets Leica produce a smaller, more compact optic than was previously possible. This lens carries two of these in-house PGM aspheres. I suspect we’ll see PGM carried into more lenses over the next few years, because the process isn’t just more efficient, the fail rate is much lower too. It does exactly what we love best about Leica optics: it makes small, compact lenses that are full of character and precision and a joy to use.
In the Field
Using the new 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-SL ASPH II was a lot of fun. It’s compact, it’s light, and it turns the SL into a fast, agile camera. Paired with the SL3-P and its new autofocus system, this lens is lightning quick to focus. A big part of that is what’s driving it: this is Leica’s first in-house lens to use a fast, quiet VCM (voice coil motor) drive. This magnet-based system moves a fairly heavy focus group, aperture and all, almost silently. It’s a real engineering milestone, and Leica has patents pending on it. In practice, that translates to autofocus that just disappears. We were doing testing the SL3-P in focus tracking situations where it would lock onto a moving subject and capture frames seamlessly. I can see this being immensely useful for all kinds of photographers, from wedding photographers to street photographers and everyone in between. Even wide open, you don’t have to worry about it latching on and nailing focus. The lens just does what it needs to do, and you stop thinking about it.
This is just a first look, though. I’ll be putting together a full review soon, including a proper head-to-head against the 50mm Summilux-M ASPH and the previous-generation Summilux-SL 50mm f/1.4 ASPH that this lens follows. I’m especially curious how the rendering and that classic Summilux character hold up across all three, and whether the new in-house optics get this SL lens closer to the M glass I love so much. Stay tuned for that.
Moving forward, I really hope we see more lenses like this in the SL lineup. Maybe a 35mm Summilux, a 28mm Summilux, even a 75mm Summilux with these same characteristics and this same footprint. The SL system is all about precision, but it has a soul too, just like the M system. And I think these kinds of optics are bringing that soul to the forefront.
Specs at a glance
- Focal length / aperture: 50mm f/1.4
- Aperture blades: 11
- Minimum focus distance: 50cm
- Filter thread: E67
- Coating: Aqua-Dura
- Autofocus: In-house VCM drive, fast and silent
- Optical design: Two in-house PGM aspheres
- Weather sealing: IP54 certified
- Diameter: 74mm
- Length: 75.5mm
- Weight: 584g
- Made in: Germany
