The APO-Summicron SL 50 f2Asph

Introduction

This will be a short report, beyond the obvious superlatives there really isn’t that much to say about this wonderful new lens.

The 50mm is the 4th lens in the APO SL Summicron lineup. The wide-angle lenses are promised for 2020, while the 75, 90, and 35 have already been released.

The Lens

I had an early prototype of the 50 with me whilst testing the 35 APO SL early in the year. I took it to China for a trip to Hangzhou.

Later on during May and June I had a final prototype lens which I used to shoot a couple of weddings and a trip to Cornwall.

As expected, the APO-Summicron-SL 50 f2 Asph is exactly the same form factor as the previous APO Summicrons, (and the future ones as well). The optical design varies between the lenses: in this case it is 12 elements in 10 groups with 3 aspherical lenses and 4 aspherical surfaces.

So far all the lenses support a 1:5 magnification ratio, which is pretty useful, for the 50mm this represents a closest focus distance of 0.35 metres.

To continue reading Jonos Slack's review, click here.