Last month I mentioned tech writer David English and his love of the Leica X Vario as a medium for black-and-white photography. David has now reviewed the 50mm Apo-Summicron-M ASPH as the perfect complement for the Leica Monochrom—the very rig that Jacob Aue Sobol used in his photographic Odyssey prior to the simultaneous launch of the camera and lens in May 2012.
What I discovered was a lens that comes as close to perfection as any we may see in the foreseeable future for a full-frame camera. There’s no discernible drop off in sharpness or clarity as you move out from the center, as is common with other lenses. Even other Leica lenses can have slight inconsistencies. When I started processing my images shot with the Monochrom and 50 mm APO Summicron, I was struck by this consistency across the entire frame.
I also fell in love with the Monochrom and I am rapidly getting attached to this remarkable lens as I write. In the past few weeks it has been my constant companion as I have used it on a trio of cameras, the M-P, the A7II and the X-T1.
Read David’s full review here at the Leica Camera Blog.
You can also find David English here at davidenglish.com
Also see the MacFilos test of the Leica Monochrom and the Leica X Vario