Leica APO-SUMMICRON-M 50 f/2 ASPH., silver anodized finish

The sharpest of all standard lenses. With the APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. Leica's engineers have set new standards in imaging performance. This is the first lens ever to fully exploit the capabilities of modern high-resolution camera systems, making no compromises in image sharpness and achieving previously unattainable values in all technical performance characteristics.


Even at full aperture, there is no fall-off at the edges in the MTF curves. Furthermore, the finest details are rendered with more than 50% contrast, enabling sharp images with superb corner-to-corner detail rendition in all photographic situations. The apochromatic correction of the lens minimizes chromatic aberration to ensure natural rendition of every detail.

Vignetting is limited to a maximum - i.e. in the corners of the image - of just 2 stops at full aperture in 35 mm format, or around 1 on the Leica M8 models. Stopping down to 2.8 visibly reduces this light deterioration towards the edge of the image, with practically only the natural vignetting remaining.

Distortion is very low at a maximum of just 0.4 % (pin cushion), which is practically imperceptible. A total of eight lens elements are used to achieve this exceptional performance.