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Hot on the heels of yesterday’s Noctilux-M 75mm F1.25 ASPH announcement, Leica has debuted yet another lens this week. This time, it’s a special edition: the Leica APO-Summicron-M 50mm F2 ASPH ‘LHSA’ released in honor of the 50th anniversary of The International Leica Society (LHSA).
What makes this lens special is, basically, that it meshes the styling of the original Summicon 50mm F2 from 1954 with the optics of the current APO-Summicron 50mm F2 ASPH released in May of 2012. Optically, it’s identical to the 2012 lens, but on the outside it features either a black paint or silver chrome finish, a 1950s style lens hood, and red engravings of the distance scale. Other special markings include:
The special serial number is engraved on the aperture ring and is picked out in black on the silver chrome version and is not coloured on the black paint lens. Further engravings are found on the bayonet ring: ‘MADE IN GERMANY’ and the LHSA Logo – both of which are not picked out in colour.
This special edition Leica APO-Summicron-M 50mm F2 ASPH ‘LHSA’ will be limited to just 500 copies—300 in the black finish and 200 in silver—and each of them will come in ‘high quality packaging’ with a certificate of authenticity.
Both colors will be available starting the 4th of December, and according to our contacts at Leica it will retail for $ 9,595. That’s $ 1,800 more than the non-special edition lens retails for.
To learn more about this lens, visit the Leica website.
Press Release
Leica APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. ‘LHSA’: Special Edition to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of ‘The International Leica Society’ (LHSA)
Wetzlar, 30 November 2017 – For the past 50 years, ‘The International Leica Society’ (LHSA) has dedicated itself to researching the history of Leica and the use of the company’s products. The beginning of the celebration of the 50th anniversary in 2018 will be marked by the launch of a special edition of the Leica APO-Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH. produced especially for the occasion. The appearance of the lens is reminiscent of the Summicron 50 mm f/2 from 1954. The special edition thus unites the outstanding imaging performance of the current lens—which was the first to be able to fully exploit the contrast and resolution offered by modern digital cameras—with the look of the nineteen-fifties.
Depending on the choice of colour of the ‘LHSA’ special edition, the outer brass elements of the lens are finished either in black paint or in silver chrome. This also applies to the separate lens hood in the style of the nineteen-fifties that is also made of brass. While the engravings of the distance scale in feet are picked out in red on both versions, the other engravings vary in colour depending on the version of the lens selected: these are in white on the black paint version and black in the case of the silver chrome option. The special serial number is engraved on the aperture ring and is picked out in black on the silver chrome version and is not coloured on the black paint lens. Further engravings are found on the bayonet ring: ‘MADE IN GERMANY’ and the LHSA Logo—both of which are not picked out in colour.
The cordial collaboration between Leica and the LHSA has a long tradition and has already been the source of a number of special editions in the past. These include, for example, a set comprising a silver chrome Leica M6 and three Summicron-M lenses of different focal lengths produced in 1993 and a Leica MP from 2003 finished in a special hammertone lacquer.
The LHSA special edition of the APO-Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH. is strictly limited to 500 examples, 300 in black paint finish and 200 in silver chrome. Both versions will be supplied together with a certificate of authenticity in particularly high-quality packaging and will be available from 4 December 2017.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
