Leica Summarit-M 75mm f/2.5

Excellent lens Compact size smaller than a 90mm, 46mm filter ring, super sharp with no significant distortion. Good contrast. Can soften the background, bokeh is OK not awesome. It is not that much longer than a 50 and the framing marks in any M finder for a 75mm are sort of vague, you will have to train ourself not to use the more prominent 50mm frame lines. Worth picking one up at a good price particularly if your go to is 35mm. MUCH easier to nail focus than with the 75 summilux but the lens signature of the Lux is unique, this is just very sharp.

Smaller but with no sacrifice in performance This Elmarit 75mm is an ideal medium tele. Because of its size and lighter weight it is easily stowed for travel and is a good focal length for portraiture. The 2.5 aperture is fast enough for most conditions and while some suggest the later 2.4 is more versatile because of its ability to .7mm versus .9mm close focusing if this lens I have never been hampered by this. Further some Leica “gurus” bemoan the fact that the numerals are printed not engraved, from a practical standpoint this is not a concern. I enjoy the versatility of this lens.

A Leica lens worth the extra money A Leica lens worth the money. Leica lenses are phenomenal but for digital sensors that allow editing a Zeiss or Voightlander lens will suffice 95% of the time. That said, you can get this lens for not much more for its modern Zeiss or Voightlander equivalent and it is worth it. This is my favorite lens on my M-D. It is sharp both for film (I recommend getting a shoe mounted viewfinder if your M camera does not have 77mm frame lines) and digital and its mechanics cannot be beat. Cheap for Leica but all the quality is there. Another good 75mm 2.5 is the Voightlender LTM, for 1/2 the price of this one, though not as sharp as the Leica in renders nicely on a digital sensor and is wonderful for film.