The name Summilux is used by Leica and

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...

Lumix Lumix is Panasonic's brand of digital cameras, ranging from pocket point-and-shoot models to digital SLRs. Compact digital cameras DMC-LC5 and DMC-F7 were the first products of the Lumix series, released in 2001. Most Lumix cameras use diff ...

to designate

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

lenses A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

that have a maximum

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

of less than f/2, typically f/1.4, but greater than f/1.0. The lens has been in production since 1959 and carries on to the present day.

History

The name Summilux is a combination of ''Summum'', which is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word for highest, while ''Lux'' is for light. The first Summilux was the 50 mm of 1959, followed by a new 50 mm Summilux design in 1961, whose optics remained unchanged until replaced by the 50 mm Summilux-M ASPH of 2004.

Description

The Summilux lenses have a maximum

f-number In optics, the f-number of an optical system such as a camera lens is the ratio of the system's focal length to the diameter of the entrance pupil ("clear aperture").Smith, Warren ''Modern Optical Engineering'', 4th Ed., 2007 McGraw-Hill ...

of f/1.4, f/1.5 or occasionally f/1.7. This one to 1.5 stops lower than Leica's

Noctilux The name Noctilux is used by Leica to designate their camera lenses with the widest maximum aperture. Lenses with that name have been in production since 1966. So far all Noctilux lenses have been made for the Leica M mount. History The name Noc ...

lenses, but the Summilux lenses are smaller as a result. Summilux lenses are designed for low-light photography.

Market position

The Summilux lenses are less expensive than the Noctilux lenses, which has a smaller f-number. However they are bigger, heavier and more expensive than the

Summicron The name Summicron is used by Leica to designate camera lenses that have a maximum aperture of f/2 after 1953 and to present day. History The name Summicron is derived from ''summus'', latin word for maximum and ''kronos'', the ancient Greek w ...

List of Summilux lenses

;For the

Leica M mount The Leica M mount is a camera lens mount introduced in 1954 with the Leica M3, and a range of lenses. It has been used on all the Leica M-series cameras and certain accessories (e.g. Visoflex reflex viewing attachment) up to the current film L ...

: * Summilux-M 21 mm ASPH. * Summilux-M 24 mm ASPH. * Summilux-M 28 mm ASPH. * Summilux 35 mm * Summilux-M 35 mm ASPH. FLE Version V * Summilux-M 35 mm ASPH. FLE "Short Focus" Version VI * Summilux 50 mm * Summilux-M 50 mm ASPH. * Summilux-M 75 mm * Summilux-M 90 mm ASPH. ;For the Leica R mount: * Summilux-R 35 mm * Summilux-R 50 mm 1st version * Summilux-R 50 mm 2nd version * Summilux-R 50 mm 3rd version – 1997 (ROM contacts) * Summilux-R 80mm ;For the Leica L Mount: * Summilux-TL 35 mm ASPH. * Summilux-SL 50 mm ASPH. ;By

: * Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Summilux 10-25 mm ASPH. * Panasonic Lumix G Leica DG Summilux 12 mm ASPH. * Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 15 mm ASPH. * Panasonic Leica Summilux DG 25 mm * Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25 mm II ASPH.

References

External links

* Summilux.net lens review site * Overgaard Leica 35mm Summilux article * Overgaard Leica lens compendium of all Summilux lenses {{optics-stub Leica lenses Photographic lenses