My Best 50mm for Leica! Light Lens Lab Elcan 50mm f2 

This lens is so good I bought a second copy! The Light Lens Lab Elcan 50mm f2 (replica) lens. Following my YouTube review (included below), this article shares details about the LLL 50mm Elcan together with full res sample photos (on film and digital). 

Best 50mm lens for Leica M (My favourite*)

If you follow my work you’ll know that my preferred focal length for portraits is 50mm. After owning and/ or testing many/ most of the popular 50mm lenses for Leica I’m in a fortunate position that I have a lot of lenses I can compare to. This also adds weight to my statement when I say that the Light Lens Lab Elcan 50mm f2 replica is my new favourite 50mm lens for Leica M mount cameras.  This includes using the lens on both digital Leica cameras (Leica M cameras, Leica SL series and the Leica CL) and Leica film cameras (including Leica M cameras and Leica iii cameras). Let me go through why I love this lens so much.

Sharpest 50mm lens for Leica M?

Is the Light Lens Lab Elcan 50mm f2 lens the sharpest lens option for Leica? No, absolutely not. If your main interest is lens sharpness (especially at wider apertures) I think the top three sharpest lenses for Leica M cameras would be the Voigtlander 50mm f2 APO Lanthar, Leica 50mm APO-Summicron-M and perhaps the new Leica Summilux 50mm f1.4 ASPH II. If I’m shooting say buildings on film and want the sharpest possible photos I use my Voigtlander 50mm f2 APO lens. For my female model photography portraits the APO lenses are often a bit too sharp so I like to use something a little softer.

Not the softest 50mm lens for Leica either

If like me, you specialise in photographing female portraits, sometimes very soft lenses help to make digital portraits more flattering.  Three of my favourite soft 50mm lenses for Leica M mount include the Leica Summarit 50mm f1.5, Leica Summitar 5cm f2 and perhaps the TTArtisan 50mm f0.95. You could also use the Leica Noctilux 50mm f1.0, the Canon 50mm f0.95 Dream Lens or the 7Artisans 50mm f1.1 that I recently reviewed –

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My favourite soft dream portrait lenses

I have done a full article on my favourite soft dreamy portrait lenses for Leica –

My Top 10 Leica Lenses for Soft Dreamy Portraits + 5 Secrets for Zero Editing

Stopping down – film vs digital

When I shoot film I prefer a sharper lens as film renders softer than a digital sensor. For digital cameras, I prefer using softer lenses to make a digital photo less digital looking.  This means I need a lens sharp enough for film at wider apertures (so that rules out the mentioned soft lenses above) but not overly harsh when used on digital. My most common approach is to shoot most lenses wide open when using a digital camera and then stop the lenses down 1 stop if shooting film. I have many examples of this such as the Nikkor S.C 50mm f1.4 or Zeiss Opton Sonnar 50mm f1.5. The method also works for when I use the Light Lens Lab Elcan 50mm f2. I shoot wide open at f2 on digital and at f2.8 or even f4 when shooting on film.

Why spoil the ergonomics of your Leica M camera

As a photographer that has shot with Leica cameras for the last decade, I now prefer to use Leica M cameras with smaller lenses (if using M cameras and not the Leica SL*). (Ideally 28mm, 35mm and 50mm). I realise it is popular for many Leica M11 owners to use their camera with the Visoflex II and big fast glass. Once the Leica SL3 arrives I feel that camera would be a better 60MP setup for most Leica M11 users in this situation.

Personally I prefer to keep the compact Leica M cameras well, compact, and enjoy them with small lenses and focusing via the rangefinder. As I just bought the Leica M10 you will hopefully see me acting true to my word in future videos. Feel free to subscribe to follow my Leica M10 journey and whether it can match my existing Leica SL series camera! (I’m not sure it can but time will tell!)

My favourite small lenses for Leica cameras

Over the last decade I’ve really started to appreciate small lenses on my Leica cameras. I think this is in part that many of my photoshoots are overseas and it’s just less pain and suffering to have a smaller camera kit to lug around. Even on a day shoot, if my lenses are small it’s easy to carry my complete setup in a small Wotancraft Pilot bag, both film and digital options. I love the fact that Voigtlander have started to make some really small lenses in LTM mount.

Two of my favourites from Voigtlander are the Voigtlander Heliar 40mm f2.8 LTM and the Voigtlander Skopar 28mm f2.8 LTM. Light Lens Lab also came up trumps with their LLL 35mm f2 8-Element LTM lens. What about for 50mm lenses? When it comes to small 50mm Leica M mount lenses the choice is pretty limited.

Smallest 50mm lens for Leica

This isn’t a complete list but I’ll name many of the popular lenses. Most of the smallest 50mm lenses for Leica are actually Leica screw mount not Leica M mount. Lenses like the Leica Elmar 5cm f3.5 LTM and Leica Elmar 5cm f2.8 (LTM + M*).  The Soviet Industar 5cm f3.5 lenses are extremely similar and nearly as small as the Leica Elmar f3.5.  You also have faster collapsable 50mm lenses like the early Leica Summicron 50mm f2 and Leica Summitar 5cm f2 LTM. Voigtlander made their Voigtlander Skopar 50mm f2.5 LTM and more recently the Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f1.5 M lens.  

50mm Elcan from Light Lens Lab

The Light Light Lab Elcan 50mm f2 is small but also weighty with its brass construction. I believe the Elcan is now THE smallest Leica M mount lens currently in production (36mm long, 51mm wide) and the Nokton second (36.9mm long and 55.3mm wide). See the size difference on YouTube –

Perfect balance of size, speed and performance 

For me the Light Lens Lab 50mm f2 Elcan offers the perfect mix of small lens size, f2 maximum aperture and sharp enough in the centre wide open.  I prefer fast apertures of f1-f2 for portraits to give some subject background separation. This rules out the smallest f3.5 Elmar lenses.  The 50mm Voigtlander Skopar f2.5 is too soft at wider apertures for portraits. The 50mm Voigtlander Nokton f1.5 II is too soft in the mid zone. (I wanted to love that lens but it wasn’t to be). The LLL Elcan 50mm f2 also has a minimum focus distance of 0.7m making it better than most small vintage 50mm LTM lenses. Vintages lenses tend to all focus from 1m which can be limiting for portraits.

Glued to my Leica M film cameras 

Since first buying the 50mm LLL Elcan lens 6 months ago it has become my lens of choice on my Leica M3 and Leica M4-P. The size is just so perfect for Leica M cameras. I like to shoot the Light Lens Lab Elcan replica stopped down to f2.8 – f4 for improved performance on film (as mentioned). Normally I would use the Elcan on my Leica M3 but the calibration has recently been knocked out of alignment so I’ve been using the Leica M4-P too. What I really wanted was to be able to shoot it on my small Leica iii cameras but the Elcan lens I bought is Leica M mount.

Limited production run

When Light Lens Lab first announced the LLL 50mm f2 Elcan replica lens it was produced as a limited production run. Me being late to party meant I just managed to catch one of the last lenses from the first batch. I didn’t even think to check that there was a Leica screw mount option, “LTM”, so I ordered the lens in M mount in Chrome. Soon after Light Lens Lab sold out of the Elcan

Buying a second copy of the LLL Elcan 50mm

Thankfully Light Lens Lab did a second production run of the popular 50mm f2 Elcan lens so I ordered the LTM version in chrome to use on my Leica iii cameras, probably my Leica iif RD and Leica iiig. After recently buying my black Leica M10 I kind of wished I had a black version too but two copies of a lens is enough I think!

Leica film cameras, M mount vs. screw mount 

Leica M film cameras offer the benefit of focusing to 0.7m vs. 1m with Leica iii cameras (My two Leica M3 cameras have been modified to focus to 0.7m but they are 1m as standard*). M cameras have the combined viewfinder/ rangefinder so they are faster to focus vs. the Barnack cameras. Leica iii cameras offer a smaller camera setup vs. Leica M and I find the rangefinder very easy to focus. I would/ do use M cameras for models and portraits and Leica iii cameras for travel.

Leica iiia Review (+ vs Leica M3) + Buying old Cameras/ Lenses on eBay

Light Lens Lab Elcan 50mm portraits – digital

Here are some Light Lens Lab Elcan 50mm portraits shot mostly with my Leica SL digital camera. Click any photo to view full res. All photos are just RAW files with my MrLeica preset(s) applied in Lightroom (then normally a border added in Photoshop).

Lightroom Presets – GAME CHANGING!

Leica M3 + LLL Elcan portraits (film)

These are the Light Lens Lab 50mm Elcan on film using my Leica M3 cameras. Click any photo to view full res and the film stock / developing details.

Leica M4-P + 50mm Elcan portraits (film)

As with the Leica M3 portraits, these are the same but shot with the 50mm Elcan on the Leica M4-P. Again, click any photo to view full res and the film stock / developing details.

Leica Summicron 50mm vs Light Lens Lab Elcan 50mm

As an inquisitive photographer (and former accountant/ auditor and with a degree in Science) I always enjoy coming lenses so I know that I’m using the best tool for the job. Since starting this blog post over a month ago I had a chance to test the Leica Summicron 50mm f2 v5 to my Light Lens Lab 50mm f2 Elcan. The results did surprise me but I guess they make sense. I’ve always been happy with the Elcan lens but this is a lens based on the original Leica Elcan lens which is an older design with a more simple optical formula. The v5 Leica Summicron is the current latest 50mm f2 lens from Leica (still) unless you want the APO version which is more similar to my Voigtlander 50mm f2 APO mentioned above. If you buy a lens for portraits the Elcan is excellent but if you want corner to corner sharpness I would look at getting the v5 Summicron lens (unless you are happy to stop down to f8.

50mm Summicron vs Elcan – What will I use?

As I own both lenses I will likely use the Elcan most of the time because of the mentioned small size. If I need the sharpest results I would use the Voigtlander 50mm f2 APO. If you want one lens as a happy middle ground then the Leica Summicron 50mm f2 v5 ticks that box. Check out the video for more info and to see the lenses side by side up close.

Light Lens Lab Elcan 50mm f2 price

Check the price of the Light Lens Lab 50mm f2 Elcan – HERE (and get 5% off with code “MRLEICA739“)

The lens is available in silver (chrome), black and a few other special finishes. If they have stock you can get the lens in both Leica M mount and Leica screw mount (LTM).

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