The Summarit 5cm f/1.5: Old Soul, New Body

There’s something beautifully rebellious about putting a 1950s Leica lens on a digital Fuji body. It’s a quiet protest against megapixels and MTF charts. A reminder that character beats clinical every single time.

The lens in question? The Ernst Leitz Wetzlar Summarit 5cm f/1.5, proudly perched here on my Fujifilm X-Pro1 like an old poet riding a fixie.

The Summarit 5cm f/1.5 was Leica’s answer to fast glass in the post-war era. Introduced in 1949, it was designed to give photographers low-light power at a time when ISO 400 was considered extreme. It’s soft wide open, prone to flare, and has dreamy swirly bokeh when you least expect it — and yet… it’s magic.

With its 7-element, Sonnar-inspired design, the Summarit was never meant to be perfect. But it renders skin tones with a glow that’s impossible to replicate. Even the flaws — the veiling flare, the low contrast, the coma in highlights — feel like storytelling tools.

in 2025, the X-Pro1 is a now classic in its own right.  Its 16MP X-Trans sensor has this almost film-like rendering that pairs beautifully with vintage glass. There’s no IBIS, no over-sharpening, no smudgy noise reduction. Just honest film grain, I mean, pixels.

And the combination just looks right. The Summarit, with its knurled focusing ring and engraved script, feels like it belongs on the X-Pro1’s retro rangefinder silhouette. It’s a Frankenstein’s monster of cool, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Shooting Experience

The Summarit doesn’t autofocus, obviously. And at f/1.5, depth of field is shallow. But that’s part of the charm. You slow down. You focus manually. You miss focus. You try again. You see.

Shooting with it is like jazz. Not every note lands, but when it does, you get a portrait that sings.

What Comes Out of It

At f/1.5, it’s glow city — the highlights bloom, and the background melts into painterly swirls. By f/2.8, it sharpens up but keeps its unique tonal roll-off. There’s this unmistakable Leica look, even on a Fuji body. Skin feels luminous. Shadows feel moody. Nothing looks sterile.

Also — flare. Oh, the flare. If you shoot into the light, be prepared for psychedelic ghosts and blooming orbs. It’s all part of the ride.

Final Thoughts: A Lens With a Pulse

The Summarit 5cm f/1.5 is not a technical marvel by today’s standards. But it’s got soul. It’s a lens that asks you to lean in, to experiment, to embrace the imperfections. And when you pair it with a camera like the X-Pro1 — a camera that’s also aged into cult status — you get something rare:

A modern image with an analogue heart.