Leica Summicron-M 90mm f/2 (v1)

Pick up an early chrome one and your wrist tells you what era it came from. This is a brick. The first Summicron 90mm, made from 1957, was built when "fast 90" meant a fistful of brass and glass that nearly outweighs the body it locks onto. Hang it on an M3 and the whole rig wants to tip forward. People who carry it do so on purpose, usually because they shoot portraits and want one tight, flattering optic that opens to f/2.

Wide open is where the v1 shows its age, and that is not entirely a complaint. At f/2 it is gentle rather than crisp, with lower contrast than the later versions and a soft glow on specular highlights that does kind things to skin. Backgrounds melt without getting busy. Stop down to f/4 and it tightens up considerably; by f/5.6 to f/8 it is genuinely sharp and contrasty across the frame, which is the aperture range where most people actually use it for head-and-shoulders work. The focus falloff is smooth, the out-of-focus rendering rounded and calm, no nervous edges.

The honest weakness is focus accuracy at full aperture. A 90mm at f/2 on a rangefinder gives you a razor-thin slice of sharpness, and the v1's softness can mask a slightly missed coupling until you see the scan. Eyelashes sharp, eyes not quite, that sort of thing. It rewards a well-calibrated rangefinder and a patient hand. It also flares if you point it near a light source without the hood, dropping contrast fast, so the dedicated shade is not optional.

Optically it is a six-element design of the period, single-coated by modern standards, which is exactly why the rendering reads as old-Leica rather than clinical. The later 90mm Summicrons and the APO-Summicron that eventually replaced this whole line are sharper, lighter, and far more expensive used. That is the cross-shop: a modern APO if you want technical perfection, or this if you want the look and a price that still sits in reach. The v1 remains one of the cheaper ways into a fast Leica tele, and the chrome versions in particular get bought as much for character as for resolution.

One metering note. At f/2 in dim rooms this lens is a low-light portrait tool, so meter for the shadow you care about and let it sit on Zone Light Meter rather than averaging the whole scene; the open aperture buys you the speed, but a 90 at f/2 has no margin for a misplaced midtone. The filter thread is 48mm if you want a light ND to shoot wide open in daylight.

Who shoots it: portrait and available-light people who already own M glass and want one fast short tele with a vintage signature. Not a landscape lens, not a do-everything lens. A specialist, and a likeable one.