I’m realizing how great this lens is as I keep using it. It constantly produces high quality images regardless of scene, aperture, and distance. Corners are a little soft wide open, but it’s very sharp in the center. Stop down one f-stop, and the quality becomes uniform across the frame, and at F4 the quality becomes impeccable. This isn’t the Planar for nothing. The front bokeh is natural, while the behind bokeh somewhat double-lined. With the same specs, LEICA has the legendary SUMMICRON, but they are different. While the SUMMICRON is dramatic, the Planar is very cool. The most salient difference is the Planar’s thinner lines. Its performance is high, but it doesn’t have any unusual character. That’s why this lens is always mounted and this is what a normal lens should be.

Once the focal length of F1.4 normal lenses was 58mm and I wonder if 50mm F1.4 is difficult to design. Using an old lens wide open is an elegant act of enjoying the lens character, and many of the legendary lenses have darker maximum aperture. Modern lenses are surprisingly excellent wide open, but F2 lenses are more stable in their performance. Because of the moderate lens design, it’s truly nice wide open. Realistically, you have little opportunity to use it wide open except in limited lighting conditions. We are inevitably tempted by F1.4, choosing a F2 lens is actually the most realistic choice, and necessary and sufficient. Besides, you can get a tasteful drawing.