Guarding Trevi’s Fountain (an empirical test of a Summicron 50/2 and a Nikon Z5)

A casual stroll around the Trevi Fountain gave me the chance to experiment with an unusual combination: an old Summicron 50/2 and a relatively new Nikon Z5. The opportunity materialised in a photo of one of the crowd-control team members regulating the overwhelming flow of tourists and ensuring that none of them were engaging in vandalism or pranks.

In short, I am very pleased with the results. I owned a Leica M9 for a few years (which I happily sold), and I can’t actually say that I miss it. My only regret was that I could only use my lenses on APS-C mirrorless cameras, such as Fujis. I knew it would have been possible with the next generation of Sony’s full-frame mirrorless cameras, but I didn’t want to commit to another system just yet.

When Nikon entered the full-frame mirrorless market, I briefly considered the Z5 as a way to use my old Nikkor lenses, which I had kept after selling the more modern ones, along with the cameras, when I switched to Pentax. However, I wasn’t ready to spend thousands of euros on yet another camera that would only be used occasionally. Therefore, I ruled out the possibility until I had the opportunity to borrow the camera for a few days.

Coupled with an adapter — once again handcrafted by the masterful Adriano Lolli — the camera accepted the Summicron 50/2 flawlessly. The lack of electrical contacts in the lens and adapter did not affect focus peaking, which worked properly also when shooting in full manual or aperture priority.

The Summicron also worked flawlessly, and the results are so good that I don’t miss the Leica M9 at all. The colour rendition and sharpness at f/2 are comparable to photos taken with my old German tank. However, I can’t compare them with the latest M models so my opinions should be taken with a grain of salt.