The Red Light District. Leitz Summar 50mm.

I was walking back from a meeting this evening and the glowing red lantern outside our local fire house caught my eye.  The photograph was taken timed to catch the red traffic light in both directions.  I also used two different lenses: the venerable 1938 uncoated Summar, (super speed lens of the time), and the ultra-modern Panasonic 20mm pancake at the same aperture of f2.  The Panasonic lens, unsurprisingly, produced an image without flare, great contrast and sharp as a tack, all the things one would expect from a modern, coated lens.  The overall effect can be appreciated in my Blip from yesterday, here.  The Summar image, on the other hand, has flare, halos, low contrast: all things which we consider imperfections.  Yet the photograph is, I think,  much more interesting for all that.  Here it is.