Leica Sooky-M Close Range Accessory (Somky)

The Leica Sooky-M or Somky accessory fills a void in my  lens lineup.  The Sooky-M is a close range attachment for older M mount lenses.  The Sooky-M should work with the 50mm collapsible Elmar, collapsible Summicron and the front head of the Rigid Summicron with a special adapter.  It emulates the ability of the Dual Range Summicron with Eyes and allows you to use an existing lens to take closer photos.

Talking points:

• Build Quality
• Handling/Ergonomics
• Controls
• Picture Quality
• Unique Points
• Support
• Recommendation

 

Build Quality:

The build quality of the Sooky-M is solid, as an accessory its similar to the Goggles or Eyes for the Dual Range 50mm Summicron.  It has two glass elements that magnify the range finder patch and viewfinder to show a corrected view for up close photos.

M3, Sooky-M mounted without lens, inner lug receiver

On the inside of the Sooky-M are 3 attachment points for the 3 lugs on the back of a collapsible lens.

UOORF adapter and Collapsible 50mm Summicron. Lugs are the same pattern

To Attach a lens, first engage the infinity focus lock if it has one.  The lens must also be collapsed or in the case of the Rigid Summicron head you must have the UOORF accessory which screws onto the head and gives it the 3 lugs needed to attach to the Sooky-M.  Match up the red dots as normal for a lens press down and turn to engage the lens into the Sooky-M.  I find that sometimes one of the M bayonet lugs interferes with the magnification knob on the Sooky-M so don’t overly force the lens to engage, if need be orient the lens differently.

The UOORF accessory was sold separately from the Sooky-M, if using the Sooky-M with the Rigid Summicron you’ll have to source that part.

NOTE: I find it tricky to change the aperture on a collapsed lens.  If you know your desired aperture before mounting the lens to the Sooky-M it may be easier to preset that.

 

Handling/Ergonomics:

50mm Collapsible Summicron, Sooky-M, M3

The Sooky-M emulates the function of the DR Summicron (Dual Range) with Eyes.  By attaching an appropriate lens to the Sooky-M you are able to take photos under 1m up to about 20 inches away.

You don’t use the focus on the lens, since it should be at infinity lock to attach anyway.  The magnification knob on the Sooky-M has markings for the magnification of the image and isn’t necessarily used for focus either.  To focus you’ll want to move physically closer or further away till the double image matches up to what you want in focus.

In use at the closest setting if I extend my arm in a “Stop” motion, fingers up and palm out, with the Sooky-M and Summicron I could take a picture of my fingertips.  IF I extended my neck in a turtle fashion and got that extra inch or two closer.  That’s how close of a picture I can take, I guesstimate that’s about 18-20 inches.

50mm Collapsible Summicron with Sooky-M on M3

When attached with my Collapsible Summicron I feel its very similar in size to the DR Summicron.

 

 

Controls:

The Sooky-M has one function, to allow users to take closer shots then previously able on their existing lenses.  The markings on the accessory are not for distance but magnification.

Sooky-M Magnification Markings, 1:14, or 1/14

In the case of this image at 14, it refers to a magnification of 1/14.  Remember 1/1 would be life-size.

 

Picture Quality:

Let’s do some comparison shots, first I used the 50mm Collapsible M-mount summicron for all of these shots.  I had the lens focused as close as possible on its own and with the Sooky-M.

50mm Summicron f/2

50mm Summicron f/2 with Sooky-M

Here we have the same scene, the first image with the Summicron alone, and the second on the Sooky-M accessory.  Both images taken at f/2.

50mm Summicron f/2

Sooky-M Near Focus, 50mm Summicron f/2

Again 2 more images here of my Leicaflex SL, the first image with the Summicron and the second with the Sooky-M.  Again both of these images taken wide open at f/2.

Focusing with the Sooky-M is different having to move your body in and out, I feel my depth of field is also narrower with the Sooky-M.  All four of these images were hand held.

 

Unique Points:

The 50mm Summitar unfortunately does NOT work with the Sooky-M.  The 3 lugs on the back of the Summitar do not match up with the 3 receiving areas on the Sooky-M.  This was a disappointment to me as I have a Summitar and I thought the swirly bokeh would be cool on some closer shots.

Summitar, Summicron, UOORF, notice the lug distance on the Summitar is not the same

From left to right is the 50mm LTM Summitar with an M-mount adapter, 50mm M-mount Summicron, and the UOORF adapter for the Rigid Summicron head.  If you look carefully you can see the Summitar lugs are not equal-distant, so they will not match up with the Sooky-M.  I contacted a few Leica specialists to see if the Summitar could be modified to work with the Sooky-M, but none had tried before and it wasn’t advised.

 

Support:

Good luck, you may be able to find the manual on the web, It’s about 5 pages and covers the LTM close focus attachment in half those pages.  Other than that manual I haven’t even found much on the web on this super awesome accessory.

This brings up another good point,  The Sooky-M or Somky is for an M-mount Leica.  There are other attachments for LTM Barnacks.  They look completely different, and of course are screw mount attached.

 

Recommendation:

Really this accessory makes your lens a DR lens,  Instead of buying a DR Summicron and trying to find the Eyes for a decent non inflated price just find a Sooky-M.  I like the option for using the Sooky-M with a collapsible lens, since the mounting is easier and doesn’t require me to separate the lens head from the body as in the Rigid Summicron.  Also I like having a compact setup when I’m walking around not taking shots or need to put the camera in a bag.

Totally worth the purchase if you don’t have a DR Summicron, and you have compatible lenses already.

FINAL REMINDER: Infinity Lock the lens, Collapse, and THEN attach to Sooky-M.

Be safe and shoot more film.

~Richard

M3, Sooky-M, Collapsible 50mm Summicron. Highly recommended purchase

Bonus:  Rob figuring out if my slim wallet is slim enough for him.