you are right, the inventor of the BAS test, Barnim A. Schultze, is out of business, because he died some years ago. He runned his lab for lens tests for decades. One of his customers was fotoMAGAZIN, one of the two important German magazine for amateur photography. The BAS lens ratings were/are higly appreciated by the German speaking readers of fotoMAGAZIN. During his life Mr. Schultze checked hundreds of lenses of different brands for fotoMAGAZIN. The 50 mm lens test you mention was made for Leica. Because the guys in Solms trusted in the BAS lens test procedure they asked Mr. Schultze to test the complete Leica lens program. Meanwhile a young man continues the improved BAS lens test. His name is Anders Uschold, an engineer in Munich/Germany. As a former editor of fotoMAGAZIN I had the joy to cooperate with Barnim Schultze until 1995. Very often my (subjective) impressions of a lens were proven by his (objective) measurements. That's why I am really convinced of the BAS tests. Best regards

I just got hold of the new BAS report, which covers the 50mm/2.8 Elmar.
>Brace yourselves. This fine lens is rated as a big improvement over the
>previous Elmar. However, its specifications are well below those of the 50mm
>Summicron. It lacks in resolution and brilliance (contrast).
>
>I own and use this lens. And I love it too. However, I do not understand why
>Leica wants as much money for it as for the Summicron.