35-70 4.0 or 3.5?

[lennycam]

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I am thinking of looking for an used 35-70 R lens, and i was wondering which, the 4.0 or the older 3.5, is the better lens? and how does the 28-70 3.5-4.5 compare here? i don't like lenses with variable apertures if i can help it. any comments??

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[JBA]

Someone on some thread somewhere mentioned recently that the 28-70 is a "real dog," though offered no specifics about why.

[Michiel Fokkema]

I never liked the 28-70. Low contrast, too much distortion on the wide end and not too sharp either. You really need to stop down to get something Leica worhty out of it.

The 35-70/4 however is all you can wish for already at full opening.

I recently acquired a 35-70/3.5 also for the SL2. The 35-70/4 will not work on the SL2 because it has rom contacts and only the third cam. Can't be retrofitted with three cams either.

I haven't used the 35-70/3.5 so much yet. It looks good until now but only shot it outside stopped down..

Some people like the 28-70 but I really recomend the 35-70/4.0. Can't go wrong with that lens.

 

Cheers,

Mihciel Fokkema

[ALUX]

I am thinking of looking for an used 35-70 R lens, and i was wondering which, the 4.0 or the older 3.5, is the better lens? and how does the 28-70 3.5-4.5 compare here? i don't like lenses with variable apertures if i can help it. any comments??

 

Both, the 3,5 and the 4.0 35-70mm are very good lenses. The later 4.0/35-70mm has the advantage of a better close focus capability (0.27m). The 3,5/35-70 has the advantage of being faster but the close focus is 1m. There are two versions of the f:3.5 lens: a Japanese version using 60mm filters and a German version using 67mm filter. The latter offers the big advantage of featuring an non rotating filter thread. Thus, if you intend to use polarizers frequently, the German version is the lens to buy.

The 28-70mm has the disadvantage of heavy distorsion, especially in the wide angle range. Thus I wouldn't buy it.

 

Best regards

Alex

[JBA]

I recently acquired a 35-70/3.5 also for the SL2. The 35-70/4 will not work on the SL2 because it has rom contacts and only the third cam. Can't be retrofitted with three cams either.

 

Good to know, since I have an SL2. Thanks.

[earleygallery]

I looked into these lenses myself a while back as I was considering one as a replacement for my 35 Summicron.

 

The latest 35/70 f4 is - from what I've been told by numerous people - the better lens. Of the earlier ones the German lens is the one to choose (non rotating filter thread as mentioned above and also - apparently - much tighter manufacturing tolerances.

 

In the end I decided to stick with my Summicron - the f4 aperture makes for a rather dark viewfinder and when tested side by side - albeit a quick and simple test - I found the performance of the Summicron visibly better.

 

But if you prefer the convenience of the zoom then I'd look for one of the later lenses.

[lennycam]

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thank you for the valuable answers. I have been using most of my leica lenses, which had been sitting in the closet since I went digital with Canon, but only recently i found an adapter that worked really well for using my Leica lenses on my Canon !d III. I am now pretty much using Leica lenses only, except for when i need a zoom. i used to have the canon 28-70 2.8, but did not like that it was so large. I thought the leica would be a good idea, but i don't like lenses slower than 2.8. plus i wondered how bad the zoom would compare with fix lenses. out on ebay there is someone selling the 70-180, which if I remember correctly, is a really good zoom, but really big. any comments?