Summilux 1.4/35 pre asph

[StS]

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Good evening,

 

I just bought a pre-Asph 1.4/35, which seems to be kind of a single sided genius.

 

Up sides are:

• Very compact (especially for a 1.4)
  
• Nice boke(h)
  

 

Down sides are:

• Obviously not codeable.
  
• Quite a halo for point light sources.
  

 

The first and the third image have been taken at 1.4, the second is at 2.8. Interestingly the lens has been built for quite some time. Mine is from the late 80s, however an older one should have a poorer coating, hence should show an even stronger tendency for halos (flare).

 

I think I keep it as a daylight 1.4 and nighttime 2.0 with the option for a nighttime 1.4, if one is lucky...

 

There are not much options, if one is targeting a fast 35mm. The Nokton 1.2 is quite a block and slightly faster, the Nokton 1.4 didn't get very good reviews and a new Summilux 1.4/35 will be 3200 Euros please, which is quite a statement for a 35mm with a weak spot...

 

At this occasion, I picked up a new price list. It mentions a new Serie VII IR/UV filter (Bestellnummer 13421), and, by the way, a Serie VIII IR/UV (13420) (125 Euros each)

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[rob_x2004]

Second image should tell you quite a bit. Dont be afraid of going on out to f/five six at at night. 'Fast' isnt jsut f/stop.

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[stunsworth]

You don't have to buy a Series VII filter, you can fit a 46mm filter in the lens hood.

[lars_bergquist]

You don't have to buy a Series VII filter, you can fit a 46mm filter in the lens hood.

But it must be a 'slim filter' to allow you to screw the hood halves together again. And with B+W for instance, slim filtermounts begin at 49mm ...

 

I have owned this lens. It is useless wide open, half decent at 2.8 (as you have just discovered) and good at 5.6 or eight. This means that it is actually SLOWER than the good old v.4 35mm Summicron. The old 'lux exhibits so much veiling glare spreading from even normally bright highlights, and so much coma, that you are often hard put to find anything sharp at all in the image.

 

Now there seems to be people around who delight in the imperfections of old Leitz lenses, calling them 'Leica glow' and similar silly things. They can have their pre-ASPH Summiluxes (though vaseline on the front lens would be cheaper). I bit the bullet and bought the ASPH. It is a great lens and believe me, in practical work it puts the plane of best focus where I want it.

 

The old man from the Age of the Summar

[63strat]

Second image should tell you quite a bit. Dont be afraid of going on out to f/five six at at night. 'Fast' isnt jsut f/stop.

 

Curious what you mean by "fast isn't just f/stop." Do you mean that a fast lens performs better even at higher f/stop settings than slower lenses at the same f/stop? I know this doesn't really make any sense, but I'm wondering because my new ASPH 50/1.4 'lux at f2 seems to let in more light than the ASPH 35/2 'cron at f2 that I briefly had.

[rickp13]

good morning

 

the summilux below (snr 2391902) is just back from new york, so i haven't done the black & white "painting" yet for 6-bit coding.

 

fyi, the b & w series 7 uv/ir cut filter in normal size, part number 13500, works fine mounted between the two halves of the 12504 lens shade. it cost euro 59.90 plus mailing from an online shop.

 

there are obviously fans of both the pre-ASPH and ASPH versions of the summilux 35mm. i'm glad there is a choice.

 

greetings from schnelsen

 

rick

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[gravastar]

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You don't have to buy a Series VII filter, you can fit a 46mm filter in the lens hood.

What Steve says is correct, but most people find you have to mount the filter with the threaded sided facing away from the lens in order to be able to screw the two halves of the hood together. This works for both the Leica and B+W standard (not slim) 46mm filters. If the filter threads face towards the lens either you can't screw the two halves of the hood together or you can only engage the threads for about a quarter of a turn.

 

 

Bob.

[lct]

...Mine is from the late 80s, however an older one should have a poorer coating, hence should show an even stronger tendency for halos (flare). ... There are not much options, if one is targeting a fast 35mm. ...the Nokton 1.4 didn't get very good reviews...

I own both a late Lux pre-asph and a CV 35/1.4 "SC" copy.

The later is worst that the Lux as far as flare but it is sharper at f/1.4 and its bokeh is very smooth as well.

Doesn't show the famous glow of the Lux at f/1.4 though.

Also the CV is hard to focus from f/2.8 to f/5.6.

Would be due to focus shift according to Sean Reid.

[Guest maddoc2003jp]

 

At this occasion, I picked up a new price list. It mentions a new Serie VII IR/UV filter (Bestellnummer 13421), and, by the way, a Serie VIII IR/UV (13420) (125 Euros each)

 

The first shot, taken at f/1.4 of the "Polizeistation", did you have some kind of protection filter in front of the lens (UVa) ? I found that especially with the 35mm Summilux pre-ASPH, the tendency to flare and produce ghost images becomes worse when using a pure protective (not colored as used for BW photography) filter.

[stunsworth]

If the filter threads face towards the lens either you can't screw the two halves of the hood together or you can only engage the threads for about a quarter of a turn.

 

That's true - though in my case it's about half to three quarters of a turn. But the milling on the front of the filter means that everything's held in place very securely, and I have no concerns about the two halves of the lens hood falling apart in use - I've been using this arrangement for about 12 months without problem.

 

The problem with putting the filter in the hood facing the other way is that while the two halves of the hood can be screwed together fully the filter rattles about in the hood - I guess there are ways of stopping that involving small wedges of paper <grin>.

 

Regarding the lens, at f1.4 it's 'issues' are there to see, but stopped down a little and it's an excellent performer.

[stunsworth]

But it must be a 'slim filter' to allow you to screw the hood halves together again. And with B+W for instance, slim filtermounts begin at 49mm

 

Not necessarily - see my previous post.

[wizard]

The first shot, taken at f/1.4 of the "Polizeistation", did you have some kind of protection filter in front of the lens (UVa) ?

 

Well, the "flare" which is visible on the first shot in my view mostly results from the strong coma this lens exhibits. Just have a look at how the images of the light sources are distorted, similar to a butterfly shape.

 

Andy

[StS]

I‘m not sure whether this is coma - the light sources look similar to a coma patch, however one could expect a lens system showing such an amount of coma to be unuseable under any light conditions.

 

Besides, this is an almost symmetrical design, which should not be prone to show coma. For a perfectly symmetrical system, coma, distortion and lateral colour would be zero.

I would rather suspect internal reflections. The design of the lens is very compact for such a fast lens, which left possibly not enough room for sufficient stray light suppression.

 

Stefan

[StS]

The first shot, taken at f/1.4 of the "Polizeistation", did you have some kind of protection filter in front of the lens (UVa) ? I found that especially with the 35mm Summilux pre-ASPH, the tendency to flare and produce ghost images becomes worse when using a pure protective (not colored as used for BW photography) filter.

 

Yes, there is an UV filter in the lens hood. I will try the performance without (and will compare against my Nikon 1.4/50), when I have some time at hand.

 

Stefan

[Guest maddoc2003jp]

I like the 35mm Summilux-M pre-ASPH for low light work, especially at events or in bars. This one was taken at f/1.4 with UVa filter (1600PR):