tadeyev Posted August 26, 2009 Share #1 Posted August 26, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello all, I had a short question as a new M user: Are there different versions of the abovementioned lens in the marketplace ? I ask because the (new) prices I have been quoted vary quite wildly, and I can only imagine it is because of some subtle differences between the various versions that I am unaware of (6 bit or non-adapted, etc. or some construction change). Any remarks welcome! Tadeyev Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 26, 2009 Posted August 26, 2009 Hi tadeyev, Take a look here M Summilux 35mm 1.4 ASPH. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
dpattinson Posted August 26, 2009 Share #2 Posted August 26, 2009 Hello all, I had a short question as a new M user: Are there different versions of the abovementioned lens in the marketplace ? I ask because the (new) prices I have been quoted vary quite wildly, and I can only imagine it is because of some subtle differences between the various versions that I am unaware of (6 bit or non-adapted, etc. or some construction change). Any remarks welcome! Tadeyev I don't believe so. I think that if you are seeing wide variation, then the cheaper ones are probably not the ASPH version. There was a pre-asph 35 lux as well, it is generally half the price of the asph. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UliWer Posted August 26, 2009 Share #3 Posted August 26, 2009 Today - on 26.08.2009 - the answer on your question is: there are two versions of the 35mm Summilux with aspherical lenses. The second is the current versions and named "asph." The first Version was named "ASPHERICAL" and was a rare and is today a very expensive orchid. It's rarity and high price on the second hand market result from it's lenses being grinded and polished by hand, whilst the second one is machine made. You will find the first rare and expensive version only, if you search for specialized second hand dealers, perhaps on ebay, though i would be reluctant to buy this lens without having seen it before. I don't think there are any differences between both versions as far as practical use is concerned. Perhaps you could wait a fortnight or so.... Leica may announce a third version on the 09/09/2009. Maybe, not sure... If they announce this new version, you will exspect a lens with - at least - all the excellent qualities of it's precedessors but without it's problems - i.e. focus shift, which cannot be corrected but is a "feature" of early aspherical lenses. If Leica will announce a new version, which I think is more probable than all rumours about the M9, it will certainly show no focus shift, for otherwise there would be no reason at all to abandon the current version, which is one of Leica's top-lenses. So my advice is to be patient for some days and see what September will bring - if you are prepared to pay around 3.500,-€ .... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadeyev Posted August 26, 2009 Author Share #4 Posted August 26, 2009 Thanks to both of you for the info on this and also the tip to wait a little on the lens. However, about the M9: it seems really to be coming since I just got on the M9 waiting list of an official Leica dealer in my country who said it will be here later this year.....I don't think they would play a joke on me about such things, but you never know of course :-) ! Ciao, Tadeyev Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_dykstra Posted August 27, 2009 Share #5 Posted August 27, 2009 The Summilux-M 35mm f1.4 Asph from 1994 (I think it was) is a great lens that really shines with indoor shots and available light. Yes, it demonstrates a tendency to back focus a little at the closest focus distances. Solution - deliberately focus a little closer when shooting tight portraits, by turning the focus ring a touch or swaying back slightly. But only slightly - my experience is that it back focusses maybe a centimeter or two from what the rangefinder is showing when set to minimum focus distance. I've also been seeing 'reports' of a new version coming out soon. What is the basis for these reports folks? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted August 27, 2009 Share #6 Posted August 27, 2009 I've also been seeing 'reports' of a new version coming out soon. What is the basis for these reports folks? The fact that the current lens is the first of the generally available 'aspherical generation' lenses, that a production run of one-and-a-half decade is a long one for Leica, and that lots of people have got themselves in a tizzy about the focus shift (which occurs in all fast lenses unless special measures are taken to combat it). My own 'reality test' pictures tell me that the above agitation is pretty unnecessary. So even if a new 35mm Summilux is announced soon, I will not consider it. The old man from the Age of the 35mm Summicron (eight elements) Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_n Posted August 28, 2009 Share #7 Posted August 28, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) My own 'reality test' pictures tell me that the above agitation is pretty unnecessary. So even if a new 35mm Summilux is announced soon, I will not consider it.I agree, mine was manufactured 8 or 9 years ago, was used by a professional photographer for three years before I bought it from him a few years ago. Never had a problem in any area of the focus range of the lens at all. It's just a tremendous lens and I have no interest in a new version either. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noah_addis Posted August 28, 2009 Share #8 Posted August 28, 2009 I bought mine new in 2001, it was among my first Leica lenses, and it still performs wonderfully. I don't love the focal length on the M8 for some reason so while I have tested it with my M8 I don't use it often. But I've been keeping this one around in case we ever get a full-frame M digital, or in case I ever get around to shooting film again. Mine seems to be calibrated in such a way that focus shift is not a problem. I won't be in the market for an updated version either, especially if it's larger and/or has one of those new screw-on metal hoods like the 24/1.4. I'm not a big fan of the screw-on hoods or series filters. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted August 29, 2009 Share #9 Posted August 29, 2009 All Leica lenses are set to focus precisely wide open. When you stop any lens down, cutting off the peripheral rays, remaining spherical aberration will tend to shift the plane of best focus away from the lens ("backfocusing"). This is a universal phenomenon, though you do not see much of it in a slow lens, where the peripherals are so to speak cut off in the factory. The physics is that with speherical lens surfaces, axial and peripheral rays do not come to the same focus, so 'best focus' is always a compromise. Stop down and the balance shifts. The matter becomes an issue because now for the first time we have fast lenses that are really sharp wide open, so we can notice it! It is said that because of this, Zeiss lenses are collimated for maximum focus one stop down, but that may be an optical urban legend. The old man from the Age of the 35mm Summicron (eight elements) Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpattison Posted August 29, 2009 Share #10 Posted August 29, 2009 I have done tests on film (only have an M7) with no difference noticed (on enlargements) as I took successive pictures on a tripod, focused on an apple stalk in my fruit bowl, from f1.4 down to f16. I believe the "pixel peeping" of enlarging the digital image on a computer screen has revealed the problem to some users, who rightly feel that such an expensive lens should not change focus. I read somewhere that chrome versions don't focus shift, neither do early model black ones. Mine is a very early ASPH from 1995. Perhaps we should create a universal test subject and all the owners of this lens on the forum submit their results? It is now my favorite lens. My Kodak G100 transparencies from a recent holiday are the best I've ever seen; they are so sharp! Cheers, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted August 29, 2009 Share #11 Posted August 29, 2009 The shift is not much in evidence on film because most of it is within the depth of the emulsion. I never noticed with film, in fact not until the hullabaloo here made me check it on my M8. And I agree about the pixel peeping. I chimp only to check the histogram. I have owned this lens for a decade now and it has never let me down. The old man Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicaiste Posted October 1, 2009 Share #12 Posted October 1, 2009 Leica Summilux 35mm update | Leica Rumors Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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