ktmrider2 Posted July 4, 2014 Share #1 Posted July 4, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) Am looking for a small and light 35mm to take with the M9 for a couple long hikes in the Highlands and Spain on an upcoming trip to Europe. I have given some serious consideration to the 35f2.8 Biogon. Reid says it may be the "most competent" 35 he has tested. How about some feedback from members who own one or have tried one. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 4, 2014 Posted July 4, 2014 Hi ktmrider2, Take a look here Zeiss 35f2.8 C Biogon. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
lct Posted July 4, 2014 Share #2 Posted July 4, 2014 Superb lens indeed. My favorite "slow sharp" 35 with the Summarit 35/2.5. Flares even less than the latter and it is sharper than the Summarit in borders and corners. It is a very contrasty lens though. Matches very well Leica lenses like 21/3.4 asph, 24/3.8 asph, 28/2.8 asph, 50/2.5, 50/2.8 v2, latest 90/2.8 or 135/3.4. A very small lens also, superbly made. I wish my Summarit 35 had a focus ring with a butter smooth feeling like the Biogon's. Firm aperture ring, no rattle at all, solid vented hood. Highly recommended. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick in CO Posted July 5, 2014 Share #3 Posted July 5, 2014 Superb lens indeed. My favorite "slow sharp" 35 with the Summarit 35/2.5. Flares even less than the latter and it is sharper than the Summarit in borders and corners. It is a very contrasty lens though. Matches very well Leica lenses like 21/3.4 asph, 24/3.8 asph, 28/2.8 asph, 50/2.5, 50/2.8 v2, latest 90/2.8 or 135/3.4. A very small lens also, superbly made. I wish my Summarit 35 had a focus ring with a butter smooth feeling like the Biogon's. Firm aperture ring, no rattle at all, solid vented hood. Highly recommended. Ditto. I use the 25/50/85 Zeiss combo most often for European travelling, but keep the 35 f2.8 Biogon in my bag for that occasional use. Very small & lightweight, sharp & contrasty out to the corners. If a 35 is not your most oft used lens its nice to have when needed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightSun Posted July 5, 2014 Share #4 Posted July 5, 2014 Having experience with the C-Biogon, indeed it is an excellent lens. You can't go wrong with it if you want to use a super sharp, compact 35mm glass during your hikes. The only caveat is that it is a very high contrast lens, which is good and bad, depending on what scene you shoot. When you have to cover a broad dynamic range, then it is easy to clip highlights with it, so you need to underexpose a bit more than with some milder contrast lenses (the case being with a Leica M9, but possibly with an M240 it is less of an issue). Otherwise, the produced image quality is second to none. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
krooj Posted July 12, 2014 Share #5 Posted July 12, 2014 For the money, I'd say go for it. If you can stretch the extra $500 or so, try the Summarit, since the difference in build quality is noticeable. Take note, I say build quality - the optics of the Zeiss are characteristically Zeiss: sharp as a tack and very high contrast. You can certainly feel that the lens was built to a price point when you use the focusing mechanism, but the same is true of most ZM lenses I've used. Another sleeper lens to look at is the discontinued Voigtlander Ultron 35mm. It's LTM and will require an adapter, and only focuses down to 0.9m, but it's extremely sharp and pretty cheap. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted July 12, 2014 Share #6 Posted July 12, 2014 (edited) [...] If you can stretch the extra $500 or so, try the Summarit, since the difference in build quality is noticeable. Take note, I say build quality - the optics of the Zeiss are characteristically Zeiss: sharp as a tack and very high contrast. You can certainly feel that the lens was built to a price point when you use the focusing mechanism, but the same is true of most ZM lenses I've used [...] I have to disagree on this. The building quality of my ZM lenses (35/2.8, 50/1.5) is on par with that of my best Leica lenses so far. As far as focusing mechanisms are concerned, those of my ZM lenses are ideally smooth and are clearly superior to those of my Summarit 35/2.5 and Summilux 50/1.4 asph from this standpoint. Edited July 12, 2014 by lct Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
krooj Posted July 12, 2014 Share #7 Posted July 12, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have to disagree on this. The building quality of my ZM lenses (35/2.8, 50/1.5) is on par with that of my best Leica lenses so far. As far as focusing mechanisms are concerned, those of my ZM lenses are ideally smooth and are clearly superior to those of my Summarit 35/2.5 and Summilux 50/1.4 asph from this standpoint. There's a good bit of plastic involved in the focusing mechanism on those lenses, so while it may be smooth, I suspect that the Leica lenses will be functional for a lot longer than the ZM ones. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richfx Posted July 12, 2014 Share #8 Posted July 12, 2014 Terrific lens - I love mine. I prefer its IQ and pop to the 35 Lux FLE for well-lit and outdoor / landscape shots. No issues with build quality (although I've read a fair bit about the Zeiss "wobble"). Go for it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted July 12, 2014 Share #9 Posted July 12, 2014 There's a good bit of plastic involved in the focusing mechanism on those lenses... Aside from the blue dot, i don't see any plastic in my ZM lenses but i may be wrong. Would you mind to elaborate on that please? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
krooj Posted July 12, 2014 Share #10 Posted July 12, 2014 Aside from the blue dot, i don't see any plastic in my ZM lenses but i may be wrong. Would you mind to elaborate on that please? Yeah, the brass helical itself actually is held in place with a plastic carrier. I've torn the lens apart once, and you can definitely see how it was built to a price point. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted July 12, 2014 Share #11 Posted July 12, 2014 First time i hear of this, thanks for sharing. Would you have a pic of this plastic part by chance? Just curious. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
krooj Posted July 13, 2014 Share #12 Posted July 13, 2014 First time i hear of this, thanks for sharing. Would you have a pic of this plastic part by chance? Just curious. Sadly, no. I only did it once, and would not suggest anyone try it themselves. I can say that the only piece of brass in that lens is 1/2 of the helical, though. IIRC, the other half was aluminum. In practice, this is just all nit-picking. It's a knockout of a lens on either the M240 or the M9. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktmrider2 Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share #13 Posted July 24, 2014 Plastic vs Brass I purchased the lens and it looks and feels great. As far as the plastic vs brass issue, I am not at all sure brass can any longer be called superior to plastic. I mean the Glock pretty much settled the metal vs plastic in firearms which have much more stress in operation then any camera lens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveYork Posted July 29, 2014 Share #14 Posted July 29, 2014 There's a good bit of plastic involved in the focusing mechanism on those lenses, so while it may be smooth, I suspect that the Leica lenses will be functional for a lot longer than the ZM ones. When I shot Ms, my 35mm Summicron ASPH had loads of plastic. Nothing like the lenses from the 70's. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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