Where is the new 35mm Lux Asph?

[alexmann]

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There just don't seem to be any of new 35mm Summilux Asphericals around. My dealer has only ever had two examples. Does anyone know this is because manufacturing has stopped due to a design problem? Or have you just received yours? It would be interesting to have an update on this, if anyone knows anything. Thanks!

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[JWW]

They must be shipping. I pre payed in May and received one mid July

[hoppyman]

Australia got a shipment, including mine , a couple of weeks ago. In our case all went to existing back orders and new orders from the announcement date.

I think it is simply supply being outstripped by demand again with a new , desirable poduct.

[01af]

The first batch of new Summilux-M 35 mm Asph lenses shipped in July. Now there's a rumour floating around which says production has been stopped temporarily due to quality issues; that allegedly is why after the first batch no more lenses get delivered at the moment.

[arminw]

The first batch of new Summilux-M 35 mm Asph lenses shipped in July. Now there's a rumour floating around which says production has been stopped temporarily due to quality issues; that allegedly is why after the first batch no more lenses get delivered at the moment.

 

That is what i've heard from my dealer too. Aparently some quality issues came up and they are getting investigatet, untill further notice no new ones are getting shipped .

[adli]

I called my dealer in Oslo yesterday. They told me that so far only two lenses have arrived in Norway, and that Leica could not tell when more lenses would arrive. They could not even give an answer when the Norwegian dealer a bit sarcastic asked if the next lens would arrive this year or next...

[charlesphoto99]

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Talked to my local rep the other day. All shipments have been pulled and lens isn't expected back out until sometime in July. He didn't exactly state a reason why except some sort of QC issues.

[erure]

Someone I knew got the new 35mm Lux and it had a crazy back focus on it -- he said it was way off and the person he goes to for repairs was amazed at how off it was too. The dealer he purchased from offered an exchange but he just kept it and got it repaired. So I'm not surprised to hear about quality control problems.

[BRJR]

..... So I'm not surprised to hear about quality control problems.

Still, I am quite surprised a problem this bad/serious got through Leica's Quality Control, in the first place; though glad, it has now been detected and is being worked on by Leica. Hopefully, by the time I get this lens (mine, is on pre-order too) it will be one that works properly, and a lens I will be proud to own, same as I am with all my other Leica-M lenses.

[zeitz]

Where is the new 35mm Lux Asph? Same place the 0.95 Nocti and 90 Summicron Aspheres are.

[thompsonkirk]

I'm glad – retrospectively – there was a delay!

 

I placed an early pre-order for a new 35 Lux & hoped nearly a month ago for a call from Dave Farkas. But over the last month I've looked fairly closely at web images made with the new lens. (Only fairly closely: not exactly pixel-peeping, because the files are 72 ppi.) The result of a month of looking is that I'm pretty sure I'll pass it up.

 

From what I've seen, its 'drawing' reminds me of the clinical sharpness & contrast of my 75 Summicron. What I've seen has made me sure I'm a Walter Mandler-type of Leica guy, & not a Peter Karbe guy. So today I sent my Mandler lenses to DAG along with M9 to have them calibrated together; and no more up-to-date lenses for me (except 28 Summicron, which IMO remains gentler to the eye). In particular, I want my 35 pre-asph Lux to come back properly calibrated, because I've decided I'd rather live with its flare & aberrations ('glow'?) than with the focus shift of a ver 1 35 asph or the hyper-clarity that seems characteristic of the new version. I'm saving my ver 1 Summicron for daylight & the pre-asph Lux for available light – & am happy to keep the $5K.

 

Perhaps a premature opinion, & I admit to bias: This afternoon a gentleman stopped me on the street to ask whether my Leica was an M8 or 9; & if so, whether I thought it would be 'sharper' than his M6. Obviously some folks want this most-of-all, but it's not where I want to go.

 

Kirk

[lars_bergquist]

If it is hard facts you want, they can be found in the MTF measurements. And the v.1 35mm Summilux ASPH was not a 'clinical' lens. It had more of the old-time fingerprint. The v.2 lens looks identical in the MTF graphs, because it is actually identical, with the exception of the floating element function, which has done nothing more than eliminate focus shift.

 

Admittedly, this was the cause for me to exchange the v.1 for the v.2.

 

I have not been able to give my lens a real tryout, because as of writing, my M9 is not yet back from its sensor de-cracking in Solms. Still, I have not yet seen any evidence that (discounting focus shift) it draws differently from the previous version. But that may of course be bad enough in the opinions of some people, what do I know. A couple of issues ago the LFI did print a number of pictures by Chris Weeks. They were great, but that was the only way in which they differed from my pictures with the v.1. High definition in the plane of focus, nice bokeh outside it. Technically, they are equivalent.

 

I like good lenses. Sharpness is not all in photography, but it has never ruined a good picture. It, or its absence, will of course reveal the defects in the photographer's technique.

 

The old man from the Age of the Cooke Triplet

[lars_bergquist]

Where is the new 35mm Lux Asph? Same place the 0.95 Nocti and 90 Summicron Aspheres are.

Exactly, in the case of the Nocti. Leica lenses are complicated affairs, assembled painstakingly to micron tolerances by highly skilled personnel, by techniques most of us have never heard of. Whenever a new lens is introduced, demand peaks. Then it tapers off, to stabilize at a low steady level. Leica cannot hire and train workers to cope with a short peak, only to lay them off a few months later, because Leica Camera is not McDonalds. So during the first year or so,there will be a waiting list. The alternative is to design lenses fit to be slapped together mechanically by robots.

 

In the case of the Summicron I hear that the lens has shown focusing issues with digital sensors -- and I find that not only understandable, but expected. Production will be resumed when these problems have been attended to. This is the Leica Way, and we would not accept anything less.

 

The old man from the Age of the 9cm Elmar

[hoppyman]

The trouble with rumours is that they can end up sounding credible despite people having no actual evidence for themselves.

 

I just popped outside in some late winter early twilight for you. My lens focuses fine. 640ISO owing to the fading light.

M9, SUMMILUX 35 ASPH. Shot at f/1.4, distance 80cm. Cropped from the frame centre of course.

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[leicashot]

Looks like the only reliable fast 35mm is the Nokton 1.2. No complaints by me ;-)

[lars_bergquist]

Looks like the only reliable fast 35mm is the Nokton 1.2. No complaints by me ;-)

The only reliable ... where on earth have you got that notion from? What do you base it on? Evidence, please.

 

The old man from the Age of Facts (ve-e-ery long ago)

[scsambrook]

 

. . . In the case of the Summicron I hear that the lens has shown focusing issues with digital sensors -- and I find that not only understandable, but expected. Production will be resumed when these problems have been attended to. This is the Leica Way, and we would not accept anything less.

 

The old man from the Age of the 9cm Elmar

 

I find it curious that these problems are only detected after the lenses have been put onto the market. Why, I wonder, does the maker not do sufficient tests to pick up such issues in the late development stage? It is hard to resist the thought that either Leica Camera is rushing products into the market place or the company is unable to maintain adequate quality control once production is under way. It would be interesting to see what Leica Camera has to say on the matter - silence may be understandable but is hardly re-assuring.

[01af]

The v2 lens looks identical in the MTF graphs, because it is actually identical, with the exception of the floating element function ...

You've said this before, and it is still wrong.

 

 

... which has done nothing more than eliminate focus shift.

Actually, floating elements reduce loss of image quality at closer distances. They do not directly address aperture-related focus shift. Of course, reduced aberrations do help in controlling focus shift but only indirectly so. The primary reason for reduced focus shift is the improved lens design which leads to less spherical aberrations. It is based on the previous design but is seriously revised ... even if you don't notice any difference in the usual lens cross-section diagrams in product brochures—do not confuse these with the actual lens CAD blueprints.

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[leicashot]

The only reliable ... where on earth have you got that notion from? What do you base it on? Evidence, please.

 

The old man from the Age of Facts (ve-e-ery long ago)

 

It is the ONLY fast 35mm lens on M mount NOT to have any focus or quality control issues, meaning it's a very safe bet, and Sean Reid also agrees on this.

 

Every other lens has been reported to have issues, except for maybe the original ASPHERICAL model.

 

Alternatively if you can find proof that the Nokton 1.2 DOES have issues, please go ahead and prove me wrong. Gotta love throwing a VC into the mix and watching Leica fans get frustrated ;-)

 

I kinda wish I was wrong, cause I love Leica as much as the next fan, but Leica still don't have the new model correct, which is why they have delayed production and delivery.

[hoppyman]

Have you shot the Summilux? Do you have any actual facts on quality issues with it?

 

One serious pro photographer member here known to me personally likes the results from her fast CV lens (a fast 50) but was unhappy that the aperture blades fell off within the lens and she had to pay for the repair when her warranty claim was disallowed.

 

I've owned several CV lenses (21, 35) and shot just a little with their nice new 28 as well. Those samples all worked fine. I wouldn't use any of them in preference to my modern Leica lenses.

 

I posted an example shot for the thread from the new Leica lens.

 

Here are some facts for you on the CV lens for you since you've asked

On this page from Erwin Puts you can read his review

Voigtlander lenses

In my opinion , not very flattering in comparison to the Leica products. It is in a very different price range/market segment and may well suit some people's needs. That is fine but it is silly to hold it up as the only issue free 35 and just accept internet rumours as fact to support your viewpoint.

But if you have it and like it and have good personal experience with it, by all means share some shots or facts with the forum.