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Is the 35mm Summicron ASPH worth the money?


Nick De Marco

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I have owned two of these, and used it on M6/M8/M9.

 

It is currently my favorite lens, I also have a 35/1.4L for canon (which is OK but nowhere near the summicron)

 

At the moment there are quite a few 35/2 ASPHs around, since the new 35Lux is trickling in. So at the used marked, the 35 is IMO perhaps THE best buy from Leica now, based on my subjective evaluation of usefulness, performance, build and price.

 

Closest contender would of course be the 50 cron, but since that lacks a focusing tab and since 35 is a bit more useful for what the leicas do best - repotage.

 

PS. The reason I owned two is that I had both silver and black. I got a black M9 and met someone who had a silver camera with black lens - so we traded.

 

The silver version feels much more solidly built, and is a joy to use, but quite heavy even for a chrome lens. The black version is lighter and in my book has slightly lighter focussing. This might be both good and bad depending on your style of photography.

 

Long answer - YES the 35 cron is worth it. I could easily live with ONLY this lens on my M9.

 

Steve huff has a review where he too comes to the same conclusion.

 

(EDIT: Congrats on your new cron. Enjoy!)

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It's one sweet little lens. And I don't know if it's worth for you or not, but every leica lens is worth the money. However if budget is your concern, you can get the previous non-asph versions and they are still extremely nice.

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In case you missed my reply, I bought the silver one (ex-demo).

I have already decided it is worth the money. Having owned and used the pre-asph 35/2 version IV, the Biogon 35/2. CV 35/1.4 (all now sold). Biogon 35/2.8C and CV 35/1.2 v2, as well as the Canon 35 1.4L for DSLR, and can honestly say I am already smitten with the 35/2 asph. So sharp, yet with character, even wide upen. Small and very well made. Along with the 28 chron ASPH and either an old 50 chron I have, the Zeiss 50 Planar or the Zeiss 50 Sonnar 1.5 (when the re-optimise it) this shall undoubtably be one of the three main lenses I expect to use on the M9 and films Ms in future, and perhaps the one most used

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Haven't seen any discussion of the Summarit in this thread. I've been very happy with this lens, but curious if others who have experience with both it and the Summicron ASPH think it would be worth say $1000 to upgrade?

I own both. The Summarit is a superb lens. The best "slow" 35 i have ever used so far. It's not worth to upgrade if one doesn't need f/2 IMHO.

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I own both. The Summarit is a superb lens. The best "slow" 35 i have ever used so far. It's not worth to upgrade if one doesn't need f/2 IMHO.

 

I have the 1.4/35 Summilux ASPH FLE. Recently I bought the 2.5/35 Summarit (both for it's drawing c/w the Summilux and as a lightweight alternative), although I could afford and also had the opportunity to buy the 2.0/35 Summicron ASPH.

 

It's performance is NOT at all lightweight (but so very different to the Summilux which is still my favourite of the two).

 

Mark

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I just got mine as I sold my v1 goggled version to a friend who really wanted a goggled version.. And I think it suits my chrome m9p very well..

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I put mine for sale on the forum. Had 2 enquiries . Then I changed my mind. Took it to Scotland for my annual Autumn visit plus a 24mm a 50mm a 75mm and a 135mm. Guess what ? It took 80% of the photos...Best decision ever made. Unbeatable for the price...around £1250 a few years back. Now nearly £2000.00 !! ...and it has no competitors as in fact all leica lenses.

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I'm not a fan of 35 as a focal length but once this lens is on my M9 I struggle to get it off....

 

The images are stunning and show a consistent clarity and sharpness that is astonishing......

 

I am rationalising my lens stockpile but this is one that I will never sell, irrespective of how little I use it ...;)

 

I agree 100%.

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I put mine for sale on the forum. Had 2 enquiries . Then I changed my mind.

 

Funny that you mention this. I use this lens on an M8 and hence it gives the FOV of a 50mm lens, something that I'm not as comfortable with as a FOV of a 35mm lens. So I put it on sale at the local Classifieds to trade it for a 28mm.

 

Had multiple enquiries but eventually figured out they were really all the same person, just using different email addresses and going under the guise of a different person in the hope of getting a better price. Don't ask me how I found out. Let's just say there were certain 'signatures' to the way the emails were written and multiple mistakes visible which led me to that conclusion.

 

This sort of dishonesty left me totally baffled. Anyway, yesterday night I brought the camera and lens with me to just get one photo for a friend over dinner. It's pretty much changed my mind about trading it for another lens.

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No. Zeiss Biogon 35mm F2 is optically superior wide open (if you are prepared to cast aside your Leica bias and be honest with yourself)

 

Biogon is also a fraction of the price of Leica.

 

Agree, but only partially. Both Erwin Puts and Ken Rockwell have reviewed the Biogon in favourable light and stated that it is better than the Summicron in many aspects. But the point where I disagree with your statement is about the Biogon being superior to the Summicron at wide open.

 

My understanding from the articles by Erwin and Ken ls that the Summicron is better than the Biogon at wide open and at the center. The Biogon has its advantages at medium apertures and also in the field (ie. off axis).

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Closest contender would of course be the 50 cron, but since that lacks a focusing tab and since 35 is a bit more useful for what the leicas do best - repotage.

 

Above is a previous quote!

I guess what Bresson did with a 50mm lens and a leica for his whole career throughout the 20th century isn't considered reportage.

 

 

http://www.franksellitto.com

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Sean Reid tested a bunch of 35's on the M9 and came to the conclusion that the F2.8 Biogon was the best technical performer. I recommend his paid site. That said, technical considerations are secondary to the way a lens draws. I learned a long time ago, shooting 8x10, that a lens can be too sharp, and --even more so -- too contrasty. (I settled on late American Dagors.) This came home to me reading an interview with Bobby Bukowski, who did the brilliant camerawork (shot digitally on an Arri) in Oren Moverman's Rampart, just released. Bukowski spent a lot of time looking for lenses that were not muli-coated because he wanted a luminous look to the image. For myself, I am perfectly happy with a V4 35 cron. No need to go on an endless lens safari.

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