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1958 35mm/3.5 Summaron with goggles or no goggles ?


Flyfisherman

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With goggles, the image is squeezed the inside 50 mm frame lines. There is some flare in the viewfinder because of the google optics

 

Without goggles, the proper 35 mm frame shows with the same image in it. Therefore the image is larger.

 

The purpose of googles originally was to get a 35 mm view in the M3 which only had 50/90/135 frame lines. If you wear glasses and can not see the 35 mm frame lines, there would be some advantage in seeing the smaller frame lines of the 50.

 

The Summaron is a decent lens from 5.6 and smaller. There is a cult following this lens now that I really do not understand. You will be better served with a more modern optic on the M8. Zeiss 2.0 or 2.8 come to mind or the 35 Summarit or 35 2.0 version 4 which is what I am using.

 

I just tried my 35 2.0 Summicron with goggles on my M8. It is going back in the cabinet. Another overrated cult lens. Good from 4.0 on, 2.8 OK, 2.0 does not match the version 4

 

I would not consider CV products. Maybe a Zeiss .

 

Whatever lens, you will require a B+W 486 to make colors correct, mostly in tungsten but also with flash and daylight. Greens go way to dark and certain black fabrics render purple/magenta.

 

A used CV you will not loose much money on if you sell it.

 

Tamarkin Camera has a 35 Summarit used for $1500. They are a reputable dealer from whom I have purchased over the years.

Also look to KEH.

 

I would stay off the auction site at all costs.

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[…] The purpose of googles originally was to get a 35 mm view in the M3 which only had 50/90/135 frame lines. If you wear glasses and can not see the 35 mm frame lines, there would be some advantage in seeing the smaller frame lines of the 50. […]

+1 so if you can see the 35mm framelines i would forget the goggles if i were you. Welcome to the forum BTW. :)

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The 35mm Summarit as mentioned by Tobey is a good possibility...have only read good things about this lens. I was close to buying a 35/2.8 Summaron with goggles not so long ago but elected to get a different focal length altogether. This is said to be a very good lens and I could have bought it for half the price of a Summarit (and lens speed being almost the same).

 

Personally I think f/3.5 can be a little slow, especially if you're looking at using the M8 in low light.

 

Between goggles and no goggles, I'd buy a goggled version, but that's because I wear spectacles also and the 50mm framelines might be easier to see, at the cost of the image becoming smaller. As always, good to try before you buy. If you're not comfortable with the way the viewfinder looks, don't buy the lens. There might be a temptation to think you'd 'get used to things', but why suffer compromises if you don't have to?

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I have the goggled version. The goggles are removable on some versions to be able to store it in the dedicated camera case, not to adapt it to a camera with 35 framelines. The focussing cam is wrong for that. You can only remove the goggles with the lens locked at infinity.

I find the bad press this lens gets from time to time is quite undeserved. If you have a clean example it is very sharp in the centre with decent corners, a bit vintage, but quite good. At f 5.6 or 8.0 it is as good as any pre-asph Leica 35. Diffraction kicks in quite drastically at f11, I would not recommend the smallest apertures.

If yoo buy one without goggles make sure there is no flat top with a chrome button on the mount. That means it has lost its goggles and cannot be focussed.

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I don't know about the Summaron, but my 35mm goggled Summicron allowed me to get much closer to the subject. Certainly not a macro, but definitely a close-up. So it was more than a framing assist. Unfortunately, due to the barrel intrusion into the camera body, I could not use it on my M8, so I traded it plus cash for a coded 28mm Elmarit.

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I don't know about the Summaron, but my 35mm goggled Summicron allowed me to get much closer to the subject. Certainly not a macro, but definitely a close-up. So it was more than a framing assist. Unfortunately, due to the barrel intrusion into the camera body, I could not use it on my M8, so I traded it plus cash for a coded 28mm Elmarit.

 

That would be the dual-range Summicron, a different model altogether, and not compatible with the M8.

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The goggles are removable on some versions to be able to store it in the dedicated camera case.

 

Does this imply that one cannot use the dedicated lens case with the version of the lens that the goggles are not removable?

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