Bill W Posted February 15, 2012 Share #1 Â Posted February 15, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Am I missing something here. I was looking on ebay recently and noticed several Summilux 35 Asph of the same vintage as mine. They are listed at $20,000 plus. Is there something magical here or is this just due to the limited supply of all M lenses and "A fool and his $......." I am not looking to sell mine by any means but again am I missing something here. Mine has been coded so of course the value would be less....!!!!! I am not a collector and do not know a lot about some of the older lens so maybe they are worth that kind of money. Oh well..!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 15, 2012 Posted February 15, 2012 Hi Bill W, Take a look here Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 Aspherical. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
farnz Posted February 15, 2012 Share #2 Â Posted February 15, 2012 Bill, Â I think I see the one's you're referring to and it looks like the "Aspherical" version not the "Asph" version. The difference is that the "aspherical" version contains two hand-ground aspherical elements and are pretty rare but $20,000 seems a bit steep! Â As we know, prices for Leica lenses are attached to Helium balloons at the moment but I'd expect a reasonable price for a good condition aspherical version to be closer to $9,000 or $10,000 and I note that these ones are mostly offered by vendors who are well known for price gouging on Leica lenses. Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill W Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share #3  Posted February 15, 2012 Bill, I think I see the one's you're referring to and it looks like the "Aspherical" version not the "Asph" version. The difference is that the "aspherical" version contains two hand-ground aspherical elements and are pretty rare but $20,000 seems a bit steep!  As we know, prices for Leica lenses are attached to Helium balloons at the moment but I'd expect a reasonable price for a good condition aspherical version to be closer to $9,000 or $10,000 and I note that these ones are mostly offered by vendors who are well known for ...price gouging on Leica lenses.  Pete. I guess that might make sense. Like I said I am not a collector so these variances are not know to me. Do they really take better photos? Just kidding......!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted February 15, 2012 Share #4 Â Posted February 15, 2012 I guess that might make sense. Like I said I am not a collector so these variances are not know to me. Do they really take better photos? I've never used one, Bill, but those that own them say they take very nice pictures. But I think the price is driven by collectors owing to the rarity. Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill W Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share #5 Â Posted February 15, 2012 I now vaguely remember reading about these. Mine is a vintage just after them. Thanks for the education. My plain Asph takes really great shots. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spylaw4 Posted February 15, 2012 Share #6 Â Posted February 15, 2012 You're right Pete, the "Aspherical" as opposed to the ASPH is comparatively rare and does command a premium price. It does have a good reputation and IIRC it's a compact lens; haven't seen one for a while, but they do turn up from time to time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWC Doppel Posted February 15, 2012 Share #7  Posted February 15, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Blimey......  Not even the nicest Leica 35 is worth $20k  I'd like to see the pictures incomparison to the latest FLE 1.4 Summilux .......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf Posted February 15, 2012 Share #8 Â Posted February 15, 2012 Stricly a collector's item, weird though, the way the prices are moving in general, it might not be a bad investment after all, crazy! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overgaard Posted February 15, 2012 Share #9 Â Posted February 15, 2012 As it was handmade, the quality may vary. But a couple of them I've seen were really good image quality as well. Â So it's a collectors item you may want to use also. But of course collectors drive the price up in a range where a new 35mm Summilux-M ASPH f/1.4 Floating Element is a better choice. Â I still would like one of those Aspherical though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWC Doppel Posted February 15, 2012 Share #10 Â Posted February 15, 2012 I am quite interested in the 35 Summilux and have followed the FLE vs older threads as well as reviews. Â Anyone comment on just how much 'nicer' the bokeh is over the 35 F2 asph, I would really like the extra stop for low light indoor people shots at night. I am sort of holding off as prices are very high and I am more a 35 man than 50 man and currently have an M8, expecting to get into M9-P ownership this year though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill W Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share #11 Â Posted February 15, 2012 Of course I am not a lens technology buff or collector. I just use them. Are the FLE version 35's the most recent release or from an earler vintage. Sorry if this has been discussed in other threads. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipus Posted February 15, 2012 Share #12  Posted February 15, 2012 There was one at Newoldcamera a little while ago for about 11000€, discussed here. 22000$ does seem steep (as if I knew anything about these things ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted February 15, 2012 Share #13 Â Posted February 15, 2012 Of course I am not a lens technology buff or collector. I just use them. Are the FLE version 35's the most recent release or from an earler vintage. Sorry if this has been discussed in other threads. Bill, Â The "FLE" version is the 'Floating Lens Element' version, which is the current 35/1.4 Summilux asph that was released in 2009. "FLE" isn't part of its official name but it's picked up the term so that users can distinguish between it and the first version 35/1.4 Summilux asph. Â I believe the floating lens element helps image quality at close focussing distances; the 50/1.4 Summilux asph has had the same technology since its release in 2004. Â Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill W Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share #14  Posted February 15, 2012 Bill, The "FLE" version is the 'Floating Lens Element' version, which is the current 35/1.4 Summilux asph that was released in 2009. "FLE" isn't part of its official name but it's picked up the term so that users can distinguish between it and the first version 35/1.4 Summilux asph.  I believe the floating lens element helps image quality at close focussing distances; the 50/1.4 Summilux asph has had the same technology since its release in 2004.  Pete. Thanks Pete I looked at the article Ken Rockwell did about 35's and the FLE version replaced the one that had been around since 1994. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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