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Lux 35AA


NB23

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I cannot really say much about flare and strong backlight. I looked through some photographs and I did see some purple flare and some of the aperture diamond flares. I cannot draw any conclusions though since I have a UV filter attached to the lens almost at all times to protect the front element. I also don't use the lens shade most of the time. It is the same as the 28 sum micron aspherical shade and I am not a fan. So I usually just use the lens with the UV filter as a "lens cap." I will try it out properly without a UV filter when I get around to it. Here is another shot that shows of some of the bokeh.

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A few shots, sorry pretty random choice, all wide open except the colour GT3 RS at f4.0 (No it's not my car, the whippet is though !), I do need to Organise my pics......

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Here's a recent one wide open with the 35AA. I had to pull it from flickr so it is a little compressed, but I think it still shows some of the magic.

 

I'm not a bokeh aficionado or obsessive but some of the bokeh in this photo is IMO a little bit intrusive. I've owned multiple copies of both the ASPH versions of the 35 Summilux and I know they can display some weird effects at times but this looks even more wacky.

 

I get that the double aspherical version, with it's production history and limited availability, is a desirable lens to own but is it really any more remarkable, photographically, than any of the other 35 Summilux ASPH lenses? I've been buying Leica stuff long enough to wonder whether we often see what we want to see (and sometimes choose not to see what we don't want to).

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A few shots, sorry pretty random choice, all wide open except the colour GT3 RS at f4.0 (No it's not my car, the whippet is though !), I do need to Organise my pics......

 

Reminds me of the bokeh from a mix of the noct f1 and rigid, a special look indeed.

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I get that the double aspherical version, with it's production history and limited availability, is a desirable lens to own but is it really any more remarkable, photographically, than any of the other 35 Summilux ASPH lenses?

 

No, it probably isn't, but as has been pointed out before, the 35AA doesn't suffer from focus shift like the 35 asph. does. The FLE is probably a great choice, and I certainly wouldn't spend the premium that the 35AA demands these days, but like you said, it does make you feel good to own a rare handmade piece of art rather than paying these outrageous sums for some of the new lenses.

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No, it probably isn't, but as has been pointed out before, the 35AA doesn't suffer from focus shift like the 35 asph. does. The FLE is probably a great choice, and I certainly wouldn't spend the premium that the 35AA demands these days, but like you said, it does make you feel good to own a rare handmade piece of art rather than paying these outrageous sums for some of the new lenses.

 

 

What's the average market value of one of these nowadays? Let's say with some paint loss on the barrel, clean front & rear glass, both caps and original packaging.

 

6bit coding came later so I guess most of them are uncoded?

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What's the average market value of one of these nowadays? Let's say with some paint loss on the barrel, clean front & rear glass, both caps and original packaging.

 

Schouten Select are, price wise, usually at the top end of the market. They have a few of these lenses starting at €11,000 for mint minus condition – e.g. this one. Realistically, you will need to pay the thick end of $10k for one in good condition and being sold by anyone who hasn't lived in a hole for the last five years.

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A few shots, sorry pretty random choice, all wide open except the colour GT3 RS at f4.0 (No it's not my car, the whippet is though !), I do need to Organise my pics......

 

The sense of movement this lens gives is like no other. I love the shapes it creates within the bokeh.

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There was a time around when these lenses still went significantly under 10k EUR when I was very curious about getting one to compare to the 35 ASPH.

Luckily it never happened and since I saw some direct comparisons between the ASPHERICAL, ASPH and FLE, my opinion still stands that the ASPH is by quite a bit still king of 35/1.4 lenses.

 

Focus shift is a massive internet FUD created by clever people and massively spread by the uneducated.

All lenses suffer from it. Lens sample variation in combination with ones specific RF calibration does possibly have the biggest impact on peoples claims to see it or not.

 

I think the only reason of such a lens being valid in ones arsenal is investment when bought clever (which is likely not in 2014 anymore).

 

Personally I loathe the look of the bokeh of this lens, but I do like the swirl it shows in some shots with vegetation (unfortunately one does not come without the other).

The FLE has a lot of similarities in bokeh with the ASPHERICAL, hence my strong preference of the ASPH despite I really like the new mechanical design with integrated hood of the FLE.

 

Best would be Leica to offer two lens lines - ASPH and spherical lenses at the same speeds possibly even going so far and offering choices of different coatings.

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I spent several months with my previous favourite 35 the Summilux ASPH. With the initial intention of selling the Aspherical, I got one at a price that was a must try....

 

The differences are ;

 

1. The Aspherical is sharper and more resolving (but not life changingly so)

2. The ASPH. has a softer bokeh and similar transition from in to out of focus

3. There is a little more 'walk in' 3D from the Aspherical

4. The colouring is nicer to my eyes and a little richer and more film like in some ways, low light colouring is akin to the f1 Noctilux with density, which for me is wonderful.

5. There is something special in some shots that on occasion makes it stand out.

6. The ASPH is still stellar and the bokeh will be preferred by some (less movement and distraction)

7. The focus shift is less but it never bothered me with the ASPH

 

 

There is genuinely something special about this lens, sure it's not worth the money but for me I just couldn't sell it,as I knew I'd never get it back.

 

Here's one at f1.4 pointing into the light

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Focus shift is a massive internet FUD created by clever people and massively spread by the uneducated.

All lenses suffer from it. Lens sample variation in combination with ones specific RF calibration does possibly have the biggest impact on peoples claims to see it or not.

 

I agree that RF calibration (both lens and camera) played a significant role here – especially with the early M8 bodies which IMO were not properly calibrated for digital and had a tendency towards backfocus – but it is simply untrue to suggest that the #11874 Summilux ASPH has no particular problem with focus shift. I have owned (far too) many Leica lenses both before and after I owned two copies of this lens and it is the only lens that has demonstrated focus shift to a degree that has caused a material problem. I (and others) spent a great deal of time examining this problem because I like(d) the lens very much but the examples I owned, and the others I tested at the time, all displayed sufficient focus shift to make the lens pretty much unusable (not just less than optimum) between F2.8-ish and F8 if the RF was being relied on to focus. Of course, it was possible to tweak the focus manually to account for the shift but I prefer a lens I can focus using the RF.

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