MarkP Posted September 17, 2014 Share #21 Posted September 17, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) There are some comments about that the Summarits have been improved optically. I think we will just have to wait and see? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 17, 2014 Posted September 17, 2014 Hi MarkP, Take a look here New Summarits. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Nordvik Posted September 17, 2014 Share #22 Posted September 17, 2014 Although the IQ was overall very nice the corners were just too soft. From my experience the corners were not too soft. One of my favorite lenses, I would buy it again. Are you sure you did't have a bad lens? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted September 17, 2014 Share #23 Posted September 17, 2014 So the old Summarits were just mislabeled? If you check the history of posts, you'll notice a lot of questions about the aperture blades showing around the edge of the aperture even when set wide open. "I can see the aperture blades even when my 35 Summicron is set to f/2, and if I turn the ring past the detent, they disappear. Do I actually have an f/1.8 lens?"...and the like. It has been Leitz/Leica's practice - since I don't know when - to make the barrel opening and bits of glass slightly oversize, and then "tune" the opening to exactly 1.4 or 2 or 2.5 or whatever with the blades, for some lens types. It is simply part of the "check and adjust - hand-made fit and finish" culture of the company. I'd guess someone (internally) finally asked why it was still done that way, and could the usable lens speeds be kicked up a tiny notch by letting the blades have full travel. To me, it is all much of a muchness. For years there were (including other brands) f/1.4, f/1.5, f/1.7, f/1.8, f/1.9, f/2 and f/2.2 lenses (50mm and/or 85mm). Japan tended to stick with f/3.5 while Germany preferred the "f/3.4" label. If you get right down to it with a micrometer, most lenses are probably f/1.978 or f/1.42313, so they are going to get rounded off. Rather like the "50mm" Summicrons that are really 51.6 or 52.2mm lenses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted September 17, 2014 Share #24 Posted September 17, 2014 From my experience the corners were not too soft. One of my favorite lenses, I would buy it again. Are you sure you did't have a bad lens? Yes it's possible the lens was off but I have read similar comments by others. As I wrote before, I really liked the rendering of the lens (general photography & people) but its resolution just didn't compare with the Summilux FLE. I wasn't using the 35mm FL much at that time so decided if I was going to keep only one 35mm lens it would be the 1.4/35 Summilux FLE. I sold the 35 Summarit for just less than what I paid for it. If the new lens was optically improved I'd consider one. If the 2.5/35 Summarit was one of your favourite lenses why did you sell yours ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordvik Posted September 17, 2014 Share #25 Posted September 17, 2014 I sold the Summarit to finance my M9. It is easy to sell used, and easy to rebuy. And I use 50mm and 28mm more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted September 17, 2014 Share #26 Posted September 17, 2014 I sold the Summarit to finance my M9. It is easy to sell used, and easy to rebuy. And I use 50mm and 28mm more. Agreed. 28 & 50 are my two favourites too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted September 17, 2014 Share #27 Posted September 17, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) My Summarit 35/2.5 has always been softer in the corners below f/4 but i use it on crop cameras essentially and it is almost perfect there. Yo will see this softness on full frame if you shoot brick walls or the like but it won't bother you in normal photography most probably. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordvik Posted September 17, 2014 Share #28 Posted September 17, 2014 Soft in the corners for me is soft at infinity, not at 3m shooting a brick wall . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted September 17, 2014 Share #29 Posted September 17, 2014 Forget brick walls! I found that on a number of landscapes and more general photographs where I'd used the 2.4/35 Summarit appropriately stopped down for DOF, the foreground corners (and no I don't mean just at the very edges) at intermediate distance and infinity were way too soft. This was not 100% pixel peeping. I print to ≥A3+ so these were very noticeable. A shame as otherwise I really liked the lens, it's general rendering, its compactness, and ergonomics. But after a while, when I reached for a 35 (which isn't that often) I'd always hesitate, pass over the Sumarit and take the Summilux FLE. Again, a few Leica sites have mentioned 'improved' optics so I'll watch this space. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted September 18, 2014 Share #30 Posted September 18, 2014 [...] I found that on a number of landscapes and more general photographs where I'd used the 2.4/35 Summarit appropriately stopped down for DOF, the foreground corners (and no I don't mean just at the very edges) at intermediate distance and infinity were way too soft. This was not 100% pixel peeping. I print to ≥A3+ so these were very noticeable... I did notice some softness in corners from f/2.5 to f/3.5 roughly but i did not know that it was a real problem in landscapes, thanks for sharing. I did not use my sample often enough on full frame cameras i guess as it is almost stuck in the bag of my APS-C Fuji X-E2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fgcm Posted September 18, 2014 Share #31 Posted September 18, 2014 Reading the official statement, Summarit 35 has an aspherical lens + 46 filter. So, improved optics and only one set of filters to carry for 35, 50 lux and 90 Elmarit. Not bad. I think I'll place an order and trade some old lenses to finance the purchase. Franco Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted September 18, 2014 Share #32 Posted September 18, 2014 It may not be as simple as that. See post #2 http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/346661-leica-website-new-products-photokina.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted September 18, 2014 Share #33 Posted September 18, 2014 It may not be as simple as that. Someone posted recently in the Forum that the previous 2.5/35 version had one ASPH element but the lens wasn't described as an ASPH. Me too think that is the same design... just evidencing the asph feature (as well as the fact that are indeed 2,4 and not 2,5... I didn't notice the fact on my excellent Summarit 75 2,5 , but if Puts said so.... ) Black rubber on silver isn't stylish, imho... ... they made a similar "panda look" just some years ago (Hektor 7,3 cm 2nd version, chrome focus ring on black barrel) and wasn't so succesful (I checked some forum posts of 1932... ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgk Posted September 18, 2014 Share #34 Posted September 18, 2014 Black rubber on silver isn't stylish, imho... ... Agreed. Why Leica didn't redesign and produce a knurled barrel like their other lenses does puzzle me. A compromise and it looks as though it is too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fgcm Posted September 18, 2014 Share #35 Posted September 18, 2014 Mark, Luigi, After reading around on the internet I think you are right. Little changes to rise the price. I’ll ask my dealer to borrow a new 35 for a couple of hours to compare side by side. Franco Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted September 18, 2014 Share #36 Posted September 18, 2014 "Same Optical Design, Tighter Tolerances No new optical design was need to achieve the bigger aperture. Leica engineers were able to increase the maximum aperture by 1/8 exposure value by tighter tolerances in the production process. The lens design for the Summarit-M 35 mm includes one aspherical lens element, the predecessor included the same lens element, but it was not mentioned in the official lens name." http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-news/2014/09/leica-summarit-m/ So there it is! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheshireCat Posted September 19, 2014 Share #37 Posted September 19, 2014 "Same Optical Design, Tighter Tolerances[...] http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-news/2014/09/leica-summarit-m/ And yet the article at the link claims: "these new lenses with a maximum aperture of f/2.4 offer improved performance characteristics and new lens design" And again: "Its high performance, light weight and easy handling make the Leica Summarit-M 50 mm f/2.4 ASPH a particularly versatile lens." I guess the excuse will be the German to English translation, as usual Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted September 19, 2014 Share #38 Posted September 19, 2014 Mixed messages. We will probably just have to wait and see. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeswe Posted September 19, 2014 Share #39 Posted September 19, 2014 And yet the article at the link claims: "these new lenses with a maximum aperture of f/2.4 offer improved performance characteristics and new lens design" And again: "Its high performance, light weight and easy handling make the Leica Summarit-M 50 mm f/2.4 ASPH a particularly versatile lens." I guess the excuse will be the German to English translation, as usual German original: "Im Vergleich zu den Vorgängermodellen bieten die Objektive mit einer Lichtstärke von jetzt 2,4 verbesserte Leistungsmerkmale und ein neues Objektivdesign." Reading the German text, the expression "improved performance characteristics" seems to refer to the higher max f of 2.4. The way I read it the term "lens design" refers to the barrel, not the optical design. I may be wrong of course. Neither the 50mm nor the 75mm are designated as ASPH in the original German text. To the contrary, it clearly states the 35mm is the only lens of the series with an asph element. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pop Posted September 19, 2014 Share #40 Posted September 19, 2014 And yet the article at the link claims: "these new lenses with a maximum aperture of f/2.4 offer improved performance characteristics and new lens design" And again: "Its high performance, light weight and easy handling make the Leica Summarit-M 50 mm f/2.4 ASPH a particularly versatile lens." I guess the excuse will be the German to English translation, as usual The article at the link is part of this forum's blog and not an official document issued by Leica Camera AG. A simple statement pointing to potential translation issues would have been completely sufficient, I think. Thanks, anyway, for calling our attention to the blemishes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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