Walk around lens for hikes 28mm Summicron ASPH to 35mm FLE and back

[jmahto]

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Wanted to share my experience of these two lenses for general shooting on hikes. I love my 28mm Cron ASPH on M240 and it is my go to lens. However last weekend I decided to take my 35mm FLE instead and did some shooting. I liked the results and got some very good pictures as well but I am going back to 28mm cron. The reasons are the following:

 

- Flare. With sun just outside the frame I got consistent flares. I use the standard metal hood with no filter. The only way to avoid it was to see in LV and use my hand to shield the light. The LV approach worked all the time and I am glad I moved to M240 (from M9). However, I don't use LV for general shooting and it slows me down. In comparison there are less flare issues in my 28 cron. 

(This reason alone, I will not choose M9 or M262).

 

- Sun stars shape. I like 28 cron's simple sun star which is much more pointy and striking.

 

- Sharpness. I could see some softness at some parts of the frame at f/5.6 with infinity focusing. This is pixel peeping and it went away after sharpening in LR. This could be field curvature issue and I may have to experiment more but with 28 cron I get sharpness across the frame at f/5.6 at infinity.

 

- Dust spots. I generally shoot at f/5.6 outside and I hardly see dust with 28 cron unless my sensor is really dirty. 35 FLE was picking up more dust spots at f/5.6.

 

This is not a knock on 35 FLE which I love as general walk around lens in the city and indoors with people. Wide open it is magic but it is not my preference outdoors.

 

Comments welcome.

 

Flare:

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Wide open shot that I liked (stitch of two overlapping side by side shots):

 

 

[Carduelis]

Interesting lens selections; thanks for sharing.  I am a keen hiker as well and will take light and compact lenses with my Leica M240.  I usually take 28 mm Elmarit-M ASPH f2.8 and 50 mm Zeiss ZM f2 Planar lenses; sometimes I may also carry a 90 mm Summarit f2.5 lens. 

[NB23]

So if I understand correctly, you don't choose your favorite lens by its focal length.

[Carduelis]

So if I understand correctly, you don't choose your favorite lens by its focal length.

 

 

50 mm is my favourite focal length overall and for hiking I tend to use the Zeiss Planar as opposed to the heavier 50 mm ASPH Summilux that I also own.  I prefer 90 mm for telephoto as 75 mm IMO is too close to 50 mm.    Keeping it to a maximum of three lenses for hiking, 28 mm is a convenient focal length as a wide angle, particularly given that the Elmarit-M ASPH is so sharp and small/light.

[jmahto]

Interesting lens selections; thanks for sharing.  I am a keen hiker as well and will take light and compact lenses with my Leica M240.  I usually take 28 mm Elmarit-M ASPH f2.8 and 50 mm Zeiss ZM f2 Planar lenses; sometimes I may also carry a 90 mm Summarit f2.5 lens. 

My usual hiking set is 28 cron ASPH and 90 Macro Elmar-M. I had the 28 Elmarit-M ASPH which I replaced with cron since I get more flexibility in evening and night (stars). If I want 50mm FOV then I stitch 90mm shots and as a bonus end up with 80mega pixel picture.