35mm Summicron 3rd Generation

[dbledsoe]

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Anyone care to comment on the seemingly ugly step-child 3rd generation of the venerable 35mm f/2 Summicron-M. I have one and found it superior to the 1st gen Summicron I once owned but I have no actual experience with either the 2nd gen or 4th gen. 3rd gen seems to get a bad rap. Is it really that bad? From my experience it isn’t but I have no experience with either 2nd gen nor 4th gen lenses.

 

Thanks

Don

[michaelwj]

It's not bad, just different.

 

It more or less follows the trend of the day, and mirrors the 50mm summicron development: First version is high resolution across the frame, following versions increased contrast at the expense of edge resolution (35mm v2 and v3; 50mm v3), later versions increased resolution at the edges while keeping high contrast.

The only thing not to like is the lack of filter threads on some lenses, and the lack of 6 bit coding options.

 

FWIW v2 and v3 are the same optics, just with a different aperture ring.

[luigi bertolotti]

... I have one and found it superior to the 1st gen Summicron I once owned....

That's not surprising... after all it wouldn't had been so smart, for Leitz, to make a worst performer for the newer version of such an important lens : probably cost of production was targeted too (2 glass elements less is surely a saving) but me too had the same feeling when, after a 1st version, took a 2nd version (which, as Michael says, is identical to the 3rd one regarding optics)

Btw, in mechanical terms the much praised v4 is indeed a step back...

Edited December 16, 2017 by luigi bertolotti

[vanGeist]

I own a v3 35 Summicron and it's an excellent lens.