So, Who's Buying the New 35 and/or 50 SL APO Lenses & Will they Replace your equivalent M-Lenses

[jplomley]

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Having bought both the 16-35 SL and 75 SL lenses, I'm eagerly awaiting the 35 APO SL to pair with the 75 for reportage/street photography. I also have the 35 Lux FLE which I use on my M10, and although the resolution is outstanding on this lens, the bokeh can be nervous at times and so if the 35 APO SL improves in this area, I'm willing to trade in the 35 FLE towards the SL. I'm curious how many others will be acquiring the upcoming 35 APO and/or 50 APO SL lenses, and will they replace your equivalent focal lengths in M glass?

Edited January 26, 2019 by jplomley

[ajmarton1]

I just got rid of my SL601 and all my SL lenses after trying out the Nikon D850 for an upcoming Safari trip. The SL just does not have the long lens options necessary for such a trip and I was not impressed with the SL’s AF past performance in India and Bali.  And I had every available SL lens at the time. The Ms (I also have the film CL, R8, R9, M5, M7, 246 mono, M10-P and Q) are the core of LEICA’s heart and soul. Lots of interchangeable lens, compatibility with legacy lenses (except for the Q) and minimal electronics. The M lenses are classic, fast and German made. The future SL lenses will be a partnership with Panasonic and Sigma which says a lot.   I don’t see the SL lenses as replacing the M lens line up anytime soon. You can’t beat the M for street photography. It’s just marketing to get you to buy another class of LEICA lenses in my humble opinion. 

Edited January 26, 2019 by ajmarton1

[helged]

Size-wise, it is hard to beat most of the M-lenses. That being said, based on my shooting, I prefer the SL system. The SL-body is better in my hand, and the SL-lenses, the primes in particular, are outstanding. I have still some M-lenses, mainly for use on the M8 for ir photography, otherwise I use SL and L-optics. Sure, for sport and wild life photography, technically better systems are around (and for this reason I also use Nikon D5 and D850 with long lenses), but I plan to sell off the Nikon gear once Sigma comes with long L-mount lens(es).

Regarding the 35 Lux FLE; I sold that lens many years ago, mainly because of it's tendency for generating nervous bokeh. Most likely, I will get the SL 21 and 35mm Cons. These lenses, together with the 75mm Cron, the SL zooms and 50APO-M, should cover most of my needs...

[BernardC]

51 minutes ago, ajmarton1 said:

The future SL lenses will be a partnership with Panasonic and Sigma which says a lot. 

That's not what the three partners have claimed. L-mount lenses will conform to the L-mount specification, and the partners will hold regular meetings to extend that specification (for instance, with support for an "aperture ring" on the Panasonic lenses), but they will operate independently.

In other words, future Leica L lenses won't be "secret Sigmas" or "dressed-up Lumix," unless you have a reliable source that knows otherwise.

[caissa]

2 hours ago, ajmarton1 said:

I just got rid of my SL601 and all my SL lenses after trying out the Nikon D850 for an upcoming Safari trip. The SL just does not have the long lens options necessary for such a trip and I was not impressed with the SL’s AF past performance in India and Bali.  And I had every available SL lens at the time. The Ms (I also have the film CL, R8, R9, M5, M7, 246 mono, M10-P and Q) are the core of LEICA’s heart and soul. Lots of interchangeable lens, compatibility with legacy lenses (except for the Q) and minimal electronics. The M lenses are classic, fast and German made. The future SL lenses will be a partnership with Panasonic and Sigma which says a lot.   I don’t see the SL lenses as replacing the M lens line up anytime soon. You can’t beat the M for street photography. It’s just marketing to get you to buy another class of LEICA lenses in my humble opinion. 

No it is even better, they work together and produce each their own lenses for the same mount. They never announced a collaboration in developing common lenses or co-producing them. So there will be up to three lenses for several focal lengths, the 50 mm e.g., or zooms like 24-70/80/90/105.

With this It is probably finally clear, that it is a silly question if one needs to be replaced by another. Users can simply choose according to budget constrictions and personal favorites. 

The 35mm R is smaller and also not bad, the M 35 mm aspherical is excellent, so I am not sure I need a “replacement”. But the 28 mm is probably a candidate for replacement for me (the Ms are excellent, but not close focusing).

[Jeff S]

I can’t speak to the SL, but if you want another 35mm option for your M10, the Summicron and Summarit are both terrific lenses.  The latter is underrated and even surpasses the Summicron in some respects ... no focus shift, better flare control and less expensive.  But of course you sacrifice some speed.

Jeff

[robgo2]

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40 minutes ago, Jeff S said:

I can’t speak to the SL, but if you want another 35mm option for your M10, the Summicron and Summarit are both terrific lenses.  The latter is underrated and even surpasses the Summicron in some respects ... no focus shift, better flare control and less expensive.  But of course you sacrifice some speed.

Jeff

I use the Summicron-M 35 f2 ASPH on my SL and really love it. Why? Well the images just look great to my eyes, and I have used many other 35mm lenses in my time. An autofocus lens option would get my attention, but the Summicron-SL 35 will be too big and expensive for my purposes. So, I will pay close attention to what Panasonic and Sigma bring forth, especially the former. Their lenses are not likely to be up to Leica standards, but they will almost certainly be quite good and much more affordable. I wonder if Pana will farm the SL lenses out to another manufacturer, e.g. CV.

[jrp]

The M lenses are compact and long lasting (no electronics) but the SL lenses are better corrected for digital photography (less fringing, more uniform field of focus and, in particular better edges) st the expense of bulk. They also offer AF.  You pays your £€$¥ and you makes your choice. 

[jrp]

... & if you have the 24-90mm zoom, the only reason to buy the 35mm or 50mm is if you are impeded by the aperture (ie, you regularly need a bigger one).  It may, nevertheless, be preferable to get a newer body that offers better high ISO than the SL, when these become available, and the smaller stop, rather than f2.  If you have the 50mm SL Summilux, the only reason to change would be AF  performance or bulk, I imagine; lux rendering is sublime.  

[hoppyman]

I will get the Summicron 35 L first as soon as possible. I want to use it on the SL and the CL. I still have a Summilux M 50 Asph but no camera. Would be nice to still have all the M lenses and a camera but sacrifices had to be made as I use the other systems ( including S) much more

[jplomley]

1 hour ago, jrp said:

The M lenses are compact and long lasting (no electronics) but the SL lenses are better corrected for digital photography (less fringing, more uniform field of focus and, in particular better edges) st the expense of bulk. They also offer AF.  You pays your £€$¥ and you makes your choice. 

I actually find the 75 SL Summicron balances beautifully on the SL and weight wise is only a few hundred grams heavier than the 90 APO M. With the SL 35 being an APO design, I can only imagine how incredibly class-setting this lens will be for its focal length, just like the 75 SL. If it has a similar bokeh to the 75 SL, I'm all in. Then just wait for the 21/2.0 APO at it will be hard to justify my 21 SEM at f/3.4.  Would love to see them introduce a 135/2.0 to round out the Summicron primes.

Edited January 26, 2019 by jplomley

[grahamhoey]

I am eagerly awaiting the 35 and 50 SL Summicrons. If they are the same size and weight as the SL 90 Summicron they balance beautifully on the SL, much lighter than the SL zooms. The IQ in my opinion of the 90SL is incomparable on the SL. 

[antigallican]

2 hours ago, hoppyman said:

I will get the Summicron 35 L first as soon as possible. I want to use it on the SL and the CL. I still have a Summilux M 50 Asph but no camera. Would be nice to still have all the M lenses and a camera but sacrifices had to be made as I use the other systems ( including S) much more

I wonder if the Sigma Art 35 will come as an L mount. I used one on a Nikon D810 and absolutely loved it. I think it would fit with Leica lenses quite well.

[hoppyman]

I don't own any Sigma lenses. The art series have a good reputation.  Different price points of course and I think the expanded possibilities for the L mount are good for everyone. I have the 24-90. The released information on the Summicron SL lenses looks hugely impressive to me. I think my wish list will be 35, 50 and 75 in that order (I have a CL too).

Edited January 27, 2019 by hoppyman

[panoreserve]

vor 7 Stunden schrieb jrp:

... & if you have the 24-90mm zoom, the only reason to buy the 35mm or 50mm is if you are impeded by the aperture (ie, you regularly need a bigger one).  It may, nevertheless, be preferable to get a newer body that offers better high ISO than the SL, when these become available, and the smaller stop, rather than f2.  If you have the 50mm SL Summilux, the only reason to change would be AF  performance or bulk, I imagine; lux rendering is sublime.  

Reg. the 24/90 Vario: bulk could be another reason to go for the Summicrons as well as better background isolation (f2 vs. f3.1 resp. f3.6). Last but not least: even though all 3 SL Varios are optically  outstanding the new f2 Primes will be superior- which is rather unimaginable😇.

[helged]

7 hours ago, grahamhoey said:

I am eagerly awaiting the 35 and 50 SL Summicrons. If they are the same size and weight as the SL 90 Summicron they balance beautifully on the SL, much lighter than the SL zooms. The IQ in my opinion of the 90SL is incomparable on the SL. 

All of the Crons have the same physical size. The weight may differ a little, but not much, I would imagine. 

[thighslapper]

I'm with most above .... I will probably add the 35/2 and 50/2 as the Summicron Sl size balances perfectly on the SL and for AF+FF lenses of this quality they are reasonably compact. 

The 35/2 SL MTF's look incredible for a WA lens. 

I'm not sure I would dump all my SL gear (as the poster above has) because I was going on safari ...... and I can't say I have had any AF issues with any of my SL lenses in the last few years .... save the 50/1.4 being initially quite slow. I suppose we all have our own criteria when it comes to 'acceptable' performance.... he seems to have a surfeit of Leica's ..... as I originally did, but I disposed of everything except the SL+CL...... 

[scott kirkpatrick]

I have an order in for the 50/2.0 SL and have bought a 75 SL Summicron.  But I am really waiting for the wide angles.  I seldom use a 35 mm any more, so the 24 SL SC is my choice, although it may take another year or more.  I have both recent M 50's (SX asph and APO SC)  and the CL 35, so I'll be rather overstocked in the middle of the range.  I would expect to use the SL 50 both on my SL and on my CL as a 75, and the 24 on the SL as well as on the CL as a better 36 mm-eff lens.  As for the SL 75, well, I just couldn't wait.  It's great on both cameras.

[Marac]

I am very eager to test the Sigma L line, I have used Sigma lenses for many projects including a feature film shot on D800's with Sigma lenses. The Art series are very good indeed and I will be all over the longer zooms to use with my CL for nature. Also very interested in the 50mm Art.

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[BernardC]

4 hours ago, thighslapper said:

I'm not sure I would dump all my SL gear (as the poster above has) because I was going on safari ......

I'm sure you would if the primary motivation for your photography was long-lensed travel pictures. That's a case where Nikon and Canon are the only game in town (excuse the pun).

As good as any camera is, it's useless if it doesn't suit your needs. I briefly had a Pentax 6x7 system in the 1990s, but I dumped it when I realized that I literally couldn't take it anywhere. It was much too heavy and clumsy.