Summilux 35 pre-asph vs Pre fle vs fle.

[evikne]

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44 minutes ago, Steven said:

We are heading torwards an EVF future anyway ….

Do you know something that we don't know? 😉

[graphlex]

Perhaps the intercession of a Ralph Gibson or a Lewis Baltz might restore sanity to this discussion.  Alternatively, nothing could.  

[349A]

I agree, I’m always so surprised when someone goes on about their FLE and how good it is. I dislike this lens, it has such a plastic and cold rendering that looks like CGI. Its the antithesis of beautiful. My pre FLE is fantastic. No shift, it was serviced in Wetzlar just before I purchased it. Not sure what they did. Just my experience and taste. 

[otto.f]

On 7/31/2019 at 6:36 PM, Stein K S said:

Hi 84bravo

I have the non/pre-FLE and really like it as well. Definitely a keeper! However, I also have the 35 cron v4... which ¨complements¨ the Lux in a very nice way with its glow and more classical rendering 😉... And being a 35mm guy (i.e. willingness to invest in more 35´), I find myself getting increasingly curious about the Lux pre-asph.... offering possibly even more of the looks I like about the Cron v4.

I agree and have the same set. I use Summicron 35 iv much more because of its character and our mutual understanding of what needs to be done and how with certain scenes and subjects. However, I also own the Summaron 35, which is also complementary to these two, it has a terrific sharpness, more so than the cron, and the nicest bo-keh of the three.

[lct]

3 hours ago, Steven said:

You are so right. 

Matter of tastes. The FLE is not my favorite 35 but i cannot dream of a better M lens when i need sharpness at f/1.4. YMMV.

Edited July 22, 2021 by lct

[roelandinho]

vor 58 Minuten schrieb lct:

Matter of tastes. The FLE is not my favorite 35 but i cannot dream of a better M lens when i need sharpness at f/1.4. YMMV.

The Zeiss ZM Distagon, but only if you’re willing to compromise on ergonomics for the sake of image quality. 

[lct]

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53 minutes ago, roelandinho said:

The Zeiss ZM Distagon, but only if you’re willing to compromise on ergonomics for the sake of image quality. 

I have no experience with this lens that i find too big for my taste but just out of curiosity, does it have floating elements?

40 minutes ago, Steven said:

It's always a matter of tastes... some have good tastes, some have bad tastes ... 🤪

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and taste may change too .

[rtai]

My vote is for the 35mm Summilux Asph Pre-FLE. When I had the earlier really rare 35AA back some 20 years ago and comparing Kodachrome 64 slides shot with both lenses I didn’t think the AA was special enough to keep given it cost 3 times more. Little did I know. The FLE is a completely different animal more like a Summicron Asph with extra stop. 

[a.noctilux]

13 minutes ago, rtai said:

My vote is for the 35mm Summilux Asph Pre-FLE. When I had the earlier really rare 35AA back some 20 years ago and comparing Kodachrome 64 slides shot with both lenses I didn’t think the AA was special enough to keep given it cost 3 times more. Little did I know. The FLE is a completely different animal more like a Summicron Asph with extra stop. 

Very interesting.

I never had Kodachrome taken with the 35AA, this must be something.

@rtai Please can we see (if you want to show us) the comparison 35 AA/35A Kodachrome 64 ?

[roelandinho]

vor 55 Minuten schrieb lct:

I have no experience with this lens that i find too big for my taste but just out of curiosity, does it have floating elements?

It does have floating elements as well as two aspherical elements and several elements of anomalous partial dispersion glass. It’s a “more advanced” design than the latest 35 Summilux, but the larger size (and added weight, and lack of a focus tab) is a turn-off for me. If I want the best image quality possible I’ll use my C Biogon f/2.8 that doesn’t block the viewfinder and weighs less than 200 grams. 

[rtai]

5 minutes ago, a.noctilux said:

Very interesting.

I never had Kodachrome taken with the 35AA, this must be something.

@rtai Please can we see (if you want to show us) the comparison 35 AA/35A Kodachrome 64 ?

That was a long time ago and I wish I had kept the slides because they were of my father who was patient enough to pose for me outdoors and indoors. I took the photos at minimum distance, half body, far away etc for the testing. I will say the colors out of the 35AA was nothing but spectacular something the pre-FLE paled in comparison literally. I am sure David Alan Harvey shot with the 35AA for his Cuba book and others and you can see the colors in full display. But I was mostly a b/w shooter so that was not enough to keep it. I am in HK and at that time it was easy to buy these things, use them for a while and resell with little risk. I should say I had two of them because of what I had read about hand grinding and sample variation. Those were the days. I have many other cameras and lenses I sold way too early.

[a.noctilux]

As life goes on, @rtaiwe have some regrets (or not) some proud events which make our life wonderful,

or as I try to 'live', now 'just take the present from present time'.

As side note, I was ( happily my wife also) for decades exclusive fan of Kodachrome which in that time only taken with plain lenses (no asph. in those days for us).

 

[lct]

1 hour ago, roelandinho said:

 If I want the best image quality possible I’ll use my C Biogon f/2.8 that doesn’t block the viewfinder and weighs less than 200 grams. 

The ZM 35/2.8 is my favorite 35 in good light too but it cannot do things like that (Sony A7r2 mod, 35/1.4 FLE, f/1.4, FF & 100% crop).

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Edited July 22, 2021 by lct

[rtai]

11 minutes ago, a.noctilux said:

As life goes on, @rtaiwe have some regrets (or not) some proud events which make our life wonderful,

or as I try to 'live', now 'just take the present from present time'.

As side note, I was ( happily my wife also) for decades exclusive fan of Kodachrome which in that time only taken with plain lenses (no asph. in those days for us).

 

While I no longer have a drawer full of exotic lenses I do have a large portfolio of half way ok photographs over the years and I am happy with that. I remember being in Tokyo the day the new Noctilux .95 was released and I had to look at it at Map Camera in Shinjuku. It was the equivalent of US$10k. And ten feet away in the used section was a mint condition Noctilux 50/1.2 for the exact same price. I had my credit card handy as well as my passport for the tax free discount but remembered my wife had sat next to me on the flight over. Rats! So that was the day I didn’t get my 50/1.2. (Sound of the world’s smallest violin).

[a.noctilux]

I remember an add of  Leicaflex SL :

Stradivarius