First Leica, M10-p: Which 35mm lens?

[indergaard]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

On 8/4/2019 at 3:28 PM, francesco calcagno said:

why?

Size, weight, ergonomics, balance on the camera, and rendering/character. 

I much prefer the size, weight, ergonomics and balance of the Cron. Especially on the M10. It focuses so buttery smooth, and is a joy to use. The Summilux was a good and balanced fit for the chunkier M240 bodies.

The Cron also renders in a more predictable way. Its smoother wide open, and has less vignetting. I quickly grew a bit tired of the Lux 35 FLE look wide open. And I often found the vignetting to be too much. And when the nervousness of the Lux kicked in, the OOF areas (bokeh) looked horrible.

Also, the 35 Lux has a serious amount of purple fringing / CA wide open. Far more than the Cron. Which in reality makes the Cron more predictable and thus usable wide open.

My cron was also slightly sharper than the Lux. And it also had nicer contrast. And the cron doesn’t have the wavy mid-zone resolution dip that the Summilux has.

And with the M10 I don’t need 1.4 on a 35mm.

The Lux can sparkle every now and then though. But if I want that clear sparkle, my APO 50 gives it in spades, in a predictable manner, unlike the Lux. 

The Summilux wowed me for some years, but in the end, the Cron was the right choice. This also applies to 50mm lenses for me (Summicron v5 -> Summilux ASPH -> Noctilux ASPH -> Summilux ASPH -> Zeiss Planar ZM -> APO-Summicron)

Edited August 7, 2019 by indergaard

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama