which Summicron 35mm?

[kengai]

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I can't decide. I am looking for a Summicron 35 to use on M10 mainly for travel photographs. Do I go in search of an old model and which or is it better that I orient myself towards the model now in production?

[james.liam]

Assuming you are shooting color and not converting to B&W primarily, the newest lenses will provide more vivid, true to life color, contrast and micro-contrast as well as resolution. Lenses in the 1950’s were designed with B&W film in mind. Color palettes are more muted. Checkout the thread on old lenses to see what I’m talking about and decide best by seeing actual results. 

[vanGeist]

There is not much love for the v3 out there but it may be a good option on a tight budget.

[a.noctilux]

Depending on what kind of rendering you want, each Summicron 35mm pre-asph. or asph. can behave differently,

mainly wide open.

In my use, each 35mm Summicron-M can be a "good" picture taker ...no "bad Summicron" as such.

[TomB_tx]

They can all give very nice images, but different character, so it depends on what you value. I used a ver 2 (1970) for 40 years and was happy with it shooting film. If you care more about sharpness edge-to-edge the current model is the best Summicron. However, I now use a Summarit 2.5 most of the time on my M10, as with its high ISO capability the half stop isn't significant.

I also enjoy the Voigtlander 35 1.4 ver II on my M9 for low light. It isn't as sharp and has more distortion, but can give lovely images, and is small for a 1.4 35.

[a.noctilux]

I second TomB,

The best buy 35mm Summicron IS ...Summarit-M 2.5/35mm for every Leica M 😇.

I replace my lenses with Summarit-M lately 😌

[jdlaing]

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The latest version would be my preference.

[Ecar]

V1 (aka "8-elements") for me. Because it renders beautifully, is exquisitely made and is an absolute joy to use. Overpriced these days, unfortunately.

[Ko.Fe.]

1 hour ago, vanGeist said:

There is not much love for the v3 out there but it may be a good option on a tight budget.

M10 is the tight budget? 

 

1 hour ago, a.noctilux said:

I second TomB,

The best buy 35mm Summicron IS ...Summarit-M 2.5/35mm for every Leica M 😇.

I replace my lenses with Summarit-M lately 😌

I didn't even bother with 35 Crons then I was looking for on a tight budget, but good 35 lens. Sold some old Leitz lenses to get NIB Summarit-M 35 2.5. Surprisingly, it has much more to offer on bw film, prints than old Leitz lenses. The only problem now, here is no 28 and 21 Summarit-M.

[vanGeist]

vor 36 Minuten schrieb Ko.Fe.:

M10 is the tight budget? 

I have seen people buying cameras for big money and then putting the cheapest glass on them because they couldn't afford even one decent optic afterwards.

(I consider the Cron v3 to be a very decent optic.)

Edited November 7, 2019 by vanGeist

[james.liam]

Old white-wall tires on a Porsche.

[UliWer]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Ko.Fe.:

...The only problem now, here is no 28 and 21 Summarit-M. 

They are called Elmarit and Super-Elmar.

[Ko.Fe.]

58 minutes ago, UliWer said:

They are called Elmarit and Super-Elmar.

Nope. None of them are 2.5-2.4 and none of them is under 2K$.

[Ko.Fe.]

1 hour ago, james.liam said:

Old white-wall tires on a Porsche.

In case if you don't know it. You could ask to have your new tires get white-walled in the tire shop. I did.

[Jeff S]

22 minutes ago, Ko.Fe. said:

In case if you don't know it. You could ask to have your new tires get white-walled in the tire shop. I did.

Twice as much if you ask for a red dot on each.

Jeff

[lct]

Better choose a current lens if you don't have much experience with rangefinders. A common point of earlier 35/2 Leica lenses is flare which is hard to avoid with rangefinders. Not to say that current Leica lenses are flare free but you'll have less bad surprises with them.

[jdlaing]

Here we go.

[lct]

59 minutes ago, jdlaing said:

Here we go.

I suspected you were around

 

[Jeff S]

5 minutes ago, lct said:

I suspected you were around

 

So, a predictable flare-up.

Jeff

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Ccoppola82]

I love my little v3 pre asph. Very good build quality and it is TINY and takes nice photos. Then again, I put a premium on a compact, well built setup over the pixel peeping minutiae that more modern lenses might improve upon.  Visual art including photography is meant to be viewed from a particular distance. Zooming into a corner of a computer screen is akin to pressing your nose up to the corner of the glass frame in a gallery or someone's house and looking at a photo. Anyway, grab one that's a good price and has clean glass.