28/2 ASPH V1 buying advice

[Casey Jefferson]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi all,

I was curious about shooting with a 28mm summicron asph on M240 and my dealer has a used one on sale, so I went to test it out...

A few things that are immediately apparent:

1) Infamous wobble front. The rotation play was visible, easily 1mm. How much this will affect future usage?

2) Heavy vignette despite 6 bit coded. Camera didn't seem to pickup the codes, resulting in slightly purple edges.

3) Purple fringing a worse than 35/2 ASPH V1 wide open.

Otherwise, I love the feel of shooting with 28 (minus the hood, which was stupidly huge and blocked so much on the VF). It's easier to line things up for weird reason, which is what I was already anticipated. It has much more sense of space than 35 which is what I'm looking for. Price is a little higher than average used price among owners, but seem OK for dealer, maybe not so OK with the wobble.

So I'm leaning towards getting the lens but how much concern should I have regarding the wobble front and if the worse purple fringing than 35 is normal? 

[Advertisement]

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

[a.noctilux]

Hello Casey,

It seems that this lens is not for you.

Just wait for another without wobble.

 

In my many 28mm choices, this f/2 lens is less used than other lenses, not for it's qualities (very good) but for it's weight, size with or without hood, and overall handling.

I tend to use it on Monochrom though (now as most of my lenses I don't know why).

[Cobram]

Along with Color Skopar 21/4, Cron 28/2 v1 is my most used lens. My wife checks family photo archive and she just adores Cron 28 BW rendering. She is constantly telling me the best photos I make are from Cron. Maybe she is right (of course she is right 🙂 ).

I use it exclusively with M-E220 camera. On SL 601 it doesn't perform well.

[wda]

Unless you need the speed of a Summicron, I suggest you look at the 28 mm Elmarit ASPH version, which is tiny, saves weight and is an excellent performer. Less expensive, too!

[Casey Jefferson]

@a.noctilux (also @wda) You're right about the size, but upon some casual shooting, however f2 seem to be a minimum requirement as I might be using it for intimate portrait shoot. If I mainly shoot street, I would have gone for the elmarit v4 which my dealer also has a used one.

@Cobram The rendering is similar to the 35/2 asph V1 and I love the rendering a lot. Had it not because of the wobble I wouldn't think twice...

Ah well, at least money saved for now!

[a.noctilux]

Afterall, the wobble fix can be cured easily,

as mikeno62 post following.

I have this video a while back, in case

28 Summicron loose lens group fix

[Ouroboros]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I have used a v1 28mm summicron  for years without any hint of front cell wobble.  Not all v1 lenses seem to develop the problem, apart from those that do it is a  very good lens and I’ve never felt the need to change it for a v2.  It pairs nicely with a 50mm lens, ideally a summilux asph which shares the same 46mm filter thread. 

I would not buy a used one that wobbles, either get the seller to have it properly repaired first with proof of such, or wait for one that doesn’t wobble to become available.

The v1 is frequently available on the used market without this problem  so there’s no need to settle for a defective one that you’ll have to sort out later.

[Cobram]

23 minutes ago, Ouroboros said:

I have used a v1 28mm summicron  for years without any hint of front cell wobble.  Not all v1 lenses seem to develop the problem, apart from those that do it is a  very good lens and I’ve never felt the need to change it for a v2.  It pairs nicely with a 50mm lens, ideally a summilux asph which shares the same 46mm filter thread. 

I would not buy a used one that wobbles, either get the seller to have it properly repaired first with proof of such, or wait for one that doesn’t wobble to become available.

The v1 is frequently available on the used market without this problem  so there’s no need to settle for a defective one that you’ll have to sort out later.

Indeed I pair it with Lux 50 ASPH. Seems rendering of both lenses is complementary.

[Casey Jefferson]

50 minutes ago, a.noctilux said:

Afterall, the wobble fix can be cured easily,

as mikeno62 post following.

I have this video a while back, in case

28 Summicron loose lens group fix

I might be mistaken about the wobble part - this looked terrible! I just briefly tested the lens where it'll "rotate" with 1mm play, and I didn't really test the wobble part, is that acceptable though?

[Ouroboros]

1 hour ago, Casey Jefferson said:

I might be mistaken about the wobble part - this looked terrible! I just briefly tested the lens where it'll "rotate" with 1mm play, and I didn't really test the wobble part, is that acceptable though?

Absolutely not acceptable!  Look for a better one or insist on a guaranteed repair.

[dkmoore]

14 hours ago, Casey Jefferson said:

Hi all,

I was curious about shooting with a 28mm summicron asph on M240 and my dealer has a used one on sale, so I went to test it out...

A few things that are immediately apparent:

1) Infamous wobble front. The rotation play was visible, easily 1mm. How much this will affect future usage?

2) Heavy vignette despite 6 bit coded. Camera didn't seem to pickup the codes, resulting in slightly purple edges.

3) Purple fringing a worse than 35/2 ASPH V1 wide open.

Otherwise, I love the feel of shooting with 28 (minus the hood, which was stupidly huge and blocked so much on the VF). It's easier to line things up for weird reason, which is what I was already anticipated. It has much more sense of space than 35 which is what I'm looking for. Price is a little higher than average used price among owners, but seem OK for dealer, maybe not so OK with the wobble.

So I'm leaning towards getting the lens but how much concern should I have regarding the wobble front and if the worse purple fringing than 35 is normal? 

I agree with what everyone wrote in that you should look for a better copy. 
 

I used the 28 Cron V1 for years and had multiple copies and didn’t have this issue or the 6 but code issue or the color cast issue. Something seems way off to me. 
 

leica Miami had a used V1 for sale so I’d check to see if they still have it. You may pay a little more but it will be right. 

[Jeff S]

My v.1 28 Summicron ASPH exhibits none of these problems, including when I used it on an M8.2, M240 or more recently on an M10. I replaced the stock hood with the hood from an old 35 Summilux ASPH.  There are other substitute hood solutions discussed in various other threads.
 

Jeff

Edited March 4, 2021 by Jeff S

[andyturk]

I picked up a 28mm f/2.0 v1 last year for ~1800 USD. There was no wobble and it had (apparently) been 6-bit coded by Leica. All my digital M's are able to read the code. The standard hood is cartoonishly large and I never use it. The lens is very flare resistant, even with a UV filter on the front.

[Casey Jefferson]

Thanks guys! One last question - any comments on the purple fringing wide open? I noticed my 35/2 asph to be performing excellent in this regard, only minor purple fringing around very strong light source, no noticeable purple fringing even shooting wide open in broad daylight, viewing at 100%.

I'm noticing the 28cron apsh to have quite a bit of construction blemishes - I've seen quite a few misaligned white dot/aperture ring, including the one Leica Miami is offering. The one at my dealer was perfectly aligned, just the slight play in front of aperture ring. Guess Leica was pretty frustrated with the design flaw for years...

@andyturk I would have pick one up with that price in a heart beat...

Edited March 4, 2021 by Casey Jefferson

[dkmoore]

23 minutes ago, Casey Jefferson said:

Thanks guys! One last question - any comments on the purple fringing wide open? I noticed my 35/2 asph to be performing excellent in this regard, only minor purple fringing around very strong light source, no noticeable purple fringing even shooting wide open in broad daylight, viewing at 100%.

I'm noticing the 28cron apsh to have quite a bit of construction blemishes - I've seen quite a few misaligned white dot/aperture ring, including the one Leica Miami is offering. The one at my dealer was perfectly aligned, just the slight play in front of aperture ring. Guess Leica was pretty frustrated with the design flaw for years...

@andyturk I would have pick one up with that price in a heart beat...

Both Jeff S and I addressed this concern. I don't recall purple fringing ever being an issue from M9 through M10 cameras. 

The front ring should not be taken lightly as it will fall off at some point (if it is already loose and hasn't been permanently fixed already) and you will have to the send it out, etc. Not worth it when there are tons of copies out there.

Even if the lens you are looking at was priced at $1800 I would recommend to you to walk away from the deal. 

You can find them in MINT condition for $2-2.5k on Facebook or eBay but use prudence. Take a look at classic connection, another great Leica seller. They have one in stock for $2500. Leica Miami has one for $2600.00. Those prices are high but they will be perfect lenses. 

Edited March 4, 2021 by dkmoore

[Casey Jefferson]

43 minutes ago, dkmoore said:

Both Jeff S and I addressed this concern. I don't recall purple fringing ever being an issue from M9 through M10 cameras. 

The front ring should not be taken lightly as it will fall off at some point (if it is already loose and hasn't been permanently fixed already) and you will have to the send it out, etc. Not worth it when there are tons of copies out there.

Even if the lens you are looking at was priced at $1800 I would recommend to you to walk away from the deal. 

You can find them in MINT condition for $2-2.5k on Facebook or eBay but use prudence. Take a look at classic connection, another great Leica seller. They have one in stock for $2500. Leica Miami has one for $2600.00. Those prices are high but they will be perfect lenses. 

Those are sound advices, I'll just patiently wait for a nice deal. Thanks! 

[Casey Jefferson]

Thought of updating here. I managed to score a very nice copy (6bit) with the dreaded loose front section otherwise cosmetically excellent. Shot with it all day and I was very impressed though I'll save the good bits on the next post.

The play on the front section was perhaps better than the previous one, just very slight. I took the chance after reading so many threads. I somewhat spotted one of the screw looked a little different than the other 2 and bought a set of necessary screwdriver, lo and behold, the screw was loose and tighten it resulted the front section completely solid. We will see how it'll hold up - I don't use a hood but a protective filter.

Before this copy there was also a brand new unit with a very attractive price offered (with actual unit photographed) but spotted something about the aperture white dot alignment - it was slightly off. Then I started to realize...There were actually many units with this problem, included the one at Leica Miami (even worse, the aperture ring wasn't aligned).

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

The above copy have a screw or two with evidence showing it's been messed with. And with the misaligned front section I'm not even sure if the screw is actually screwed into where they supposed to be...Probably the reason why some owners never gotten the front section stay put after tightening? At least I won't have good sleep with misaligned markings but that's just me.

[Casey Jefferson]

And the good bits...What a lens! I think it's an understatement to say it render similarly to the 35/2 asph v1, different focal length aside, it's a better lens! Wide open is already contrasty and sharp like the 35 @f2.8. Bokeh also much creamier and 35 bokeh is a lot busier in comparison. My copy seem to have very good wide open corner resolution - better than what Jono Slack/Tim Ashley article suggested. Some smearing yes, but gets really good by f4. Without side by side, I feel it's as good as my 35 (but with better coma control).

I find the 28mm somehow rendered more sense of space and separation than the 35mm albeit larger dof. That is when I get close enough. All in all, a happy purchase. 😊

Edited March 12, 2021 by Casey Jefferson

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M