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The Leica APO-Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH - First Impressions


Steven

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52 minutes ago, wizard said:

In chinese, the numeral 4 sounds similar to the chinese word for death. To the best of my knowledge, Chinese people therefore try to avoid buying items having 4s printed on them. For example, number plates with 4s on them are not exactly popular in China. There are other numerals like 8 and 9, which are much preferred by Chinese people, and for they are prepared to pay a premium. 

Andy

Correct,

most south east asian and far east asian countries Hate 4, and Love 8

 

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On 6/11/2021 at 5:50 PM, snooper said:

No wonder why users of other forums such as dpreview are bashing Leica gear and users in any occasion... A lens gets his value from what you do with it, not from whatever number is printed...  This world is crazy 😩

The problem is two fold. Firstly, you have Leica lenses selling at a premium compared to similar Japanese or China made lenses. Secondly, you have Leica fans making exaggerated claims about Leica performances. We need to find a middle ground.

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From what I can tell, each US Leica Store received a single 35 APO in March. I don’t believe a second batch has gone through since then, though it’s possible. But I’m quite certain that the stores don’t get information about one coming until NJ let’s them know one with their name on it is in US Customs. I’ve been waiting since the announcement on March 4th - placed an order moments after I woke up and read the release. 3.5 months. Hmm. Seems symbolically possible one may be on its way (I’ve been waiting for news with these kinds of fantasies for months…)

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On 6/11/2021 at 11:05 AM, wizard said:

In chinese, the numeral 4 sounds similar to the chinese word for death. To the best of my knowledge, Chinese people therefore try to avoid buying items having 4s printed on them. For example, number plates with 4s on them are not exactly popular in China. There are other numerals like 8 and 9, which are much preferred by Chinese people, and for they are prepared to pay a premium. 

Andy

Take a look at this. Price seems indeed to be proportional to the number of 8's and 9's in the serial.

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Yet another scheduled delivery date for my 35 APO (today) missed. This will be the 4th advised delivery date that Leica UK/Wetzlar have missed. Less than epic service. The boss lady at my dealer said she is going to give her Leica rep an earful :D

Wilson

 

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4 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said:

boss lady at my dealer said she is going to give her Leica rep an earful

That will move it nicely into next year then. I doubt Leica UK has any real influence, and if anyone from there makes to much of a fuss it will be career limiting. The lenses are clearly limited at the moment for whatever reason and will arrive when they arrive. The good news is no one dies from this 😉

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1 hour ago, pedaes said:

That will move it nicely into next year then. I doubt Leica UK has any real influence, and if anyone from there makes to much of a fuss it will be career limiting. The lenses are clearly limited at the moment for whatever reason and will arrive when they arrive. The good news is no one dies from this 😉

I think the boss lady is cross about repeatedly being given delivery dates by Leica UK, which they have passed on to the customer (me) and being let down again and again. It cannot really  be that difficult. Leica Wetzlar know how many 35 APO's they are making a day and the orders they have from each country's importer. All they have to do is work out an allocation from future production to each importer and stick to it. Due to the vagaries of making a new lens, production might vary up and down by say a couple of lenses each day but 5 minutes on a spreadsheet should enable Wetzlar to advise each importer within a window of a week or so, when their next delivery is due and how many lenses it will comprise. That is what I would do for an "in demand" item, so as not to raise false expectations. It is a very basic business rule: "Under promise and over-deliver. Never the other way round". My dealer is now one of the larger Leica dealers in the UK and I don't think Leica UK would want to alienate them. 

Wilson

Edited by wlaidlaw
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These lenses are made in batches.  If a batch fails, then ...

And the dealers have to log in to a Leica website from what I remember and place their bids...

I have always found it easier to ring around once every week or two for a new lens that I want and success usually follows.  It's a pain and I would prefer to be more loyal to one or two suppliers, but that doesn't seem to be how the distribution system works.

Before they opened the new factory, things were much worse.

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7 hours ago, steve 1959 said:

Could always go for the voigtlander apo as the MTF readings are better it seems although its a bit bigger.

It is huge - bigger and about the same weight as my 35 ASPH Summilux and I have not had good luck in the past with Cosina Voigtlander lens quality.

In any case I have already part exchanged my 35 ASPH Summicron with my local dealer, as they offered a much better price than the dealer I normally use. As I was told by the dealer that Leica UK had advised them that they had one lens allocated to that dealer and it would be delivered on the 30th of April, I paid the balance in full, as I was top of their wait list. About the same day Leica Mayfair advised me by email, that they had 35 APO's in stock if I wanted to buy from them, so I am guessing that the lens originally allocated to my local dealer was sold direct to a customer of Leica Mayfair, as that gives Leica UK a greater profit margin. So three days after the Leica rep told my local dealer they would be receiving one lens, Leica UK when contacted again by the dealer advised them they were not going to get one after all. Prime way to pi** off a loyal customer. 

Wilson

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11 hours ago, wlaidlaw said:

It is huge - bigger and about the same weight as my 35 ASPH Summilux and I have not had good luck in the past with Cosina Voigtlander lens quality.

In any case I have already part exchanged my 35 ASPH Summicron with my local dealer, as they offered a much better price than the dealer I normally use. As I was told by the dealer that Leica UK had advised them that they had one lens allocated to that dealer and it would be delivered on the 30th of April, I paid the balance in full, as I was top of their wait list. About the same day Leica Mayfair advised me by email, that they had 35 APO's in stock if I wanted to buy from them, so I am guessing that the lens originally allocated to my local dealer was sold direct to a customer of Leica Mayfair, as that gives Leica UK a greater profit margin. So three days after the Leica rep told my local dealer they would be receiving one lens, Leica UK when contacted again by the dealer advised them they were not going to get one after all. Prime way to pi** off a loyal customer. 

Wilson

That is very frustrating for you and its never good to let down a customer.

Fair comment on the voigtlander,i have two lenses from that brand and have been very pleased with them.

The cosina apo is slower but nearly as big as the zeiss distagon so i agree its a design failure no matter how good it is [opinion].

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It was with sad heart that i had to return, recently delivered apo 35/2 lens as it had ad dust particle inside front element sitting on metal rim. perhaps it would not  compromise image today, but I could not live with idea of spending 8 K+ and not have a clean lens. Dealer kept cleaning the lens with ROR, solution Brush, Rocket  air puffs and i could see more dust being deposited on external surface. lens was manufactured on 5/31/2021.

Dealer recommended - return the lens and wait for another delivery.-done

other consideration was to keep lens as such, but worried dust will attract  more dust or it will move around inside lens.

or return  it to Leica for cleaning, one day old lens.

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25 minutes ago, leica5 said:

It was with sad heart that i had to return, recently delivered apo 35/2 lens as it had ad dust particle inside front element sitting on metal rim. perhaps it would not  compromise image today, but I could not live with idea of spending 8 K+ and not have a clean lens. Dealer kept cleaning the lens with ROR, solution Brush, Rocket  air puffs and i could see more dust being deposited on external surface. lens was manufactured on 5/31/2021.

Dealer recommended - return the lens and wait for another delivery.-done

other consideration was to keep lens as such, but worried dust will attract  more dust or it will move around inside lens.

or return  it to Leica for cleaning, one day old lens.

I had the same problem with the kit lens on my CL, which had what looked like a piece of cleaning material in between the first and second elements of the sealed front group. Leica wanted to service the lens but I disagreed as did my dealer. The CL body had also died as the lens release retention screw had dropped off and fallen into the mechanism, jamming the lens. In the end Leica sent me a new replacement kit. I sincerely hope that when my 35 APO eventually does arrive, it does not have the same problem. I thought Leica had tightened up on the QC, after horrendous issues a few years ago, when the most glaring of errors were going out of the factory doors. 

Wilson

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On 6/14/2021 at 1:37 PM, johnbuckley said:

From what I can tell, each US Leica Store received a single 35 APO in March. I don’t believe a second batch has gone through since then, though it’s possible. But I’m quite certain that the stores don’t get information about one coming until NJ let’s them know one with their name on it is in US Customs. I’ve been waiting since the announcement on March 4th - placed an order moments after I woke up and read the release. 3.5 months. Hmm. Seems symbolically possible one may be on its way (I’ve been waiting for news with these kinds of fantasies for months…)

I ordered mine on the day of the release in March. Still waiting, no word on when I’ll get mine.

Bud

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On 6/20/2021 at 2:23 AM, leica5 said:

It was with sad heart that i had to return, recently delivered apo 35/2 lens as it had ad dust particle inside front element sitting on metal rim. perhaps it would not  compromise image today, but I could not live with idea of spending 8 K+ and not have a clean lens. Dealer kept cleaning the lens with ROR, solution Brush, Rocket  air puffs and i could see more dust being deposited on external surface. lens was manufactured on 5/31/2021.

Dealer recommended - return the lens and wait for another delivery.-done

other consideration was to keep lens as such, but worried dust will attract  more dust or it will move around inside lens.

or return  it to Leica for cleaning, one day old lens.

Mine has a strange sound at the focus ring... and still waiting for the replacement / repaired lens.

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9 hours ago, Steven said:

FYI, just spoke with the Paris store manager. I told him I missed my APO and asked if he had more in stock. Next one is expected to come in in five month, and there are over 20 people on waiting list. 

I have traded off a couple of M lenses in the past and have ended up regretting it.

 With regard to Leica M lenses:  Always buy, never sell.

(I know - it sounds like a fortune cookie from the café at Leica Wetzlar.  But it's true.) 😊

Edited by Herr Barnack
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2 hours ago, Herr Barnack said:

I have traded off a couple of M lenses in the past and have ended up regretting it.

 With regard to Leica M lenses:  Always buy, never sell.

(I know - it sounds like a fortune cookie from the café at Leica Wetzlar.  But it's true.) 😊

Normally I agree but in the 35 APO's case, keeping the 35 ASPH Summicron would have meant I had 5 35mm RF lenses, rather too many. The APO, an excellent but heavy Chrome/brass 35 ASPH Summilux-M, an excellent 35/2.8 Summaron-LTM, a poor quality (inaccurately machined helicoid) 35/2.5 Color Skopar LTM and the 35/2 ASPH Summicron-M, an OK but not brilliant example. That is why the 35 Summicron-M was part exchanged. 

Wilson

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7 hours ago, wlaidlaw said:

Normally I agree but in the 35 APO's case, keeping the 35 ASPH Summicron would have meant I had 5 35mm RF lenses, rather too many. The APO, an excellent but heavy Chrome/brass 35 ASPH Summilux-M, an excellent 35/2.8 Summaron-LTM, a poor quality (inaccurately machined helicoid) 35/2.5 Color Skopar LTM and the 35/2 ASPH Summicron-M, an OK but not brilliant example. That is why the 35 Summicron-M was part exchanged. 

Wilson

In situations such as yours, sometimes selling does make sense. 

Sales that are not well thought out are the ones that end in regret.

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On 6/23/2021 at 3:11 PM, Herr Barnack said:

Sales that are not well thought out are the ones that end in regret.

I’ve always thought that the mantra ‘Never sell a Leica Lens’  is ridiculous.  I don’t keep anything I don’t use enough to justify keeping and would have no anguish over selling Leica or any other gear I do  not use .  
I sold a late f1 Noctilux v4 because after wanting one for a number of years,  I quickly discovered that lens is just not for me.  
My 50mm elmar-m was, and still is, far more useful to me I’ve never regretted selling the Noctilux and can I see no point in having money tied up in unused lenses or anything else. 

I think most people who do regret selling stuff are victims of their own GAS. 

Edited by Ouroboros
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