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king of bokeh vs 35mm APO

kengai

By kengai
in Leica M Lenses

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derleicaman

derleicaman

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51 minutes ago, shirubadanieru said:

Pre asph cron anytime, all the time. The summicron lineup got bloated and almost as big & heavy as the summilux...if I have two lenses that are as big/heavy then I always go for a summilux...but the reason why the cron lineup is great is because they (used to be) small & offer great performance as an everday lens. The V4 (& previous crons) are tiny & weight 150〜170g. All ASPH lenses are pretty much double the size & weight. 

 

I agree 100%. I have had a 35 Lux ASPH pre-FLE that I bought new when it first came out. I used it as my main lens for years. I have had a v2 Summicron for years, but was never impressed by it. Last year I acquired a Canadian v4 and fell in love with it. I just love it’s rendering and tiny size. I swapped it in November for a Wetzlar v4 and added a very nice metal CNC focusing tab. Looking into getting it 6 bit coded as it now lives on my M10-P.

If I want bulk and perfection, I’ll go with my pre FLE, but I just love the tiny size and rendering of my v4. Don’t get me started on my pre ASPH Summilux!

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Erato

Erato

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I agree with most of the comments but some of the experience might come with personal taste and behavior. A large number of members, only open their eyes with an image sharp enough or even incredibly sharpness. But sometimes photography is more sophisticated than sharpness or MTF to me. There’s no class boundary or hype when I look for a suitable combination mounting on my camera.

Anyway, I spent enough time and shots with this lens in various light conditions, different scenes, and subjects. This is a lens more than good enough on my M10-P and M10 Monochrom.

I'd say this lens is versatile and fits most of the cases. I even tried to push the envelope such as over-exposure against strong light.

IMHO, it's more than just elegant color gradation also remarkable OOF rendering complied with different stop-down apertures. It's very linear and smooth compared with other lenses I owned.

Somehow this lens unified many artistic characters along with each stop down from different generations. You may experience a different outcome in a pleasant way.

It can be messy if you're not using this lens properly. But don't worry too much, this lens is well-designed by Walter Mandler. Meanwhile, this lens is very acutely against different light and color temperatures.

I know most of the pals are so picky as I am. And I am also aware that I don't have to compromise and purchase 3 different 35mm lenses combination to gain the same level as V4.

I hope my little humble experience is fair enough to this lens while some opinion is too subjective.

Edited by Erato
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Lelmer

Lelmer

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5 hours ago, shirubadanieru said:

Pre asph cron anytime, all the time. The summicron lineup got bloated and almost as big & heavy as the summilux...if I have two lenses that are as big/heavy then I always go for a summilux...but the reason why the cron lineup is great is because they (used to be) small & offer great performance as an everday lens. The V4 (& previous crons) are tiny & weight 150〜170g. All ASPH lenses are pretty much double the size & weight. 

 

Fully agree. Cron v4 and Lux FLE make me happy. I don't feel I need another 35mm 🙂

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grahamc

grahamc

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The v4 seems to be the quiet achiever of my lenses (or problem child , whichever way you look at it).  It's probably my least appreciated lens in my small collection.

I don't 'love' it the same way I love my 35:1.4 v2 (my only other 35mm lens).  But then over time I realise that it takes nice photos and particularly has very beautiful colour.  For me, it often feels a little boring, although again over time I realise that it's taking consistently 'gentle but sharp' images that I am really happy are in my collection. 

Comparatively, I can pick up the 35:1.4 v2 and go out excited by the output. I don't feel the same way of the v4 but it does no wrong also !  Perhaps that's the 'point' of the crons ?  

I can see how it pairs nicely with the 50:2 v4 of the same era (or v5 ...same optics), which is a lens I love.   Same organic look and sharp enough but in the 35mm FL for me this feels a bit dull compared to the 50 which gains a defining look via the extra compression.  So I sometimes feel that I should seek out another copy in the hope I can truly see what all the fuss is about. Or not.. could 'no fuss' be part of it's charm  🤔

It's a shame I'm not as excited by it as other posters here but glad I have it because my 35:1.4 v2 has been away for several months and it's size is fantastic. 

I've also come to realise that I overlook a lot of it's good points mentioned above.  

 

 

Edited by grahamc
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Erato

Erato

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25 minutes ago, Ray Vonn said:

Indeed...maybe due to its ludicrous acronym KOB 🙂 

Oh well.  It's obviously enough to make people really aaaangry.

To avoid mentioning that would be astute even this lens is riveting in my opinion. 

Edited by Erato
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ianman

ianman

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3 hours ago, grahamc said:

That's what I was trying to say ! 

Well to make things absolutely clear, my comment obviously relates to the ridiculous nickname given to the lens, not the lens itself.

We must remember that the nickname was given to it by a photoblogger, who is since documented to have regretted ever even mentioning it. Now it's used by sellers to ramp up it's value.

I happen to like the lens which renders very nicely as can be seen in the photos posted by @rcusick previously in this thread and have seen no anger or aggression here.

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Capuccino-Muffin

Capuccino-Muffin

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About the KOB, that lens was obviously an attempt by Leica to save money. 

It wasn’t a leap in performance.  The construction introduced the use of plastic. Falloff. Sharpness same as before. Lots of quirks in its drawing, very far from perfection. All in all, it was a renewed product to inject some new money into the company while keeping the same-ish level of performance as the V2 and V3. Actually, the V2 and V3 are even better behaved, except for color where they are definitely on the low contrast/pastel side.

However, with all the shortcuts, the V4 has had a lot of character introduced as a byproduct. The V4 is magical. Each image I print from that lens has an extra presence that is lacking from the well behaved V2, V3 and V5 (asph), which is hugely boring and not as sharp as the “asph” appellation was promised it to be. But then again, “asph” and “apo” do not play on the sharpness field.

Leica hit a homerun with the V4, but I clearly doubt they intended to hit a homerun by designing “character”. It’s just that everything fell in place in a lucky way.

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grahamc

grahamc

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4 hours ago, ianman said:

Well to make things absolutely clear, my comment obviously relates to the ridiculous nickname given to the lens, not the lens itself.

We must remember that the nickname was given to it by a photoblogger, who is since documented to have regretted ever even mentioning it. Now it's used by sellers to ramp up it's value.

I happen to like the lens which renders very nicely as can be seen in the photos posted by @rcusick previously in this thread and have seen no anger or aggression here.

Agree. Yes my comment was tongue in cheek but important to make the clarification for anyone reading only that :D 

I didn’t notice any anger either.  My view of the lens is a little underwhelmed but definitely not angry - I’ll check out the @rcusickpics also as am making efforts to love this lens more than I do :)

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grahamc

grahamc

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6 hours ago, Ray Vonn said:

Oh well.  It's obviously enough to make people really aaaangry.

My opinion I posted on the lens is confusion not anger. (Just in case you thought it was). I have many lenses from this era and love them.  I like the KOB but expected to love it, and in the context of the great feedback on this thread feel that I “should” love it more than I do.
 

There were some questions in my post also. I feel perhaps it’s it’s consistency (colours, overall organic look etc) that makes it quite modest & “unspectacular” (for want of a better word) in comparison to say the 35:1.4 v2, and perhaps that’s why it doesn’t scream for attention in my small collection .   As I mentioned I’m coming to know that these things are part of its charm which I am learning in the long run 

 

Edited by grahamc
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albireo_double

albireo_double

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Without trying to repeat at length what I wrote some time ago in a similar context - even in the digital realm, I find the camera model makes a difference to how much I like a given lens. I liked the Mandler era lenses best on the M9 with its contrasty and saturated OOC output. I was not very fond of the 50APO on the M9 - the pictures felt too harsh to me. This changed with the arrival of the CMOS chips, M240 and onward, where I suddenly preferred the look of the more modern lenses. I loved the 35V1 8-element on Monochrom 2, but not on the M240. I now have a 35v4 and use it with the M10R but I am not as impressed by it as I was on the M9. I still use it, partly because the M10R fits nicely in my shallow skiing backpack with the 35v4 mounted. Invited to attend presentation of the L watches this evening...thinking that I may leave with the 35 APO instead. 

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Danner

Danner

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On 1/25/2022 at 8:28 AM, derleicaman said:

I agree 100%. I have had a 35 Lux ASPH pre-FLE that I bought new when it first came out. I used it as my main lens for years. I have had a v2 Summicron for years, but was never impressed by it. Last year I acquired a Canadian v4 and fell in love with it. I just love it’s rendering and tiny size. I swapped it in November for a Wetzlar v4 and added a very nice metal CNC focusing tab. Looking into getting it 6 bit coded as it now lives on my M10-P.

If I want bulk and perfection, I’ll go with my pre FLE, but I just love the tiny size and rendering of my v4. Don’t get me started on my pre ASPH Summilux!

Yes.  I finally got a V4 Canadian 35 'cron last year from Leica Store Miami, which had just come back from Weztlar with a full CLA and 6-bit coding.  Paid full price, so to speak, but it is a wonderful lens and I just love it.

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