Apo 35mm M mount Vs L mount

[Jeff S]

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9 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Yes, I should have added that. I rely on weather sealing in the SL, so picking a lens without it would be a (my) mistake.

Same for me, which is one reason I don’t adapt my M lenses, despite my preference for an aperture ring and mechanical (not by wire) focusing and, of course, less size and weight. The competitive market for the SL platform, larger lens size, production methods (including possible software corrections) do, however, keep SL lens prices in check, at least relative to top performing M lenses. 

Trade offs, as always.  Nice to have options, but those sometimes lead to indecision … and  threads like this.

Jeff

[Simone_DF]

Maybe a good solution would be to get the SL APO + the Voigtlander APO.

You'll get the best of both worlds for less than the price of the M APO alone.

[Reddy]

If money is not the issue I would suggest you to get the M35 APO. I have got the SL35 APO and I can only using the lens on the L mount camera. I do a lot of portrait shoot and the SL lenses do help me a lot to capture accurate photos. At the moment I don't think we can really see the quality different between the SL35 and the M35, but M system is a lot easier to take with you on a daily basis. Both lenses are mean to use at wide open aperture, the voigtlander wide open would have some kind of CA. Before I'm getting the SL lenses, I do have the idea in the back of my head one day L mount would be discontinued for any reason or the AF lens can no longer to be repaired. 

[Jon Warwick]

20 minutes ago, Reddy said:

Both lenses are mean to use at wide open aperture, the voigtlander wide open would have some kind of CA. 

Again, I found the detailed review by Reid Reviews (subscription website) very interesting, where among many things he compared chromatic aberration both on centre and at the edges for the M 35 APO and Voigtlander 35mm APO Lanthar.

I concluded from his review that the 35mm APO Lanthar could be an excellent lens technically for my uses.  I already own the Voigtlander 50 APO Lanthar (where I struggle to see any CA at any aperture).

If I ever went back into the SL (I used to have an SL2 + SL 50 Summicron) to pair with my M10 Monochrom, I would personally expect that I would do what Simone_DF discusses in post #22.

Edited July 25, 2022 by Jon Warwick

[Simone_DF]

45 minutes ago, Reddy said:

the voigtlander wide open would have some kind of CA.

This is absolute FUD.

Do you have any proof of that or you're just speculating? Because from all the samples and reviews I've seen, it's extremely hard to find CA, if any, on either the 50 or 35mm APO Lanthars. Samples from Leica show the same behaviour. It's extremely hard to tell them apart, except a bit more vignetting wide open on the Voigtlanders.

[SJH]

Just to add to my earlier comment the OP asks ‘which apo 35 lens would do (much) better on SL2 body’, well in terms of IQ theoretically the SL35 but I don’t think you can’t really tell much of a difference in the real world (they’re both outstanding on the SL series) so it then just comes down to the SL lens having AF.

I’d therefore suggest that as it’s such an individual choice the OP considers which lens they’d really get the most use out of. The M camera’s in my experience are clearly more portable/suitable for travel etc for example. The M35 APO is dual purpose so the OP could sell his existing 35’s and have this lens if he feels that overall it would get far more use. Then buy one of the Sigma’s as the AF 35. Frankly both the 1.2 and 1.4 are very good.

Sometimes in the forum you do see buyers remorse for buying a lens people think they should have but they don’t actually use it very much. Equally the OP already has two good M 35’s and if he feels he’s going to use an AF 35mm a significant amount of the time (e.g. the new eye AF feature on the SL2) well again the choice is obvious. Then again having already got two M35’s having an SL35 might be overkill and something like the 24-90 might be better to use in conjunction with the SL’s AF to give a wider range and excellent IQ (probably the best zoom I’ve used).

So in your shoes I’d think very hard through what my real world use cases are going to be and how much I’d use either APO and therefore what really is important to you. IQ wise you won’t really see a difference on the SL so it comes down to the SL35 having AF but it’s heavier and clearly can’t be used on the M10, the M35 APO is dual purpose and is much more portable/similar IQ.

 

[PeterGA]

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L lenses on SL for me ( except the Nocti) and M mount lenses on M. Choices for excellent glass at various price points with not able to seen difference in prints or screen abound for both systems. Now that the M11 has a generous 60+ megapixels the IQ differential is now reduced between the two systems and what is left is smaller size - versus auto focus and stabilisation. 

No one can predict or presume what each individual's preferences will be regarding shooting experience - this is an individual and idiosyncratic variable that opinion can't help with - and the variable and changing preferences for each individual will no doubt change over time with usage requirements and other factors- hence GAS.

My experience is that the 35APO in L mount lives up to its reputation for excellence - a better performer on the SL and SL2 than my 35 FLE lux or crons were...by a fair margin. I have no experience with the 35 apo in M mount to share- but no doubt like its 50mm version will be a good performer.

Making things very interesting are the two Voigtlander apo equivalents....I haven't been able to 'see' any difference between the Voigtlander 50 apo V the Leica in M mount. Given you shoot both SL and M - a low cost test maybe a worthwhile exercise - teh Voigtlander are priced so that they are 'relative;ly a throw away lens meaning sensational value for dollar spent - but if your shooting experience requires a Leica lens - then there is no choice to be made is there? 

 

[Reddy]

On 7/25/2022 at 8:57 PM, Simone_DF said:

This is absolute FUD.

Do you have any proof of that or you're just speculating? Because from all the samples and reviews I've seen, it's extremely hard to find CA, if any, on either the 50 or 35mm APO Lanthars. Samples from Leica show the same behaviour. It's extremely hard to tell them apart, except a bit more vignetting wide open on the Voigtlanders.

I have the lenses, I have even tested the M50mm f1.4 asph have the CA issue wide open on my L mount camera. I mean you can see it without enlarge the photo on the computer, you can see it in the back of the camera screen. For SL prime lenses i have, they don't have this issue or too minor for me to notice. 

Again I put them against bright light and focus closely on the tree etc. In other practical use maybe vary.

[Luke_Miller]

I subscribe to Sean Reid's site ReidReviews.  I find his modest subscription fee well worth it since it helps me make intelligent decisions on Leica purchases. He finds the 35 APO-Summicron-SL the best lens he has tested.  I have one on order using the Leica Family and Friends $500 discount.  For those who prefer a lens similar in size/weight to 35mm M lenses he like the 35mm f2 Sigma.  He has a head-to-head test of these two which clearly shows the differences.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Luke_Miller

[Luke_Miller]

On 7/28/2022 at 8:49 AM, Luke_Miller said:

I subscribe to Sean Reid's site ReidReviews.  I find his modest subscription fee well worth it since it helps me make intelligent decisions on Leica purchases. He finds the 35 APO-Summicron-SL the best lens he has tested.  I have one on order using the Leica Family and Friends $500 discount. 

My APO-Summicron-SL 1:2/35 ASPH. arrived today. Wow just wow!  I will have to up my game to do justice to this lens.

[MarkinVan]

6 hours ago, Luke_Miller said:

My APO-Summicron-SL 1:2/35 ASPH. arrived today. Wow just wow!  I will have to up my game to do justice to this lens.

After 2.5 years of ownership, mostly set at F 2.0, "Wow just wow" still sums it up exceptionally well.