Is it true? Does one need one native lens?

[Olaf_ZG]

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@BernardC, @RBB, @ all others, thank you for your feedback. I went through all online reviews of the mentioned lenses here: sigma, panasonic, leica, zoom, prime, 35 or 40mm.

How good a prime might be, for short lenses I prefer a prime, so they are out. 
Weight is a factor as well, meaning the sigma 40mm is out, despite my dealer having an action (750€ new).

The sigma 1.4/1.2 or panasonic 35/1.8 are all equally sizes as the Leica (or even bigger).

From my research I loved the rendering of the sigma 40mm and summicron, especially close up. Till now, the best 35 lens I ever had was the Zeiss 35/1.4 (not for m, but for Nikon), it was pure magic.

I want my main lens for the SL to be magic (and be able to do close focus, which rules out m-lenses). If it aint magic, then size becomes important, hence the sigma.

So basically, I should rephrase my question: will the summicron deliver magic (if in good hands, not necessary mine 😎)?

Now, what is magic? I can only tell you which lenses (and their rendering) I like(d) most, so you get an idea of my magic:

- the 150mm on my sl66 

- the 45 planar on my contax g1

- CZ35/1.4 or CZ85/1.4 ZM mount

- nokton 35/1.4sc, cron50mmv2, nokton 75/1.5

The first and latter ones have very classic rendering and are less sharp, while basically all CZ where very sharp with probably microcontrast.

as I have the m-lenses, this need is foreseen, so in the end the question comes down to the following:

which AF lens will match the CZ lenses most? Or, am I doomed to a CZ lens in m-mount and then I simply by a cheap AF for the sake of AF?

last but not least, I am not saying here that any lens is bad, nowadays, all lenses are great value. But I want a lens to fall in love with 😜, meaning I want to have it on the SL for most of the times as it results don’t stop to amaze me…

and yes, I know I am complicated, and yes, I also know you don’t have the answer, but still I appreciate your feedback.

[Luke_Miller]

Peter Karbe, Leica's Chief Optical Designer says the 35 APO Summicron-SL ASPH. is his favorite lens and may be the best lens Leica has ever produced. I'm really impressed with mine and think its pretty magical.

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[trickness]

24 minutes ago, Luke_Miller said:

Peter Karbe, Leica's Chief Optical Designer says the 35 APO Summicron-SL ASPH. is his favorite lens and may be the best lens Leica has ever produced. I'm really impressed with mine and think its pretty magical.

This 100%. And you can get it used in excellent condition at a bit over $3000 USD pretty regularly. This lens completely blows me away every time I use it.

[Oliver Christie]

23 hours ago, blessingx said:

If you don’t mind the slight FL bump, have you considered the one lens Sigma experiment (cine in stills shell) of the 40mm f/1.4? You get some of the advantages of the Sigma 35, including price, with the performance approaching, maybe equalling, the SL35. Big and heavy, but check out the reviews and those MTF charts. Love mine. Hell, you could get the 40mm f/1.4 and Sigma 35 f/2 (or 35 f/2 APO-Lanthar or Ultron) for different situations. 

This is interesting what you write about the 40mm lens. I like using interesting lens, especially anything cinematic, but only for stills not video. 

Just to confirm, this lens - https://www.sigma-global.com/en/lenses/a018_40_14/

Any other recommendations? 

 

 

[Herr Barnack]

The 28 Summilux on the Q2 works for me - it just requires me to sometimes get closer to my subject to get the framing right.

For my M cameras, I think I would probably go with the 35 Summicron APO as a do it all one lens, if it were available.  Failing that, I think I'd go with the new version of the 35 Summilux.

[MJB]

I’m sure the APO 35 is a fantastic lens but at $3K+ used, it’s not exactly affordable. If you like the CZ 45 f/2, why not just buy an adapter? I love mine on my SL, and it costs more like $300. Way smaller and lighter, too. I mean yeah, you give up AF which it sounds like is a priority. You can always save up for the APO 35, if you feel like it’s a must have. 

[tom0511]

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if you want a prime and want it to be "magic"...then I would not hesistate and get the best which is imo the 35 SL,

 

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by tom0511

[Olaf_ZG]

8 hours ago, MJB said:

I’m sure the APO 35 is a fantastic lens but at $3K+ used, it’s not exactly affordable. If you like the CZ 45 f/2, why not just buy an adapter? I love mine on my SL, and it costs more like $300. Way smaller and lighter, too. I mean yeah, you give up AF which it sounds like is a priority. You can always save up for the APO 35, if you feel like it’s a must have. 

By cutting down on certain things and selling off, a secondhand SL35 came into reach. Though this doesn’t mean I need to spend the money, could use it elsewhere. However, at this very moment it is affordable.

I am only relatively short into Leica and m-lenses, and despite I really love the pace of manual focusing, sometimes I am too slow and I miss close up. Therefore the desire for an AF lens.

[Olaf_ZG]

8 hours ago, tom0511 said:

if you want a prime and want it to be "magic"...then I would not hesistate and get the best which is imo the 35 SL,

 

 

I listened to you 😎

[Olaf_ZG]

I made up my mind: a demo model cron will be mine. The dealer was so mice to throw in a battery for the SL which sealed the deal. Next month I will pick it up.

No doubt the Sigma would have been very good, but knowing myself, I would all the time hear this voice “wouldn’t be the Leica better?”

So, this time I decided to buy the best at once. My most expensive lens ever. May be I will regret it, but at least I will not change lenses that quickly as I am now without money 😇

[tom0511]

I think this decision will give you some peace since you can forget about the lens and focus on taking images, knowing your gear is not the bottlehead.

well knowing there are other very good 35mm lenses as well.

enjoy!

 

 

[Olaf_ZG]

11 minutes ago, tom0511 said:

I think this decision will give you some peace since you can forget about the lens and focus on taking images, knowing your gear is not the bottlehead.

well knowing there are other very good 35mm lenses as well.

enjoy!

 

 

Here you say sth very important. Not only for me, but for many of us. Too often we are gashing over gear, not realizing how good gear we have already.

I don’t have excuses anymore. I need to go out and create images….

 

 

[trickness]

1 hour ago, Olaf_ZG said:

By cutting down on certain things and selling off, a secondhand SL35 came into reach. Though this doesn’t mean I need to spend the money, could use it elsewhere. However, at this very moment it is affordable.

I am only relatively short into Leica and m-lenses, and despite I really love the pace of manual focusing, sometimes I am too slow and I miss close up. Therefore the desire for an AF lens.

Remember that if you want to focus the SL glass manually, there is a setting in the menu where you can change the focus throw to make it narrower or wider. The settings make a huge difference and when you use focus peaking in combination with a narrow throw setting it becomes much more pleasurable to manually focus SL prime glass (I have no experience with the zooms).

 

enjoy!!!

Edited September 29, 2022 by trickness

[Jeff S]

4 hours ago, trickness said:

Remember that if you want to focus the SL glass manually, there is a setting in the menu where you can change the focus throw to make it narrower or wider. The settings make a huge difference and when you use focus peaking in combination with a narrow throw setting it becomes much more pleasurable to manually focus SL prime glass (I have no experience with the zooms).

 

enjoy!!!

Same options with the SL zooms, including linear vs accelerated focus action (although I  dislike peaking, instead using magnification if needed).  
 

Jeff

[Laharrier]

Get the Leica branded 25-70 zoom. This lens is an excellent performer and it is very well priced. Constant 2.8 aperture at all focal lengths. Built like a tank and uses all of the cameras technical features. 

[trickness]

Some 35 SL Cron from today in Soho

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[huwm]

I went for the 50mm SL as my personal most expensive lens (I prefer 50mm to 35mm focal length) even though it's an 'inferior' lens 🤔, 55% use

I was nearly seduced by stories of  the 35's superiority into buying the' wrong' focal length for me, such is the power of the web.

I switched from the Sigma to Leica 24-70mm, which is indeed a great walk-around for reasons of build quality and aesthetics, it is on the SL2  about 40% use

I do have 35mm lenses, the Sigma 35mm f1.4 for use in near dark 😗, 5% and the f2 which will be going soon as the f1.4 is very good indeed and I don't find the lens size an issue.

I've also started thinking about the 85mm despite having no real need 🤨, as you do.

[Olaf_ZG]

Yesterday I finally picked up the 35SL, had to cross two borders for it 😎.

My first portrait with it, is from the guy below, he looked at me, and I asked him for a portrait. He gave me this look with this gesture. One click, one image. I should have taken more, but I was shy.

Nevertheless, I do like the image. It is a good portrait, and somehow, it assumes me I made a good decision.

Having now great equipment, the only thing I new to learn is to approach strangers and make a portrait with them.

 

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[Camaro5]

My primary lens on my SL2-S is the 35 APO.  When I changed over to the SL system there was no compromising on this.  It will be part of my kit even if I ever change or upgrade.  I also wanted some versatility and rather than having a bag full of primes that may or may not see a lot of use I went with the 24-70.  That was partially done for budgetary reasons, but the image quality is excellent.  I like having a minimalist kit for now and may add a Sigma 21/1.4 down the road.

I would say get the lens you really want and go from there.  Add to your kit as your budget allows and what your needs require.  Anything else would feel like a compromise and we all know how that works out.  

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[cheekz4dayz]

Love the picture and congrats on the purchase! In a weird way Leica prices help keep my G.A.S. in check because when I buy a new lens it's a conscious decision and it hurts the wallet lol which makes me use the gear more 😝

 

Happy Shooting!