The rumours are true. The APO 35 is a wondrous creation.

[Mahesh]

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On 7/13/2023 at 4:41 PM, calijax said:

I wasn't overly enamored by this lens when I first received it (over a year ago). However, having experienced it along with my other 35s (FLE, FLE II, and v4 pre-asph) it has become my clear favorite due to its 1) versatility* 2) ergonomics** and 3) optics. 

Even though this lens weighs similarly to a Summilux, the smaller barrel diameter seems to give it a much smaller feel when carried. This is really important to me, I've learned. 

*closest focus of the 35s
**thinner barrel with shorter focus throw (normal range)

Hi, how would you compare optics against FLE ii ? Is there mainly an advantage in edge performance? I mainly shoot portraits and street and would there be significant difference  between the two? I am deciding between the two

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[Hans-Dieter Gülicher]

As to my opinion and experiences the 35 mm APO is the best lense I have had.

[Kiwimac]

I was watching a video about the 50 Apo the other day and realised that it comes in a very fancy box like the Noctilux does.

Anyone know why the 35 Apo does not get the same treatment? It cannot be price - it costs the same as the 50 Apo.

[jimtong]

3 hours ago, Kiwimac said:

I was watching a video about the 50 Apo the other day and realised that it comes in a very fancy box like the Noctilux does.

Anyone know why the 35 Apo does not get the same treatment? It cannot be price - it costs the same as the 50 Apo.

I guess it is very likely due to environment reason. Even the M11 is using the basic packaging which is a very different from those fanciful cool packaging we know from M10 and before.

[Warton]

3 hours ago, Kiwimac said:

I was watching a video about the 50 Apo the other day and realised that it comes in a very fancy box like the Noctilux does.

Anyone know why the 35 Apo does not get the same treatment? It cannot be price - it costs the same as the 50 Apo.

I bought a APO 50 in March and never saw a fancy box. It's just a standard grey/silver-ish cardbox with a fake leather pouch.

APO 50 is cheaper than 35 at least for what I can get. In Canada you can get APO 50 for less than CAD8000 after tax, but won't get 35 for less than CAD10,000

Edited August 21, 2023 by Warton

[Hans-Dieter Gülicher]

The 35mm APO is packed in silver cardboard box, inside a black round leather case.

[T25UFO]

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5 hours ago, Kiwimac said:

I was watching a video about the 50 Apo the other day and realised that it comes in a very fancy box like the Noctilux does.

Anyone know why the 35 Apo does not get the same treatment? It cannot be price - it costs the same as the 50 Apo.

I think it's only the retro special edition 50mm APO (11811) that comes with a larger box etc.  The 'regular' 50mm APO comes with the same packing as the 35mm APO.

I have both the retro 50mm APO and the 35mm APO.  The 50mm is beautiful, with a lovely focusing ring, but it also quite a bit heavier.  If I could keep only one, it would be the 35mm.

[Jeff S]

The new 35 Summilux ASPH (FLE II) apparently has an improved aperture ring action, with stronger and more clearly defined detents, as demonstrated by “Mathphotographer” and verified by others here. Too bad the 35 APO Summicron doesn’t seem to have incorporated this design. 
 

Jeff

[Robert Blanko]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb T25UFO:

I think it's only the retro special edition 50mm APO (11811) that comes with a larger box etc.  The 'regular' 50mm APO comes with the same packing as the 35mm APO.

I have both the retro 50mm APO and the 35mm APO.  The 50mm is beautiful, with a lovely focusing ring, but it also quite a bit heavier.  If I could keep only one, it would be the 35mm.

My normal 50 APO came in a larger more fancy box back in 2021 (or 2020?). Thus, I was surprised that the 35 APO arrived in a tiny standard cardboard box.

[dkmoore]

3 hours ago, Jeff S said:

The new 35 Summilux ASPH (FLE II) apparently has an improved aperture ring action, with stronger and more clearly defined detents, as demonstrated by “Mathphotographer” and verified by others here. Too bad the 35 APO Summicron doesn’t seem to have incorporated this design. 
 

Jeff

A lot of variance in tolerances with these lenses.  I bought a brand new 35apo and 35 close focus and the APO had much firmer detents. There was also a difference between the close focus detente and the 35 close focus was more substantial. 
 

There may be a newly used aperture on the 35 close focus but I’m not sure that it’s not just copy variation.  

The aperture is perfect on my 35 APO. Both excellent lenses though!

Edited August 21, 2023 by dkmoore

[dkmoore]

3 hours ago, Robert Blanko said:

My normal 50 APO came in a larger more fancy box back in 2021 (or 2020?). Thus, I was surprised that the 35 APO arrived in a tiny standard cardboard box.

Same with M11 and M11 Mono. I was a hit disappointed myself. I liked the drawers and like the fancy boxing of the higher priced lenses. Boxes are fun!

[Jeff S]

1 hour ago, dkmoore said:

A lot of variance in tolerances with these lenses.  I bought a brand new 35apo and 35 close focus and the APO had much firmer detents. There was also a difference between the close focus detente and the 35 close focus was more substantial. 
 

There may be a newly used aperture on the 35 close focus but I’m not sure that it’s not just copy variation.  

The aperture is perfect on my 35 APO. Both excellent lenses though!

Yes, lots of sample variation across lenses. And many owners of various relatively recent releases seem to report overly loose aperture rings.  I handled three 50 APO Summicrons and all exhibited too little resistance for my tastes. My own 35 Summilux ASPH v1 (FLE) could benefit from a trip to DAG for tightening.

But the new 35 Summilux ASPH seems to be a different design.

See at near 5:45…

When I asked here, several owners confirmed the difference.  But I have not handled any.

Jeff

[Kiwimac]

9 hours ago, Jeff S said:

The new 35 Summilux ASPH (FLE II) apparently has an improved aperture ring action, with stronger and more clearly defined detents, as demonstrated by “Mathphotographer” and verified by others here. Too bad the 35 APO Summicron doesn’t seem to have incorporated this design. 
 

Jeff

I had that lens and traded it for this one. 
 

My personal view is that the Apo is much better made. The aperture ring seems identical and the focus action is much nicer. The detent stop at the end of normal focus is firmer than the FLE II - or at least the copy of it that I owned - and you’ll find a number of posts by me which complain that the detent was far too easy to blow through when focusing my FLE II. 

[Kiwimac]

13 hours ago, Warton said:

I bought a APO 50 in March and never saw a fancy box. It's just a standard grey/silver-ish cardbox with a fake leather pouch.

APO 50 is cheaper than 35 at least for what I can get. In Canada you can get APO 50 for less than CAD8000 after tax, but won't get 35 for less than CAD10,000

Both are NZD14,630 here - CAD11,800. 

[Jeff S]

7 minutes ago, Kiwimac said:

I had that lens and traded it for this one. 
 

My personal view is that the Apo is much better made. The aperture ring seems identical and the focus action is much nicer. The detent stop at the end of normal focus is firmer than the FLE II - or at least the copy of it that I owned - and you’ll find a number of posts by me which complain that the detent was far too easy to blow through when focusing my FLE II. 

As an RF-only M shooter, I would have preferred less complex, less expensive, but still optically and mechanically superb lenses over these recent close focusing designs. But that’s another discussion.

Jeff

[Kiwimac]

4 hours ago, Jeff S said:

As an RF-only M shooter, I would have preferred less complex, less expensive, but still optically and mechanically superb lenses over these recent close focusing designs. But that’s another discussion.

Jeff

I do not disagree with you. As I have said previously, at the very least I would have preferred a design with a positive lock switch mechanism to fully prevent close focus if the user wished.

[Warton]

7 hours ago, Kiwimac said:

Both are NZD14,630 here - CAD11,800. 

At AD here in Canada for an “old” lens like APO 50, you can easily talk down 20% from MSRP. But there is very little room to negotiate on a newer one like APO 35

[IMAGEPOWER]

vor 16 Stunden schrieb Robert Blanko:

My normal 50 APO came in a larger more fancy box back in 2021 (or 2020?). Thus, I was surprised that the 35 APO arrived in a tiny standard cardboard box.

My APO 50 also came in a larger box. Silver, yes, but much larger than necessary. The pouch and the lens are packed separately.

Watch this video

Perhaps Leica changed that...?

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[dkmoore]

30 minutes ago, IMAGEPOWER said:

My APO 50 also came in a larger box. Silver, yes, but much larger than necessary. The pouch and the lens are packed separately.

Watch this video

Perhaps Leica changed that...?

Not for the 50 APO. 
 

the complaint is that they didn’t use the fancy box for the 35 APO. 

[IMAGEPOWER]

vor einer Stunde schrieb dkmoore:

Not for the 50 APO. 
 

the complaint is that they didn’t use the fancy box for the 35 APO. 

True! But have a look at post #47 where T24UFO states that

 

vor 21 Stunden schrieb T25UFO:

The 'regular' 50mm APO comes with the same packing as the 35mm APO

which is wrong 😉