Leica 35mm Summilux v2 pre-apsh Titanium

[rcusick]

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I own / have owned four versions of this lens - each has a very different signature.   The titanium version is special.   I find it sharper than any other version of the lens I’ve owned - including the steel rim reissue.    The colors are modern but remain faithful to the original - unlike the steel rim reissue.   The lens has that special “frozen in time / space” unique Leica look with more modern contrast and sharpness. It’s almost like this last batch of lenses was a love letter to what the lens could be.   The lens is what the steel rim reissue should have been.

 

 

 

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[grahamc]

Thanks for starting the thread, it is quite a curious lens ... since my (2) brass/titanium copies perform (slightly) differently than my 2 black aluminium Germany copies from the same year.        In my tests of these 4 lenses.... Both of the black alu show identical performance to eachtoher, as do the 2 titans to eachother.   So as difficult to believe as it maybe, it seems performance absolutely is different between the Germany-produced aluminium copies and Germany-produced Titan.  

I've wondered why this could be, especially as they are all from the same or very similar year.  Could it be because of the brass housing used in the titan and a positive impact on tolerances, perhaps ?  It's only a guess.  We would assume coatings to have been used.  I like and use both variations but the Titan version tests "better" in both copies I have.

Also IMO the build of the titan puts the SR reissue to shame.  (I kept the SR reissue for a couple of hours after holding it next to the titan, then sold it).
 

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by grahamc

[grahamc]

Somewhat on topic, but any excuse to post - one of the titanium lenses has recently had the titan plating removed, and painted MP black courtesy of Kanto.  They've done a really nice job of it and it's feeling smoother than ever 

 

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Edited August 15, 2023 by grahamc

[Bronco McBeast]

The Titanium pre-asph is the ONLY pre-asph to be made from Brass. 

Holding that lens is something special, the warmth, the weight. And it looks beautiful.

[a.noctilux]

It's the ONLY lens I regret selling 😄 but life goes on.

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/322703-titanium-bodies-in-the-wild/?do=findComment&comment=4237962

[rcusick]

22 hours ago, grahamc said:

Thanks for starting the thread, it is quite a curious lens ... since my (2) brass/titanium copies perform (slightly) differently than my 2 black aluminium Germany copies from the same year.        In my tests of these 4 lenses.... Both of the black alu show identical performance to eachtoher, as do the 2 titans to eachother.   So as difficult to believe as it maybe, it seems performance absolutely is different between the Germany-produced aluminium copies and Germany-produced Titan.  

I've wondered why this could be, especially as they are all from the same or very similar year.  Could it be because of the brass housing used in the titan and a positive impact on tolerances, perhaps ?  It's only a guess.  We would assume coatings to have been used.  I like and use both variations but the Titan version tests "better" in both copies I have.

Also IMO the build of the titan puts the SR reissue to shame.  (I kept the SR reissue for a couple of hours after holding it next to the titan, then sold it).
 

 

Maybe my copy is a one off exceptional copy.  That said - as you mention - the build quality is exceptional. 

[grahamc]

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13 minutes ago, rcusick said:

Maybe my copy is a one off exceptional copy.  That said - as you mention - the build quality is exceptional. 

Of mine, it is also the titans also that perform better.  So same observation (I think?) 😁

Edited August 16, 2023 by grahamc

[Bronco McBeast]

The sample variation is huge. 

For example, my Titanium and German lux V2 are very sharp  while my Canadian, wide open, is Totally Maximum Rembrandt.
 

 

[Bronco McBeast]

20 minutes ago, Steven said:

More than sample variation I believe that the difference between copies are very influenced by condition, and the abuse the lens has been through in CLAs over the decades. I have copies were the screws are so damaged that it clearly indicated the lens has been opened, and probably roughy treated. I have seems others with the coating totally gone… 

Usage is a factor. 
Production batches also.

Leica was not a mystical, magical company back then. Nor were they vintage lenses, back then. It was simply a company offering the best possible products, just like Singer sowing machines.

I used to have a lux pre asph v2 canadian with a front element that got polished by t-shirt abrasions. Was a great performer,I thought it was a feature.

Same for one of my actual 35 cron V1 canadian: wobbly, somewhat sticky focus, but the images are soooo unique, I just choose that lens over any of my thirty other 35mm lenses. Magical.

[Bronco McBeast]

12 hours ago, Steven said:

Agreed. 
More interestingly, what are your top five 35s among your thirty 35mm lenses?

My top five, in order of preference: 

Steel Rim 

35 AA 

35 Pre Fle 

8e 

Nokton 35 1.4 

 

I’d say

Summicron 8 element

Summilux V2 (don’t own the Original Steel Rim)

35AA

35 pre-FLE

Summaron f2.8

 

 

 

 

[Bronco McBeast]

On 8/17/2023 at 5:28 PM, Steven said:

I’m very interested to hear your thoughts on the 8e vs pre asph v2 at f2, f2.8 and f4. 

I only use film, and thus the way I look and analyze images wildly differs from the digital users (thankfuly). The pseudo-scientific approach of pixel peeping and viewing at 400% sinoly make me go mad. This is why, my digital photography only lasted one year (2003) and I quickly sold all the digital gear. That year I stopped being a photographer and I was becoming a prisonner of sharpness analyzing. It was quite SAD. 
Fortunately for my photography, and for my mental stability, my darkroom is my Bat Cave, a place where I am disconnected from the world and where I Bond with the TRUE art of photography: the images as a whole.

A simple example of my way of working (might as well say the true good old way of working) is this: I purchased a Summilux 21mm back in 2008 and I used it for 2 years without even developing the films. During that time I had a 10 years backlog of films and prints, meaning that what I was printing and developing in 2008 were films that I shot back in 1998-2000, mostly images coming from 35mm summilux pre-asph v2, summilux 75mm and Noctilux.

This also means that i’d be seeing the 21mm summilux shots I was shooting in 2008, anywhere in 2014-2016, with a few Kodachrome slides before its end in 2010.

All this means really, and all I’m trying to say, is that my intensive darkrook work makes me go deep into negatives, in a very slow way. This method makes me understand the various differences between lenses when one same paper stock suddenly starts to print differently. The subtle differences in sharpness, the contrast, the general look and feel, holding a proper print will give you the very best idea of the character of a lens. A screen just wont. A screen is a different language and the POETRY part is filtered and left out. A print beathes everything. 

And so, slowly from one negative to the next, the transitions make me appreciate each lens, and dislike a few. Some lenses have a lot of depth hidden in them, contrast Curves in other words, while others are very flat and simply not fun to  print. 
I also don’t have exif therefire I can’t say which print was shot at f2 or f5.6, except guessing.

In General, all my prints from the 35 pre asph are magical,  as well as from the 8e. 

What I really like about the 8e is the absolutely GORGEOUS colors (I’m always in awe ofthe colors I get from this lens on film) and the way it paints images in general. Its 8element symmetrical construction really shows in prints, a truly well behaved, gentle, image with good contrast. It is clearly a cut above all the rest in the way it renders. I can really see that Leica gave it all they had optically.

Also, I’m yearning for the unique look of the past photographs. And what I understood is that the Summicron 8e is responsible for that look.

 

[shirubadanieru]

My turn my turn!

1) Summicron 8 elements

2) Steel Rim (& 216 v2 brass infinity lock)

3) Nikkor f1.8 ltm (& UC Hexanon f2)

4) Nokton f1.4 v2

5) Elmar f3.5

[rcusick]

Sydney at sunrise.  M11. 
 

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[rcusick]

Same. 
 

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[Smudgerer]

On 8/16/2023 at 8:17 PM, Bronco McBeast said:

 .............I just choose that lens over any of my thirty other 35mm lenses.

I wish I could un-read this.

[Mute-on]

On 8/18/2023 at 1:29 AM, Steven said:

also, you have good taste 😉 love the Summaron too. 

Of all the Leica 35mm lenses I own I love the Summaron the most. Of course I only own two 35/2.8 Summarons and no other Leica 35mm lenses, so I don’t know what I’m missing out on … 😜

[JMF]

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35 Summilux pre asph  v2 Titanium on SL 

 

[jaeger]

On 8/15/2023 at 3:00 AM, a.noctilux said:

It's the ONLY lens I regret selling 😄 but life goes on.

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/322703-titanium-bodies-in-the-wild/?do=findComment&comment=4237962

Question - your titanium 35mm lux is ASPH no? 

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Hallo,

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[a.noctilux]

4 hours ago, jaeger said:

Question - your titanium 35mm lux is ASPH no? 

Yes and no.

I had the two types in my foolish days.

asph.

pre asph.

[rcusick]

Sydney.  M11. 
 

 

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