The overlooked workhorse: 35mm Summarit

[hansvons]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

2 hours ago, otto.f said:

Question: I can’t find information about the hood of this lens, is it integrated or separate?

 

The f2.5 version has a non-vented screw-on hood that clicks smoothly into place. Quite a satisfying exercise. But I find a hood unnecessary, as the Summitar is virtually impossible to flare. Only when pointing directly to the sun I could provoke a flare (see the post above). A hood wouldn’t help here. I use a high-quality UV-filter to protect the lens. 
 

The optically identical f2.4 version has  click-on hood if I recall correctly.

Edited January 7, 2024 by hansvons

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[logan2z]

1 hour ago, hansvons said:

The optically identical f2.4 version has  click-on hood if I recall correctly.

The 2.4 has a metal screw-on hood. 

[a.noctilux]

I use screw-in vented hood E39 (and when needed 52mm cap over the hood).

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

[cboy]

The nice quality of the summarit is its ability resolve very fine crisp detail, which is great for landscapes. And having lesser contrast than the Cron asph means a good baseline to add whatever custom profile that suits the users taste in post. Some feel the Cron has too much contrast, but I find it adds more depth and dimension so to each their own.

Even the late Putts complimented on how it's on par with the Cron asph 

https://photo.imx.nl/leica/lenses/lenses/page83.html

Great lens. I understand the f2.4 lens hood can fit on the 35mm summilux, which is a bonus

 

Edited January 7, 2024 by cboy

[pgk]

2 taken 24 hours apart. The second wide open (M9)

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[hansvons]

On 1/7/2024 at 12:56 PM, cboy said:

And having lesser contrast than the Cron asph means a good baseline to add whatever custom profile that suits the users taste in post. Some feel the Cron has too much contrast, but I find it adds more depth and dimension so to each their own.

I can't corroborate that. I would even say that the Summarit at open aperture shows more contrast than the Summicron ASPH at f 2.5. BTW, high contrast means high detail. You can always lower the contrast in post, pulling out detail. But bringing back contrast in a low-contrast image always means killing detail. All that applies mainly to a RAW workflow, of course. 

[hansvons]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

23 minutes ago, pgk said:

2 taken 24 hours apart. The second wide open (M9)

The last image proves my own findings. Even at f 2.5, it is a superb lens for landscapes. Going out on a limb, I would say only the 35mm APO is in the same ballpark at that aperture and infinity. At least my ASPH Summicron is not (but it has other virtues). It is a great little lens, isn't it?

[Kl@usW.]

Am 7.1.2024 um 12:56 schrieb cboy:

The nice quality of the summarit is its ability resolve very fine crisp detail, which is great for landscapes. And having lesser contrast than the Cron asph means a good baseline to add whatever custom profile that suits the users taste in post. Some feel the Cron has too much contrast, but I find it adds more depth and dimension so to each their own.

Even the late Putts complimented on how it's on par with the Cron asph 

https://photo.imx.nl/leica/lenses/lenses/page83.html

Great lens. I understand the f2.4 lens hood can fit on the 35mm summilux, which is a bonus

 

I had both of them. Since the Summilux hood didn't gell with me, I tried the 2,4 Summarit hood on the FLE: it´s a bit short. So a combination of a filter and the Summarit hood won't be feasible together. Even the Summarit hood alone is a tight fit. Apart from that,  vignetting of the FLE is reported  if the Summarit hood is used on the FLE wide open. So: not the best option. In the end, I just used the Lux hood as it comes with the lens.... so what. 

After a couple of years of use  I can only confirm the top notch quality of the 2,4/35 asph. It looks a bit strange though. 

[Kl@usW.]

Am 7.1.2024 um 07:51 schrieb otto.f:

Question: I can’t find information about the hood of this lens, is it integrated or separate?

The 2,5  hood was not part of the original package and cost an extra of about 100 €. If you bought one, you made a good decision. They are sold out, hard to find and expensive now. 

[otto.f]

19 hours ago, Kl@usW. said:

The 2,5  hood was not part of the original package

Are you sure? I saw an occasion today at an official Leica Store in the original box complete with the hood.

[pgk]

11 minutes ago, otto.f said:

Are you sure? I saw an occasion today at an official Leica Store in the original box complete with the hood.

I bought a used one with a hood and the hood came in a seperate box. I'm not sure if the hood would fit in with the lens in its box. I assume that they were seperate items but would usually be 'bundled' together.

[TomB_tx]

11 minutes ago, otto.f said:

Are you sure? I saw an occasion today at an official Leica Store in the original box complete with the hood.

Yes. Common complaint on the 2.5 was the costs of the hood. I found the 35 was good without it - more needed on the 50 2.5 (same hood).

[a.noctilux]

With or no hood in the 2.5/35mm depend on the period of the lens.

1 - At first when launched, the matched hood was not included in the price, it was an option.

2 - Later, about at the end of 2.5 Summarit-M to be replaced by 2.4 Summarit-M, the hood was included in the package.

[otto.f]

It’s a great lens indeed. I tried it today and it has more identity than the Summicron 35 asph, it’s a severe competitor for the APO and the quesion is indeed whether  the Summicron 35 iv has any surplus value over it, considering their bokeh’s. I won’t buy it though because I own the APO. Sometimes I need a smaller and lighter lens than the APO, the Summarit is only a bit shorter and 100gm lighter. I hate shooting without a hood and this hood is relatively long compared to the APO, although it feels more compact than the VC Ultron ii with the separate vented hood. My final decision to not buy it is the very short throw and this copy focuses so light that it’s taking too much time to be sure if you nailed it. So all non-optical arguments from someone who can afford an APO. BTW, the shortest distance of 80cm instead of 70cm is really noticeable. 

[TomB_tx]

11 minutes ago, otto.f said:

BTW, the shortest distance of 80cm instead of 70cm is really noticeable. 

Can be as wide angle can be effective close to subject. Only a rare need for my use.

[Kl@usW.]

Am 11.1.2024 um 18:10 schrieb otto.f:

Are you sure?

Yes. The hood in your occasion was added later. All the 2,5 Summarits came without the hood, it had to be bought separately. As most customer didn't buy the separate hood, it´s rare now.  And the 2,5s didn't come with the stiff leather keeper, but a pouch. 

[ekpleo]

Am 11.1.2024 um 18:32 schrieb otto.f:

BTW, the shortest distance of 80cm instead of 70cm is really noticeable. 

Yes, I totally agree. I own the Summicron 35 IV and the 2,5/35 Summarit and I stumbled several times about this. It's only 10 cm but you have to get used to it if you like composing with foreground or take pics of your friends sitting close together at the table.

In comparisson on my M10 I prefer the Summarit over the Summicron. 

I bought mine used and it came without hood. I took a third party solution, which works fine for me.  See the other thread.

 

[ekpleo]

Some examples from my flickr stream

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

 

 

 

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Lesslemming]

Allow me to jump in and share my experiences with this tiny, budget-friendly masterpiece.

For me, the 35mm focal length is a problem. Although there is a variety of options to choose from, the one lens that does it all for me seems out of reach.
I need to get close, so 0.7m is too limiting. I like clean images with modern, smooth bokeh, so some Leica and Voigtländer options are less than ideal.
So far, my only viable option was to have two separate 35mm lenses. A Nokton 35mm f/1.2 for close-up and available light shooting, and the Summarit 35mm as everyday walk around lens for street and architecture. You read about my experiences with the Nokton here.

The Summarit 35mm f/2.4 (in my case) can be summarised as small, light-weight and no-fuss Workhorse. It does as it is told. It will not add anything, nor will it hide anything. In my view, it is transparent but limited in its capabilities because of the 0.8m minimum focus distance and the maximum aperture of f/2.4.
Both limiting factors are within the grey area where it will still do the job for portraits with nice blurry backgrounds, but it could be better.

Build quality and handling

This is a Leica-made lens, for sure. But is also a budget Leica-made lens and that is evident. It looks and behaves very much as you might be used to from Leica but it is peculiarly light-weight. Everything is tight and smooth, so nothing to complain here. However, the aperture clicks are very high pitched (click click, as opposed to a more saturated clack clack) and can be changed by accident. The focus throw is very short, which makes the lens ideal for fast action in the field. The mechanism is smooth with very little resistance, reinforcing the feeling of light-weightedness. Again, the hard stops for close and infinity sound high pitched (aluminium click click vs brass clack clack).

So buyer beware, you will get a Leica quality lens with very little to complain about, but it just doesn't feel as nice in the field as some other offerings. I have had Voigtländers feel more solid and precious.

Optical Quality

This lens performs very well wide open. It is meant to be used at any aperture you desire with the focus on being available at your disposal at whichever setting the lens is required to be. In that sense, it feels like the Batman of lenses ("whatever Gotham needs me to be"). I could not detect any detriment to shooting wide open. There is barely any noticeable vignette, contrast and sharpness are wonderful and the out of focus areas are smooth and not jittery. Of course, at f/2.5 and min. 0.8m you will not get extreme amounts of bokeh but where it happens it looks fantastic. Clean, smooth, without character. Transparent.

There is a bit of barrel distortion in the DNG files, which can be accounted for nicely when using the Summarit profile in Capture One. I rarely feel the need to, though.

I am known to pixel-peep, because with a M10 Monochrome you can. I love finding details at 200 or even 300% that make me go "Damn!". However, I understand that is a pet peeve of mine and does not add value to an image (at least only to a degree). That being said, I have not encountered any instance where the lens lacked detail. I closely compared it to the Voigtländer 35mm Nokton f/1.2 and let's be honest, both are great. I feel both have the capacity to outperform the sensor of the M10 Monochrome, especially when stopped down a bit. The Summarit 35mm is not a "vintage design dreamy lens". It is geared towards performance.

This lens will get the job done but it does not provide any magic, except for the absence of magic, which I believe is the more difficult technical achievement. I attribute this quality to the very minimalistic optical design with only 6 elements.

Unexpected findings and Quirks

As I said, I shoot with the M10 Monochrome and as such, I love to use orange and red filters for dramatic contrast and dark skies. This is one of the main use-cases for shooting a B&W sensor, to me. It is known that color filters, especially in the red spectrum, can cause focus shift. I have not encountered this phenomenon in my modern lenses, so I was under the impression this is more an issue for vintage lens designs. As it turns out, the Summarit 35mm exhibits EXTREME Focus shift with red and orange filters. 

At first I thought I must have made a mistake but I was able to replicate this phenomenon numerous times in controlled conditions. I focus on an object, take an image, add the orange filter without touching the lens and repeat, do the same with a red filter. You can clearly see the focal plane creep away from the sensor. Less so with orange, quite significantly with red. This makes shooting the Summarit 35mm with an orange filter permanently attached (as I like to do) AND using the rangefinder to focus almost impossible. Keep this in mind if you shoot B&W sensors or even worse film! I will need to stick with the LCD for these instances, which is a real bummer.

The Voigtländer 35mm does not exhibit this behaviour in a noticeable extend, so I assume this has to do with the Summarit not being properly corrected for red-shifted light (again, only 6 elements).

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[pgk]

1 hour ago, Lesslemming said:

Unexpected findings and Quirks

..... the Summarit 35mm exhibits EXTREME Focus shift with red and orange filters. 

At first I thought I must have made a mistake but I was able to replicate this phenomenon numerous times in controlled conditions. I focus on an object, take an image, add the orange filter without touching the lens and repeat, do the same with a red filter. You can clearly see the focal plane creep away from the sensor. Less so with orange, quite significantly with red. This makes shooting the Summarit 35mm with an orange filter permanently attached (as I like to do) AND using the rangefinder to focus almost impossible. Keep this in mind if you shoot B&W sensors or even worse film! I will need to stick with the LCD for these instances, which is a real bummer.

The Voigtländer 35mm does not exhibit this behaviour in a noticeable extend, so I assume this has to do with the Summarit not being properly corrected for red-shifted light (again, only 6 elements).

This cannot be. You are not seeing focus shift due to colour focus variation because if this was the case then colour photographs would exhibit significant flaws too because red objects would appear fuzzy from your description (and this is not so!). I'd say this is much more likely due to a filter issue - the thickness of the filter you are using - and not the lens.