Summicron 35/2 ASPH II - wide open performance

[35photo]

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I've had my ASPH I for almost 25 years.... Have never had an issue with its sharpness as all! Have you had it CLA'd lately? I had a focusing issue with my my pre ASPH 35 1.4 that was resolved with the focusing mechanism being overhauled.

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[jhonzatkl]

This lens was produced in 2018 and wasn't used heavily. I don't think, there is need for CLA as soon as after 5 years of usage?

[yizhilelexia]

I have 2 leica m11s(one black version and one silver version) and several copies of 35 1.4 FLE(11663 and 11675).  In sharpness perspective, leica 35 FLE is just not comparable with modern lenses made by sony, even some very cheap ones. The dng file came out from this combo wide open is not sharp. Almost all the reviewers said the lens is sharp. But the truth is the FLE is an old lens and it won't be able to match the 60 mp sensor wide open.

[hansvons]

I have the V1 of this lens, which shares the same lens design with the V2. It’s not a perfect 35mm by today’s standards. It’s from the film era and renders closer to the V4 KoB Summicron than to its modern-day APO sibling. It flares nicely, shows some fine glow wide open, and has a bent focal plane. It’s also not super sharp at full aperture. 
But it renders corners pretty sharp wide open, shows hardly any corner smear (none on film), and already shows peak sharpness at f4, which are notable improvements. It’s an overseen character lens with a warmer, more neutral colour reproduction compared to earlier Summicrons. 
If you were looking for a small but almost clinically rendering lens that is sharp from the very beginning and hardcore flare-resistant, I’d check out the 35mm Summarit, which was designed for digital sensors and also is an aspherical design. 

[Derbyshire Man]

39 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

My 11675 is STELLAR, this lens really shines wide open at infinity but of course cannot be as sharp as the APO wide open, it is after all f/1.4...
But yes, most M summilux lenses are already old by today's standards, my Sony 50/1.2 G Master beats every single one of my M luxes wide open.
To address your last sentence, EVERY LENS IN THE WORLD can match a 60mpix sensor. The sensor only brings out flaws of the lens more. There is no such thing as a sensor outresolving a lens or vice versa.

But look at the size of it! I'd rather eat worms!

I still have lots of top of the range Canon gear but the reason I never pick it up and instead go for Leica when manual focus and Fuji auto is dragging that stuff around outweighs the benefit except in obvious exception cases like sport etc.

 

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[lct]

Among compact lenses, my only 35/2 beating the Summicron 35/2 asph v1 in terms of sharpness at full aperture is the Ultron 35/2 asph. It is a tiny lens with a busier bokeh while the Nokton 35/1.5 asph has just a little less acutance with a smoother bokeh so the Summicron 35/2 asph v2 should still be the king (or the prince) of sharpness among compact 35/2 lenses, besides the apo version. Otherwise it would be of no interest to me but what folks say about it here make me even more reluctant to upgrade from my v1.

[jhonzatkl]

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There is still chance, my copy is defective and these result are therefore not representative.

[lct]

14 minutes ago, jhonzatkl said:

There is still chance, my copy is defective and these result are therefore not representative.

Depends on where you focused your pics. If you focused this one on the rabbit's nose for instance, it looks normally sharp to me.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-xn2vZkm/0/DLDZLSZN8MVR5RTxgQb7r4CRs6sLqQDpCDgPtjPhX/X4/i-xn2vZkm-X4.jpg

 

[DI1]

My 35 asph v2 is sharper than my previous v1. This was clearly visible on my M11, forcing me to sell the v1. I’m very happy with the performance and size of the Summicron.