Leica 35mm AA (11873)

[dubrow77]

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Hello forum,
Hope you are doing well.

I’ve been looking for a Leica 35mm AA for a long time. How do you like this lens? Especially compared to the latest 35Lux. I exclusively shoot B&W (M10M) and mainly street photography.

thanks in advance for your insights.

Best,
Benjamin

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[a.noctilux]

If you find one and the money to buy one,

go for it.

 

One opinion here (link)

if the rare bit is available don't forget that here you will have little opinion from real users.

[dubrow77]

Thanks @a.noctilux

a good point of view:

 

I've owned and used the nomal 35mm Summilux f/1.4 FLE (2010-version) and the rare and expensive 35mm Summilux-M AA "Double Aspherical" that sells for around $12,000 - $25,000. I don't want to ruin the unique feeling of owning the AA, but I must say that in practical use, there were no noticeable difference. Maybe the FLE was a little better, but the differences were so minute you couldn't really tell if it was the light or the lens that offered a little difference in one photo compared to another. 

This tell you on one side that the AA from 1990 was and is an excellent lens, beucase the 2010-version FLE with 20 years of improved technological precision didn't beat it.

 

[a.noctilux]

I must add that only you are the one to judge if the nice lens is for you or use the "lesser price" lens then be happy.

We are so lucky to have such choices of nice lenses.

Edited October 26, 2024 by a.noctilux

[dubrow77]

Absolutely agree. And you need to find one that suit your taste since each one renders slightly differently. 

[a.noctilux]

The only-right-way to known is learning to know the lens ...

and the only way to learn is using the device a while in different situations.

[erl]

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2 hours ago, dubrow77 said:

Hello forum,
Hope you are doing well.

I’ve been looking for a Leica 35mm AA for a long time. How do you like this lens? Especially compared to the latest 35Lux. I exclusively shoot B&W (M10M) and mainly street photography.

thanks in advance for your insights.

Best,
Benjamin

So you have been looking for this lens for a long time, yet you are 'unsure' enough about it to ask 'strangers' for their opinion. Hmm.

Another point is if your prime pursuit is 'Street Photography', I wonder that a super lens is called for when so much street stuff does not exploit the optimal quality of lenses. ie. to say a lot of what I see of street is ad lib and from the hip and from  . . . well, anywhere. Not a Super lens scenario.

I am not about to tell you which lens you should acquire, but I hope my input helps you think clearly about your choice.

Never lose sight of the fact that the best aspects of your pictures come from you, not the camera or lens.

Good luck and may your pictures shine for you.

[dubrow77]

Can’t be sure until I have a chance to try it for a couple of months 😊. Read all what is available.

I exclusively do Black and white with high contrast. See example attached 

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!

[erl]

So what improvement are you looking for on the image you posted above?

Personally, I would be happy with the one above. Remember, image quality does not improve with $$$ spend.

[Jeff S]

17 hours ago, dubrow77 said:

Absolutely agree. And you need to find one that suit your taste since each one renders slightly differently. 

Start buying and experiment.  Report back.

Jeff

[TheGodParticle/Hari]

Seems like there is interest in this lens after a long period 

 

 

[mdg1371]

On 11/1/2024 at 8:58 AM, TheGodParticle/Hari said:

Seems like there is interest in this lens after a long period 

 

Hari, I suspect part of the resurgent interest in this lens is due to the LLL version arriving soon. That, coupled with the relative lack of interesting releases from Leica  for the moment.

[nameBrandon]

On 11/4/2024 at 10:16 PM, mdg1371 said:

Hari, I suspect part of the resurgent interest in this lens is due to the LLL version arriving soon. That, coupled with the relative lack of interesting releases from Leica  for the moment.

Thanks for the tip on that! I haven't yet bothered with LLL lenses but this one is very interesting..

[a.noctilux]

Alternatives for this rare lens exist for many years now from you know who.

Still easily findable.

 

 

[nameBrandon]

1 hour ago, a.noctilux said:

Alternatives for this rare lens exist for many years now from you know who.

Still easily findable.

 

 

I love the ASPH PRE-FLE / 11874, one of my all time favorites, but I can't stand the plastic hood. Curious if LLL will make any improvements there.  The LLL option would be a nice (and hopefully less expensive) compliment to my 35 Lux Close Focus for when I wanted to change it up.

[pedaes]

On 10/26/2024 at 9:59 PM, dubrow77 said:

35mm AA 

Is this a lens for using? Dan Tamarkin has one in his Auction on the 9th with an estimate of $12500 to 19500. It is described as ‘Mint’, but the description says “Some separation in front optics….”

How many of these lenses will have age related issues if properly examined? Whilst most problems will probably not impact images the lens must be of more interest to collectors at prices quoted. If you did have one to use would you wonder if any ‘special rendering’ you see was related to haze, fungus, separation etc or the qualities of the lens. Just a thought.

[01af]

Am 26.10.2024 um 23:57 schrieb dubrow77:

"I've owned and used the normal Summilux-M 35 mm 1:1.4 Asph FLE (2010 version) and the rare and expensive Summilux-M 35 mm 1:1.4 Aspherical that sells for around $12,000-$25,000."

Same here.

.

Am 26.10.2024 um 23:57 schrieb dubrow77:

"I don't want to ruin the unique feeling of owning the Aspherical, but I must say that in practical use, there were no noticeable difference.  [...] This tell you on one side that the Aspherical from 1990 was and is an excellent lens, because the 2010 version FLE with 20 years of improved technological precision didn't beat it."

I second that.

The only difference that sets the Aspherical apart is a fairly laid-back contrast rendition at wide-ish apertures ... say, in the f/1.4 to f/2.4 range. Under the right lighting conditions, this can lead to very smooth and tranquil imaging ... but can easily be emulated in images from other lenses by a small push to the left on your favourite image processor's contrast slider. In terms of sharpness, bokeh, and aperture-related focus shift, the Aspherical and the Asph FLE are almost identical twins—which is quite an achievement for ye olde Aspherical. The Asph non-FLE has slightly nicer bokeh, at the expense of more severe focus shift.

Five-figure prices for the Summilux-M 35 mm Aspherical are foolish Internet hype without substance ... well except maybe the relative rarity. In terms of both technical image quality as well as subjective image beauty, you'd get basically the same results from the Asph FLE. If you can handle the focus shift then the Asph non-FLE might be the nicest of the three aspherical 35 mm Summilux-M lenses due to bokeh.

Edited November 8, 2024 by 01af

[dubrow77]

Thanks @01af and everyone. I currently own the Summilux-M 35 mm 1:1.4 Asph FLE and it looks like there are no gain to change except for holding a vintage lens (with a special price tag...) 

 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M