Leica Summicron 35mm F2 V1 (8 Elements ) vs V4 (King Of Bokeh) ,Which is better?

[mottykytu]

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I love to shoot it on M240

which of these 2 lens will provide better cinematic, film-like rendering ? which lean toward the "cooke look"?

Thanks you !

Edited April 23 by mottykytu

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[horosu]

The 8 elements, without a doubt.

 

[lct]

Depends on what you mean by Cooke look. If it means high contrast, v4 has more of it than v1. If it means more resulution, i would say v1. If it means more saturation, i would say v4. If it means less flare, i would say v4. If it means a look from the 50s or 60s, more generally, i would say v1.

[kraxel69]

i had to search too. 
https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/what-is-the-cooke-look/

[grahamc]

Hello

 

Sorry I'm not familiar with the Cooke look (beyond the links people just posted), but for an analogue/film look my favourite starting point on digital is to use the 35:2v1.  

I also own the v4 KOB but don't generally use it for those purposes..  It can get there, but 8e is the perfect start 

[mottykytu]

5 hours ago, grahamc said:

Hello

 

Sorry I'm not familiar with the Cooke look (beyond the links people just posted), but for an analogue/film look my favourite starting point on digital is to use the 35:2v1.  

I also own the v4 KOB but don't generally use it for those purposes..  It can get there, but 8e is the perfect start 

 

15 hours ago, horosu said:

The 8 elements, without a doubt.

 

Thanks guys, any reason the V1 8 Elements better than V4 for film/cinematic look ?

[Fleabag]

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It's not a 35, but if you're after the "Cooke look", the Light Lens Lab Speed Panchro 50mm might be interesting to you. They also make a replica of the 35 8E, which is highly regarded and doesn't brake the bank.

[mottykytu]

6 minutes ago, Fleabag said:

It's not a 35, but if you're after the "Cooke look", the Light Lens Lab Speed Panchro 50mm might be interesting to you. They also make a replica of the 35 8E, which is highly regarded and doesn't brake the bank.

I know about the LLL speed Panchro and also the 8E , the problems is that they have QC issues and many report that they have to sent back the lens to service and their communication with buyer is not good. (Since they are from china)

[bdjackson]

I’ve had two of the LLL 35mm f2s and both were well built and had good image quality. Much better build than the three copies I’ve been through of the Leica 35 Summicron V4, which I love too but have always had build issues with - mostly the optic housing becoming loose over time. Saying that I wouldn’t want to pay more than £600 for the LLL.
 

Have you considered the 40mm Summicron, similar look to the V4 but built more robustly? Only focuses down to 0.8m though. 

Edited April 24 by bdjackson

[Bart D]

9 hours ago, mottykytu said:

I know about the LLL speed Panchro and also the 8E , the problems is that they have QC issues and many report that they have to sent back the lens to service and their communication with buyer is not good. (Since they are from china)

Luckily Leica never has Quality Control issues, and their communication is spotless 😇

[lct]

The German variant of the Summicron 35/2 v4 has no build issues AFAIK. Mine looks almost as robust as my v1, contrary to the Canadian variant of the v4 i bought new in the 80s. I say "almost" given the plastic focus tab of the German v4, but the German Summilux 35/1.4 v2 has also a plastic focus tab to be honest.

[mottykytu]

20 hours ago, bdjackson said:

I’ve had two of the LLL 35mm f2s and both were well built and had good image quality. Much better build than the three copies I’ve been through of the Leica 35 Summicron V4, which I love too but have always had build issues with - mostly the optic housing becoming loose over time. Saying that I wouldn’t want to pay more than £600 for the LLL.
 

Have you considered the 40mm Summicron, similar look to the V4 but built more robustly? Only focuses down to 0.8m though. 

You got the chrome version or black paint version of the lll 8 elements ?

[hansvons]

On 4/23/2025 at 2:20 PM, mottykytu said:

which lean toward the "cooke look"?

None of them, as they render pretty flat for a 35mm.

[mottykytu]

2 hours ago, hansvons said:

None of them, as they render pretty flat for a 35mm.

Which will you recommend for a M mount "Cooke look" that from Leica and Third Party ? (prefer 35mm, may be 50mm)

[hansvons]

14 hours ago, mottykytu said:

Which will you recommend for a M mount "Cooke look" that from Leica and Third Party ?

This isn’t helpful but it might provide you some insights. When I write about flatness and dimensionality, I always refer to a medium close-up shot in a natural environment with stuff behind and around the person.

The Leica lens I owned that resembled most of my Cooke 20-100 lens (the Cooke classic where it all started; it was used in Apocalypse Now and many other classics like Stalker etc.) in terms of dimensionality is the Elmarit 24-90 SL. However, regarding anything else (flare, bokeh, you name it) it‘s a modern-drawing lens.

The only M lens I know that renders highly dimensional is the Voigtlander 35mm Color Skopar. It also vignettes quite a lot and flares in a modern way. I sold it because it was too much in my face.

I‘m not an M lens expert. I only own 4 M lenses and don’t plan on extending my collection (3x 35mm, one 50mm). The reason why I like my 35mm Summicron ASPH so much is its ability to render relatively flat images that still have some dimensionality in it. The precursor is the so-called King of Bokeh, the V4 35mm Summicron.

You can’t go wrong with either lens. However, you won’t get the "Cooke look" but the classic Leica look. IMO, only classic Cookes give you the Cooke look, with the 18-100 the most notable lens in that regard. But it weights over 5 kilos, has a 19cm front diameter (if I recall correctly) and suits only APS-C. 

[hansvons]

11 hours ago, Al Brown said:

"cinematic

Love your quote unquote. "Cinematic" is bollocks 😊. 

[Tessar.]

You should probably go to somewhere like flickr and look at all the Leica M groups (preferably the ones with upwards of 10K images posted) and scroll through and favourite all the ones that match your interpretation of the Cooke look or which appear to be cinematic to you.  Then go and check the exif and/or comments and tags and narrow down from there.  

You might be surprised at what you end up with, especially as any "look" can be photographer dependent, rather than a lens/camera/medium dependency.

Edited April 27 by Tessar.
grammar