Leica 35mm (Help)

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Underaglassbell

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Greets,
I'm new to the group and currently have just the one Rangfinder (Xpan II):



Hasselblad Xpan II
45mm
35mm E6 EIR (Aerochrome


I am expecting the arrival of my second RF and first Leica (M7) this Friday.
- I only had enough pennies to purchase the body, so It's going to be a little bitter-sweet.

In a couple of weeks time I intend on buying my first lens, the Zeiss C Sonnar T* 50/1.5

I would however, also like to get a 35mm; - a Leica 35mm lens.
But I'm confused by the various versions and whatnot.
- Would be looking for one that has really nice Bokeh, Sharp - relatively small/compact and under f2.8

Which of the Leica 35mm Lenses (and I appreciate this is subjective, and apologies if it is a recurring question) is best to go for.
- I like to shoot, Colour, Slide and B&W so I'd like one that works well in colour as well as B&W.

So it comes down to the f1.4 vs f2 right? But what about preASPH, ASPH, 6-bit, non-6-bit. I find it all, well, confusing. :bang: heh



Kind Regards
DaN
 
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Hi Dan,

Don't overlook the 35mm ZM Biogon f2, Nokton f1.2, Hexanon-m f2, UC-Hexanon f2 ltm, ...

Regards,
RLouzan
 
Don't worry about it- any Leica 35mm lens is going to be pretty nice. I'd go for a Summicron (f2) of just about any vintage, provided the condition and price are right. 6-bit coding refers to a code on the lens mount comprised of 6 spots of white and black paint. The digital M8 and M8.2 bodies use this code to identify which lens is mounted to the body- otherwise it has no bearing on anything. Any M lens, with or without the 6-bit code will mount on and work properly with any M body. As for ASPH, the latest generation of Leica lenses are almost all ASPH designs. They are damn sharp, and are excellent lenses, but some folks prefer the look of the older designs. I'd suggest you not worry about it either way for now- just find a good deal on a clean lens and enjoy.
 
V4 Summicron is supposedly legendary. Some say you can not tell the difference between the v4 and the V3. With current film at 1600 no need to go for the f1.4. Just finished a project with IS0 400 shot in the negative range on the meter with no problem. If you think that you will some day want the M9 you might want to go for the modern coded Summicron 35mm.
 
Consider any 35mm Summicron, particularly version III - nice example running $800 these days. Beautiful bokeh, compact, reasonably priced sleeper.

The Hexanon-m f2 are nice but over-priced. Zeiss 35 big tin-like construction, but nice IQ. The VC 35s too much barrel distortion.
 
Right. Back to your question: you do not need to concern yourself with 6-bit vs. non-6-bit, this is important for M8 and M9 users. Any non-6-bit lens is fine with the M7, a 6-bit lens is more expensive but the lenses are optically identical.

The ASPH lenses have one or more aspherical lens surfaces, to optimise sharpness. A setback is that they are more expensive and generally bigger due to different lens design.

In short, unless you have money too much (in which case you can have my PayPal account info): get yourself a pre-ASPH non-6-bit lens.

I shoot M-Hexanons and own the 35mm L-Hexanon 35/2.0 (screw mount lens, 1996) which I can recommend, but it's hard to find outside Japan (where I have never been, I just got lucky).

The UC-Hexanon is a small M-mount lens with focus tab that equals the 35/2.0 pre-ASPH Summicron, it is sharper than the Summi when shot wide open, by 5.6 the Summi has the upper hand again. They show up in the Classifieds from time to time, but are always gone in 24 hours.

Can't say anything on the Leitz and Zeiss lenses, but they better be pretty sweet to top the Hexes. At least, the Hexes are the better built lenses, as tight as a sixties-era Summicron.

Oh, and welcome to the forum! 😀
 
Take a look at the Zeiss Biogon 35mm, this is a stelar lens albeit not the smallest. It's a great value and is considered by many to be as good as the Summicron.
 
Just had a quick browse through some uploads on flickr with the 35mm Summicron tags, and the 35mm Summicron looks brilliant.

As noted, it does seem to fit the requirements 🙂

Is there anyway of knowing (minus the listing details on eBay etcetera) if a lens is V3, V4 and so on?
 
Underaglassbell said:
Hah, thanks!
And indeed for the advice!

After checking some of the images on flickr for the 35mm Summicron; I noticed the mention of a IV version as-well, or should this be avoided (so to speak) in-view of the others mentioned already?


DaN
Click to expand...

There's a premium on ver4 these days. It has a strong following which is keeping the market thin and the prices high.
 
Underaglassbell said:
Just had a quick browse through some uploads on flickr with the 35mm Summicron tags, and the 35mm Summicron looks brilliant.
Click to expand...

Thanks - the Cron is the standard by which all other pretenders are judged. ebay frequently make mistakes on the versions. I can discern the diff by looking but a new person may be confounded. If your into Leicas a good investment is the Hove Leica Pocket Book. BTM line is to check the serial numbers in addition to a foto.

Welcome aboard!
 
I got my canon 2.0 for $375 from a fellow rff'r. not perfect but darned nice. leaves me more money for something else. when I had a CL, I often used its cron c on my M6 or M4. also a lovely and well-priced little lens. my canon renders as nicely as did the canadian cron I used to own, but I actually like the way the canon handles far better.

of course, if money isn't an object, by all means buy yourself the v3 or v4. frankly, I'd rather have the extra money to spend on travel to places where I can use the glass to shoot images of strange and exotic local wildlife (I mean urban humans in their natural habitat).

35mmdelux said:
Canon f/2.0 LTM (Black) summicron-quality $450-$550. Or consider the C-Summicron 40mm, $300. Both excellent and affordable glass.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks all for the replies and indeed welcome! 😀

I found a couple of lenses on eBay, if someone could be so kind as to advise the Version, as already noted being new to Leica, I (yet?)can't tell..

1

2

I've only checked on eBay at the moment, there didn't seem to be that many options avail. Ideally would like a Silver version, but if the lens is in great condition and price is good, then black is obviously fine.

At another ask, if someone could possibly throw a couple of links to listings/sales (doesn't have to be eBay, but must Ship to the UK) for the V3/V4 that would also be much appreciated.

Regards
DaN
 
robklurfield said:
I got my canon 2.0 for $375 from a fellow rff'r. not perfect but darned nice. leaves me more money for something else. when I had a CL, I often used its cron c on my M6 or M4. also a lovely and well-priced little lens. my canon renders as nicely as did the canadian cron I used to own, but I actually like the way the canon handles far better.
Click to expand...

I did try to look a that the Canon's; but they seem hard to come by, more so in good condition. Initially I had a plan to get the Canon 50mm 1.8 LTM, but couldn't fine one anywhere (allot of people have said to look at some of the Canon ranges), but most who have one don't perhaps realise they that aren't easy to come by? I don't know, but I did look and had very little luck, so I opted to look elsewhere and found the Zeiss ZM 50mm 1.5 *T

35mm; Well naturally I would like to save some pennies to put towards trips next year, but I have got my heart set on Leica Glass, and in-view of aforementioned issues with finding Canon Glass, I'd rather not go down that path..

I have a trip booked for Amsterdam, so at least i'll get to use the Leica 35mm somewhere new, even if slightly Worse for Wear Finically speaking 🙂
 
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