Which 35mm M lens?

[mrtoml]

I am in the market for another 35mm M mount lens. I think I have my heart set on the Zeiss Distagon 35/1.4 (around £1000 used).

Any others I should be looking at? It will be a general purpose lens.

I already have a 7Artisans 35mm which is OK if you like its character, but not always the best all rounder.

 

[Ccoppola82]

Depends on the budget and what you value in a lens.

Do you NEED a 1.4? If not, maybe a summicron or ultron

If you do need a 1.4 and want Leica or zeiss…I love my FLE but it’s expensive. If I did not have the FLE, I would have bought the 35mm 1.5 voigtlander over the Zeiss. The Zeiss is just too big to carry where I want to carry a Leica.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

I am in the market for another 35mm M mount lens. I think I have my heart set on the Zeiss Distagon 35/1.4 (around £1000 used). ...

I've owned the Distagon for years – it's one of the sharpest lenses in my bag. I also have the CV f/2, Ultron, which is IMHO almost indistinguishable from the Asph Summicron. Cost notwithstanding, both are excellent choises.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

Leica M-P 240, Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 Distagon ZM


Leica M11-P, Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 Distagon ZM

 

[Joerg]

The Zeiss 35/2 is fantastic. Don’t use my 35-1.4 asph much anymore.

 

[trix4ever]

It might seem slow but it’s sharp wide open, I recommend the C-Biogon 35/2.8, tiny and renders beautifully. I've had wide aperture 35mm lenses and never used them wide open, so this has become my everyday carry lens. No flare, no distortion, tiny.

 

[MP Guy]

Distagon. Hands down.

Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 ZM vs. Leica Summilux FLE: Why the Distagon still wins on the M11

Read our in‑depth review of the Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 ZM vs. Leica Summilux FLE: Why the Distagon still wins on the M11. We cover sharpness, bokeh, real world performance and more.

www.purerangefinder.com

 

[trix4ever]

M11 top speed 1/16000
M10. M240 top speed 1/4000

At f1.4 in normal daylight you're going to be needing an ND filter. I find it a constant pain in the bum with my M240, which is why I often use fast M lenses on my SL2-S.

Just something to bear in mind, you never mentioned which cameras you'll be putting this lens on.

Edit, just saw on your 21mm thread you mention the M10 and M10m, both have a top speed of 1/4000.

 

[Ororaro]

I’ve instructed my wife to stitch a Summicron 35mm Version 1 into my chest when I die, and to lay my body on a carpet of prosciutto inside the coffin, to scatter a few American dad DVDs and include a bottle of wine.
So yes, I think you should try that Summicron V1.

 

[Richard G]

I’m with TriXforever. The silver C Biogon is terrific. Lighter than a silver Summicron that’s for sure. I don’t need f1.4 (or f2) and prefer the weight and compactness of 2.8 aperture lenses.

 

[Freakscene]

I am in the market for another 35mm M mount lens. I think I have my heart set on the Zeiss Distagon 35/1.4 (around £1000 used).

Any others I should be looking at? It will be a general purpose lens.

I already have a 7Artisans 35mm which is OK if you like its character, but not always the best all rounder.

Unless you are Nocti-looney, get the ZM 1.4. It is amazing.

 

[mrtoml]

Thanks for all your replies. Plenty of food for thought. I am still leaning towards the distagon. I would like a sharp, fast 35mm and it gets glowing reviews.

I use filters on the monochrom so shutter speed is not an issue. And compared with the rig I usually carry the size of the lens is also not an issue.

OTOH I stupidly sold my Zeiss 35/2.8 a while ago. Which was a mistake. I may well get another small 35mm at some point in the future.

 

[Godfrey]

I've had several different 35mm lenses in LTM and M-Mount over the decades. I found a nice Leica Summilux 35mm f/1.4 pre-ASPH about a decade ago at a reasonable price ... and it's been the 35mm lens I have used more than any other.

Surprised - Sunnyvale 2015
Leica M-P typ 240 + Summilux 35mm f/1.4 (v2)
ISO 200 @ f/2 @ 1/90​

It's not a perfect lens, it's an original Mandler design. That's better than perfect, to me. 🙂

G

 

[Dogman]

I have both the ƒ/2 and the ƒ/2.8 Zeiss 35mm lenses. The beauty of the Zeiss lenses, to me anyway, is the illusion of depth in their shots. I feel I'm looking into the photograph. That's been present in all the Zeiss lenses I've ever used from the M-mounts to Nikon F-mounts. For my purposes, the 35/2 is a great do-everything 35mm, it's sharp and has character. The 35/2.8 just has that "look" of depth I can't explain but dearly love. Plus it's sharp and small. I've never used or had any desire for the ƒ/1.4 Zeiss. While it has the reputation of being the sharpest, I prefer smaller lenses. The small Voigtländer 35/1.4 Nokton or the honking big Voigtländer 35/1.2 Nokton are in reserve if something faster than ƒ/2 is ever desired.





...........................................

 

[das]

Obviously, the UC Hexanon! 🙂.

 

[Richard G]

I have both the ƒ/2 and the ƒ/2.8 Zeiss 35mm lenses. The beauty of the Zeiss lenses, to me anyway, is the illusion of depth in their shots. I feel I'm looking into the photograph. That's been present in all the Zeiss lenses I've ever used from the M-mounts to Nikon F-mounts. For my purposes, the 35/2 is a great do-everything 35mm, it's sharp and has character. The 35/2.8 just has that "look" of depth I can't explain but dearly love. Plus it's sharp and small. I've never used or had any desire for the ƒ/1.4 Zeiss. While it has the reputation of being the sharpest, I prefer smaller lenses. The small Voigtländer 35/1.4 Nokton or the honking big Voigtländer 35/1.2 Nokton are in reserve if something faster than ƒ/2 is ever desired.





...........................................

I see this with the ZM C Sonnar 50 very obviously but didn't think of it with the 35 2.8, but I think this is exactly right. Thank you. I looked at a few recent ones on the Monochrom with a deep yellow filter and it is there, but I went looking for this one shot at f2.8 on my M2 with my first roll of Kodak EG100 slide film:




M2 ZM Biogon C f2.8 Kodak EG100 by Richard, on Flickr

But of course it is so much about depth of field and lighting. Still I can recall another photo of a young woman helping a man load a truck in a family business. They are 50 feet away but have volume. I'll look for that one. I took it striding past the lane with camera at thigh level 1/250s and caught a sharp picture, my second pass setting it up. Many years ago...

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I find fast lenses been lifeless on digital bw.
It is hard to predict which one will be lees so.
I have funny feeling 35 2.8 ZM will do it better for everyday.

Dialing ZM 1/3 aperture clicks is torture🙂

 

[Richard G]

I find fast lenses been lifeless on digital bw.
It is hard to predict which one will be lees so.
I have funny feeling 35 2.8 ZM will do it better for everyday.

Dialing ZM 1/3 aperture clicks is torture🙂

Amen to that. But while I find it annoying I have largely ignored it. I’m more likely to change shutter speed anyway. Shooting automatic it works with fixed aperture on M9. Shooting manual I use 5.6 most of the time anyway and ignore the meter diodes.

 

[ellisson]

The version 3 or 4 Voigtlander 35mm f1.2 and the Leica M 35 Summilux asph FLE 1.4 version II would be alternatives to the Zeiss ZM 35mm f1.4 lens. But I sense that it's the Zeiss ZM 35 f1.4 lens that you really want if your heart is set on that one. You can also buy one of the smaller Zeiss lenses like the C Biogen 35 2.8 or alternatively one of the smaller voigtlander 35mm lenses when you want something different. So maybe it's a two lens solution!

 

[santino]

The ZM 35mm 1.4 has allegedly the best build quality of the ZM 35mm Zeiss‘.
While the f2 was optically excellent, it developed the dreaded wobble and was rather a large lens for that aperture.
I‘m not especially familiar with recent Leica lenses but the older ones were flawless (at least mechanically, with a few exceptions).

I agree with Kofe, 1/3 aperture clicks are a bit of a pain…