25 & 35mm Biogon - Am I mad?

[northpole]

I've recently taken the head staggers and bought firstly a 35mm Biogon for my M7 and without having time to use this I have this evening bought through e-bay a 25mm Biogon. So, question is, have I been too impetuous in rushing these through, or do you think I would have been better served hanging on and buying Leica 24 & 35mm? Incidentally, I did look at a black 35mm ASPH and a chrome 35mm Mk IV - the handling of the chrome was magical, yet I still went with the Biogon. Certifiable or sane on Halloween night?!! All comments most welcome - albeit abit after the event...:angel: Peter

 

[cmogi10]

I went with the Biogon over the Cron as well, nothing wrong with that 🙂

 

[oscroft]

Sounds like you've got yourself two excellent lenses there - hope you enjoy them 😀

 

[rogue_designer]

Sane enough. I can detect no measurable difference in image quality between the zeiss and the leica optics -what I did see (or thought I saw) was certainly not in leica's favor.

It comes down mostly to handling between the two - how they feel, whether the size difference is of any concern to you.

 

[BigSteveG]

Doesn't seem like to many people are snapping up Leica's 24mm....'though Erwin seems to love it.....don't own either by the way....I make do w/ a CV 25mm

 

[mfogiel]

I haven't tried Leica's equivalents, but these two are my most used lenses, and, man, what lenses they are ! They both peak out in performance between f 2.8 and f4.0 ! If you shoot them at f4.0 with a good film and fast shutter time, you will see things that even Rutger Hauer coudn't see in the Blade Runner !!!

 

[northpole]

Many thanks for the encouraging feedback - sanity is almost within reach - particularly as I have managed to secure the 25/28mm Zeiss viewfinder. Peter

 

[thomasw_]

Which camera body do you use? If you have a .58 VF, you will be fine just using the whole VF to approximate the 25mm framelines.

 

[back alley]

i also have the 25 and 35 zm lenses and they are a treat!
well made, i like the little bump focus aid tho i don't always use it.
they are sharp and comfortable on my zeiss ikon.

the zeiss finder is amazing compared to anything i have ever looked through before.

 

[northpole]

thomasw_

I have a chrome M7 with .72 viewfinder, so I had no choice but to try and acquire the viewfinder attachment - otherwise I would be left guessing a bit - not such a problem for digital but Provia isn't so forgiving!

A bit leftfield and perhaps better suited to another thread, but speaking of Provia, have any Biogon users found the Zeiss optics to be particularly well suited to another specific film type (I'll be sticking with colour slide film for the moment!).

Peter

 

[mfogiel]

If you use slides, I find Astia to be the most tolerant, best scanning and finest grained film, though not as sharp as Velvia or Provia. If you place people in your shots, forget the slides altogether and go to Reala or Portra directly.

 

[jjovin]

You can still get Kodachrome Pro. at B&H.
That is my all time favorite film if you can put up with a few weeks delay for developing.
Otherwise, Kodak E100G, Fuji Astia or Provia 100. I prefer Kodak and Astia for portraits
and Provia for nature. Velvia for me is a special purpase film and it is not for photographs of people.
I also have a Biogon 35 and I think you could not do better optically than that.
Good luck,
Zoran

 

[achi4]

I very recently purchased a 25mm with bajonet for use on M8 from Zeiss Germany because Leica 24mm is unobtainable here. Importer has none and could not specify a date.
The Zeiss lens is wonderful and the focus on my m8 is spot on.So I cancelled the Leica.

 

[triplefinger]

good purchase, the 25 is an EPIC lens, and the 35 is great as well.

 

[Hacker]

Doesn't seem like to many people are snapping up Leica's 24mm....'though Erwin seems to love it.....don't own either by the way....I make do w/ a CV 25mm

I'm trying to find a new 24 ASPH for my M8, but this has been impossible to find! In the end, I had to get the ZM25 as a temporary measure. I had to buy the hood (extra $$ and the wrong one came, so I had pay $$ for another one which is now with the Paypal Resolution Center), change the flange (extra $$), get the flange milled and coded (extra $$) and it is a royal PITA all things added up.

I thought that the ZM25 (with the ZM15, ZM85 and the Sonnar-C) are the only Zeiss lenses that are the world leaders, meaning, best in class. Been trying to find the Leica 28 Cron, so same story, but posts and samples that I have seen of the ZM28 have not been impressive at all so I'm holding back.

Is this the same for the ZM35? Samples? Links?

 

[thomasw_]

With the ZM 35 and 25, I have use these two slide films and have had some fine results: Velvia 50 and Kodachrome 64. The kodachrome 64 is my favourite...but the wait times for processing are badass.

If you want to see the incredible resolving qualities of these lenses with BW film, then give Adox CMS 20 a try.....it is amazing. Freestyle sells it and its developer. Give it a whirl, you won't regret it🙂

 

[thomasw_]

Is this the same for the ZM35? Samples? Links?

M-mount group on flickr..... You are looking to obtain the finest all-round 35 that i have used.

 

[splitimageview]

I just recently picked up a Biogon 35, and liked it so much I sold my 35 Cron pre-asph. It didn't hurt that the pre-asph fetched $1625 on the bay from a hong kong buyer, and the Biogon was less than half of that.

 

[Rayt]

The 25mm and the 35mm are the stars of the ZM line.

 

[back alley]

The 25mm and the 35mm are the stars of the ZM line.

and the 50/1.5 sonnar is a great character actor😉