35/1.4 shootout take II

[jonmanjiro]

A while back I did this four way 35mm F1.4 lens shootout, but because I wasn't able to include a Summilux Pre-ASPH or Summilux ASPH in the shootout at the time, I never felt like I completed it. That was finally rectified in Singapore recently. The lenses in this shootout are, in order from left to right in the comparisons below, are:

Leica Summilux 35mm F1.4 ASPH
Leica Summilux 35mm F1.4 ASPH FLE
Voigtlander Nokton 35mm F1.4 SC
Leica Summilux 35mm F1.4 Pre-ASPH (late s/n Made in Germany)

All shots were taken with a Leica M9 in manual mode on a tripod with a cable release. Comparison images below are crude screenshots of the DNG files displayed at 100% but reduced to 1024 pixels wide (click on any comparison image to display the original size). No post processing has been done.


Singapore at night taken with Summilux 35/1.4 ASPH @ F1.4

Singapore at night taken with Summilux 35/1.4 ASPH FLE @ F1.4

Singapore at night taken with Nokton 35/1.4 SC @ F1.4

Singapore at night taken with Summilux 35/1.4 Pre-ASPH @ F1.4

 

[jonmanjiro]

Comparisons of image center

@ F1.4


@ F2


@ F2.8


@ F4


@ F5.6



Comparisons of image top centre

@ F1.4


@ F2


@ F2.8


@ F4


@ F5.6



Comparisons of image bottom right corner

@ F1.4


@ F2


@ F2.8


@ F4


@F5.6

 

[raid]

Thanks for this very useful side by side comparison. I may never be able to buy an ASPH Lux, but the comparison shows me what my pre-asph can do.

 

[jonmanjiro]

I'll also post some close focus shots (distance determined by the Pre-ASPH's minimum focus distance) and daylight infinity shots when I find the time.

 

[goamules]

Great work, thanks!

 

[C. D. Keth]

Could you throw in a quick demonstration of each lens' light falloff? This shows focus falloff well but evenness of illumination is tougher to get a grasp of here.

 

[rogue_designer]

I don't remember nearly that much abberation in the pre-asph wide open... have you had that lens checked?

 

[Jack Sparrow]

Interesting - and not entirely surprising. What is, however, is the pre-asph performance. Didn't think the Nokton would be better. Similar, yes (for obvious reasons).

 

[sanmich]

Thanks for the test Jon
the pre asph looks disappointing.
I would have loved to see what the Nokton 1.2 can say about all this

 

[jonmanjiro]

I don't remember nearly that much abberation in the pre-asph wide open... have you had that lens checked?

I just did a quick flashlight inspection and couldn't see anything wrong with the lens, but it might be an idea to get it checked anyway.

Thanks for the test Jon
the pre asph looks disappointing.
I would have loved to see what the Nokton 1.2 can say about all this

I did have the option to include that lens, but its max. aperture isn't f1.4 so no dice

 

[Nelson Tan]

Thanks for sharing! I have the ASP and didn't think the FLE can be noticeably better, but your test has proven otherwise. Hope you enjoyed your trip to Singapore!

 

[bastian a.]

Thanks a lot for the test!
I still like my pre-asph very much

 

[uhoh7]

the CV looks like a great value, and we just have to wonder if there are some copies of the pre-asph which might give it more of a run for the money

 

[rscheffler]

Thanks for posting this!

I'm waiting for the arrival of my ZM35/1.4... which I think will be similar to the FLE. But I love what i've seen from the pre-ASPH. I think there is an argument for each.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Thank you, Jonmanjiro, for this great comparison.

However, I would also like to see the lenses compared by their linear distortion.

Erik.

 

[rscheffler]

Jon, wondering if the lenses were RF focused or set to the infinity hard stop?

 

[semilog]

Useful comparison. Closely matches my own experience with the ASPH (non-FLE) and pre-ASPH, on slide film.

The pre-ASPH pictures show the "Leica glow" in shovelfuls. And the lens is of course hampered on a digital sensor. It's better on film (all of them, except maybe the FLE, are better on film than this comparison suggests -- particularly from 2/3 out to the edge).

A vivid reminder of just how good the pre-FLE ASPH is.

 

[semilog]

Thanks for sharing! I have the ASP and didn't think the FLE can be noticeably better, but your test has proven otherwise. Hope you enjoyed your trip to Singapore!

I suspect the lenses would be much more closely matched on, say Provia or TMAX100 or ACROS. The FLE is the only lens in the test that's optimized for a digital sensor. Given that, the pre-FLE does amazingly well.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Could you throw in a quick demonstration of each lens' light falloff? This shows focus falloff well but evenness of illumination is tougher to get a grasp of here.

Unfortunately that's no longer possible as three of the lenses and the M9 used in this comparison are in Singapore, and I'm now back in Japan. Maybe another time.

Thank you, Jonmanjiro, for this great comparison.

However, I would also like to see the lenses compared by their linear distortion.

Erik.

Hi Erik, I thought about comparing linear distortion but didn't have enough time. Still, I think its safe to say that the Pre-ASPH has virtually none, the ASPH and ASPH FLE have minor barrel distortion, and the Nokton has a little more barrel distortion. Any comparison photos would just show that.

Jon, wondering if the lenses were RF focused or set to the infinity hard stop?

In the comparison shots above, the lenses were set to the infinity hard stop (which also coincided with infinity on the RF patch for all lenses).

A vivid reminder of just how good the pre-FLE ASPH is.

Agreed. I'd say the similarities between the FLE and pre-FLE ASPH far outweigh the differences... the bokeh comparison shots I took were pretty much indistinguishable. And as for the differences, you have to pixel peep into the far corners of an image to find any areas (coma, sharpness) where the pre-FLE ASPH lags behind. And even then the differences are minimal.

I also agree that shooting these lenses on film would level the playing field. I would have liked to have done so, but due to time constraints (I was only in Singapore for two nights) I opted for the convenience of digital.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Here's one last batch of comparison shots. This is a series of shots taken at the Pre-ASPH's minimum focus distance of 93cm. All lenses were focused on the test target and only the aperture and shutter speed were adjusted. As the shots show, the FLE and Pre-ASPH show minimal focus shift, the ASPH shows a little more, and the Nokton... well, take a look for yourself. Click on any comparison series to display the full size.

Full image @ F1.4 with ASPH

Full image @ F1.4 with FLE

Full image @ F1.4 with Nokton

Full image @ F1.4 with Pre-ASPH

@ F1.4


@ F2


@ F2.8


@ F4


@ F5.6