35mm Asph Summilux, or should I stick with what I have?

cnphoto

cnphoto

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So I maye have enough money soon to buy either a second-hand pre-ASPH 35mm Summicron or 35mm Summilux for my M4-P.

I currently have a VC 28mm F2 Ultron and a VC 50mm F1.5 Asph Nokton. I find the 28mm a touch too wide for my taste and do love the 35mm FOV, and have been experiencing GAS for a Leica lens since I purchased the M4-P. I was hoping that the VC's would stave this for quiet some time, but I really am not that pleased with the 28mm for some reason... the idea an F1.4 standard wide (35mm) is very appealing to me for walkaround street shooting too.

I could sell the 28mm (and maybe perhaps the 35mm) and purchase the 35mm Asph secondhand... or should I get a secondhand pre-Asph? I understand that the Asph lens is sharper, and this does make it a more appealing purchase for me. But then there is the extra cost involved.

I think I could survive for a while with just the 35mm and supplement it in the future with the 75mm Summilux. I think that would be killer low-light combo...

Also, both the VC lenses are as new (i've had them for a month). I am kicking myself a little, and wish I had just waited and bought a Leica 35... now I just need to decide on the Asph or pre and wait for one at a decent price come up.
 
Any fast 35 will do, if the focal length is what matters. Whatever you can afford/whatever comes up first at the right price.

Cheers,

R.
 
Rafael said:
What do you dislike about the 28mm Ultron? That information might help others in giving advice.
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mostly that it is too wide for my taste, which is surprising as I always found 35mm too restricting on a full frame DSLR. Also, I really do like being able to see outside of the framelines when I compose and shoot with the 50mm lens and find the images more pleasing as a result, I can see my options before I shoot. the 28mm fills the entire frame, so 35mm would be perfect for me. I think... also, I seem to get my focus dead-on with the 50mm but it varies with the 28.

flare is a big issue though, as I often shoot bands. so I think that maybe the pre-Asph lux wont do and it's either a F2 Summicron (or a secondhand Ash Summilux if I can find one in my price range).
 
35mm Summilux-M pre-ASPH for band-shots: (all wide open)

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I own three Konica lenses. They don't flare. Konica made two very nice 35mm 1:2.0 lenses. Why don't you also consider the 35mm/1.2 Nokton? For the price of a 'Lux, you could have big & fast and small and almost fast 35mm lenses.
 
maddoc said:
35mm Summilux-M pre-ASPH for band-shots: (all wide open)

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2185177248_20a8b790bf.jpg
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if that's what people mean by 'flares badly' then sign me up... these look great (esp. the B&W image). I think that I may look at getting the pre-Asph then... lower $$$ initially and the images I have seen with it used wide open are appealing. I guess if i find it's sharpness to be a little 'off' i can always pick up a Summicron, probably pre-Asph too.

actually, for the money, i could probably get bot the summilux and summicron secondhand for the cost of a near-new summilux asph lens if i shop around...
 
cnphoto said:
I guess if i find it's sharpness to be a little 'off' i can always pick up a Summicron, probably pre-Asph too.
Click to expand...

I don't think you'll find a relevant difference between the pre-asph summilux and summicron at f2. If you take enough photos at f1.4 and really want them sharp, then I'd get either the 35mm summilux asph, or if you don't mind a slightly larger lens, the CV f1.2 Nokton. If you take only a small percentage at f1.4, the Zeiss 35mm f2 Biogon would be my choice since it handles flare so well. If you like small lenses and shoot a lot of black and white, the lower contrast of the pre-asph summicron or summilux might be to your liking.
 
MikeL said:
I don't think you'll find a relevant difference between the pre-asph summilux and summicron at f2. If you take enough photos at f1.4 and really want them sharp, then I'd get either the 35mm summilux asph, or if you don't mind a slightly larger lens, the CV f1.2 Nokton. If you take only a small percentage at f1.4, the Zeiss 35mm f2 Biogon would be my choice since it handles flare so well. If you like small lenses and shoot a lot of black and white, the lower contrast of the pre-asph summicron or summilux might be to your liking.
Click to expand...

I shoot 99% B&W and F2 is not that much of a problem, so I may look at a pre-asph summicron IV. perhaps an asph summicron, but a smaller lens would be my preference.
 
I actually had both, the 35mm Summilux-M pre-ASPH and 35mm Summicron-M pre-ASPH vs 4, for some time in parallel. I had the same idea, for "sharper" photos, the 35mm Summicron-M might be advantageous and it focuses closer (0.7m compared to 1m for the Summilux). Then I did some comparison shots, tripod-mounted, 1m distance, BW film. I was very surprised to see that the Summilux resolved fine details better (!) at f/2.0 than the Summicron. However the big difference was contrast, much crispier with the Summicron.

In the end I sold the Summicron and kept the Summilux.
 
I would definitely consider the 2/35 biogon seeing as price is a factor in your decision. You can shoot it right into the sun without a hood and it won't flare, and its got an incredibly smooth look that I find myself becoming increasingly addicted to.

Since you mentioned shooting black and white in low light, here's a few from my last roll of neopan 1600:


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I have both lux asph and cron asph. The Lux is really sharp at 1.4, incredible! Sometimes, it does make a difference in low light condition. But it's quite heavy(the chrome one). I intend to sell the cron but its compactness makes me hesitant to jump the cliff. If I have the chance to rearrange my line-up, I will definitely keep the lux asph because it's really the king of 1.4 and perhaps look at biogon or hexanon as a compact backup. I think as a leica camera useryou should have used at least one leica lens. So go for summicron.

www.flickr.com/photos/tongfoto/
 
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