Canon LTM Canon 35mm f1.5

[Alex1416]

I don't think i found any previous threads about this lens so i thought it might be nice to try to start one.

I also need everyone's help convincing myself that this lens (and my Summicron 40mm) are more than enough reason not to spend double the price for an old Leica Summilux. I think the only 2 things that keep attracting me to the Summilux are the small form factor, and the obvious popularity of the lens.

I even got rid of a Summicron 35 ASPH i owned because it wasn't giving me the same feelings sometimes when reviewing the images of my family. I did not feel the need to keep such an expensive lens knowing that there are other alternatives such as the new Ultron 35/2 that arguably renders equal results.

But what keeps bringing me back to attaching this lens to most of my cameras is the character. That vintage bokeh and soft glow, something about it, just shines in my eyes. I guess i am biased towards vintage lenses and their rendering, which is why i have been considering a vintage Summilux 35. However, i think some images speak for themselves on why this lens is a keeper.

Let me know what you guys think 🙂


Leica M240 + Canon 35mm f/1.5 LTM by Alex Aguilera, on Flickr

Leica M240 + Canon 35mm F1.5 LTM by Alex Aguilera, on Flickr

Leica M240 + Canon 35mm F1.5 LTM by Alex Aguilera, on Flickr

Leica M240 + Canon 35mm f1.5 by Alex Aguilera, on Flickr

 

[xayraa33]

It is a great fast lens !

It is the lens on my bottomloader Canon in my avatar.

 

[Alex1416]

It is a great fast lens !

It is the lens on my bottomloader Canon in my avatar.

Yes it never stops surprising me with the results!
And I see you have the original hood for it? I can't seem to find an alternative for it since they are so rare and expensive. The generic threaded hoods make the lens vignette very badly.

 

[KEVIN-XU 愛 forever]

Canon 35mm f1.5 is an underrated high-speed lens. And it's a rare lens too. I adore its rendering. The vintage bokeh is Canon's high-speed LTM lenses signature. I have to say that it's quite sharp when wide open. In my opinion, it's better than Summilux 35 1.4 pre-asph.

Bali island-unforgettable memory by Kevin-Xu, on Flickr


Bali island-unforgettable memory by Kevin-Xu, on Flickr

All of the photos below shoot at f/1.5 wide open.

Bali island-unforgettable memory(Kevin & Amiya) by Kevin-Xu, on Flickr

 

[sanmich]

I had one for a short time.
I was impressed by it's sharpness.
But its tendency to flare like crazy, (huge blobs completely washed out over the picture)
made me sell it.

 

[xayraa33]

Yes it never stops surprising me with the results!
And I see you have the original hood for it? I can't seem to find an alternative for it since they are so rare and expensive. The generic threaded hoods make the lens vignette very badly.

Not all generic lens hoods will cause vignetting with this fast 35mm lens.

Try out some Vivitar labeled lens hoods and some Canonet and Yashica lens hoods and you may find ones that work very well at a fraction of the cost of an original lens hood for this lens.

 

[raid]

I have the Canon 1.5 trio.
35/1.5: works very well with digital cameras.
50/1.5: an under rated lens.
85/1.5: a great lens

 

[Alex1416]

Thank you guys so much for the input. I feel much better knowing that this great solid lens competes well against the Summilux pre-asph. It might not be as compact and light as it's Leica counterpart, but it makes up for it beautiful image quality with tons of character. I was also surprised when I first received the lens that it performs excellent wide open. It's sharp, with non of that vintage glow and softness that most fast lenses of the time had wide open.
The only glow the lens gives is when the subject is very brightly lit. You can see some glow on my daughter's right hand on the B&W shot of the girls with their grandmother. She was being hit with strong sunlight while the other 2 weren't. Also I have yet to get a washed out image due to flaring. Even with direct sunlight in the background like the image of the girls in their dresses, or Kevin's images with the strong sun in the back, it handles very well.

Here's one of my recent favorites on film.Leica M6 + Canon 35mm f1.5 + Tmax 400 by Alex Aguilera, on Flickr