how good is the 40 mm 2.8 sonnar

My initial impressions from handling this lens wasn't great, but the pictures produced surpassed my expectations about it. I've grown to like it a lot more now. Not exactly a common lens though.

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It's VERYYY Good!
I have many 35's and bought this one for a different look ..... but stopped down it is very difficult to put the resultls apart from a 35mm summicron IV or the newer summarit.
It is a bit gentler wide open than the leicas and shows the sonnar character at 2,8....
Build quality is exceptional good too .... a beauty on a chrome camera.
 
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The colors are very saturated compared to the sc 40mm Nokton and to the rigid 50mm Summicron, a bit too much at times for me. And while the Sonnar is not as immediately razor sharp (at least until 5.6 or 8) as the Nokton, the transitions from in-focus subjects to backgrounds and peripheral objects are much more gracefully handled. The Sonnar has more character than the 40mm Summicron. It's really a classic lens.
 
Similar or slightly better sharpness than the 40/2 Summicron (except the far corners) plus less tendency to flare thanks to the HFT coating and Sonnar vs. Gauss design. Only limitation is the modest f/2.8 speed, plenty for most situations.
 
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Picture of both versions:

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I've grown to like it a lot more now. Not exactly a common lens though.
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Yes this is the lens' major drawback its quite hard to find. I predict it will become a bit of a collectors lens being even rarer (Especially Black ones) than than the 40mm f2.8 Elmarit which fetches 2-4000 USD.

The colors are very saturated compared to the sc 40mm Nokton and to the rigid 50mm Summicron, a bit too much at times for me. And while the Sonnar is not as immediately razor sharp (at least until 5.6 or 8) as the Nokton, the transitions from in-focus subjects to backgrounds and peripheral objects are much more gracefully handled. The Sonnar has more character than the 40mm Summicron. It's really a classic lens.
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Yes the colours are more saturated compared with the 40mm Summicron so too does it have greater contrast but this is often a trait of Zeiss lenses when comparing with older Leica ones. I would disagree however that it has more character than the 40mm Summicron, different yes, but the 40mm Summicron has a similar character to the 35mm v4 Summicron and thats never criticized for its lack of personality.

Similar or slightly better sharpness than the 40/2 Summicron (except the far corners) plus less tendency to flare thanks to the HFT coating and Sonar vs. Gauss design. Only limitation is the modest f/2.8 speed, plenty for most situations.
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I agree that the Sonnar is more flare resistant than the 70's 40mm Summicron but at f2.8 the Summicron is the better lens. Edge sharpness over the Sonnar at 2.8 is quite noticeable.

My major concern with this lens is the few examples I have handled and my own example wasnt correctly calibrated for minimum focus from the factory, and initially one may think its close range performance isnt that great but once reset it does prove itself to be a great lens.

A bit sentimental regarding the lens as I had been using the Rollei 35S and like the sweetness very much.
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Its true the RF version of this lens has its ancestry from the Rollei 35S "but" in optical terms one should liken it to the much later Rollei 35S with the hotshoes on top of the camera. Before trying the RF version I just assumed that I could judge its qualities from experiences with my older Rollei 35's but having tried it I was surprised at the greater contrast, colour and overall 3D impact I was able to see from the newer RF version. Like Leicas evolution of its lenses this is truly a modern version of this classic 70's lens.
 
It's definetely my favourite standard lens! It's build like a tank and the optics are nothing but classic. I compared it to the Summicron 40. Yes its a little bit slower, but the light meter showed only half a step difference between those lenses (better transmission cause of HFT?). It's less prone to flare and the bokeh is wonderful. The Summicron is sharper in the corners, but how uses a Sonnar knows what the pictures have to look like ...
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Have a look on the MTF and you see why the Sonnar is weak inthe corners, but keep in mind that showes the MFT at 2.8
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If I take just one lens this is the one, for reasons that have already been given by others. A German shop was selling them off via internet about a year and a half ago for 250 euro's, it was definitely worth that....
 
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