Is $1,400 a good price for a used 28MM Elmarit ASPH?

[Ko.Fe.]

And there is a superb Zeiss lens with all the pop and the contrast in the world for one hell of a lot less.

I buy Leica stuff for Leica characteristics. Printing is so much easier.

Good reminder. The only ZM lens I have interest left. Despite Zeiss wobble, which was something like $300 to fix by Zeiss.

 

[Huss]

I can always add contrast in post. Can’t take it away.

That contrast slider in post moves both ways.

 

[Huss]

Yes, but the Zeiss disengages focus at 0.7m, needs an expensive custom 6-bit coding to get it to work at its best, and it gets you thinking it hardly flares at all until you get reflections off the chrome hood bayonet and it flares like crazy.
..

Marty

I just don't understand what Cosina was thinking making their Voigtlander and Zeiss lenses with chrome hood bayonet mounts.
:bang:

 

[santino]

Thanks everyone. Other than the lens hood, I didn’t know there were small differences between the first and second generation ASPH. Seems to me $1,400 is a good price, though one could find for a bit less (though probably not in Japan...)

Maybe consider the pre asph? It isn‘t that small but K got mine for 750 already 6 bit coded with hood and leather pouch. A stellar performer.

 

[Beemermark]

Thanks everyone. Other than the lens hood, I didn’t know there were small differences between the first and second generation ASPH. Seems to me $1,400 is a good price, though one could find for a bit less (though probably not in Japan...)

I might have missed it but what is the difference between the two ASPH versions (didn't know there were two versions). I have the V4 and like it so much I've had it for decades. But I like the small form factor of the ASPH.

 

[Tim Gray]

The 28/2, 28/2.8, and 35/2 were all updated a few years ago. They all got the metal screw in hoods. The 28/2 design was apparently tweaked a tiny amount so it performs better in the corners for digital. I don’t know if that is true for the other two lenses.

 

[Huss]

The 28/2, 28/2.8, and 35/2 were all updated a few years ago. They all got the metal screw in hoods. The 28/2 design was apparently tweaked a tiny amount so it performs better in the corners for digital. I don’t know if that is true for the other two lenses.

I'm wondering if there are any actual optical differences, or this was just done to boost sales.

Similar thing to when Leica updated the Summarit 35 and 50, changing them from 2.5 to 2.4 lenses. Doubt anything was actually changed apart from the type on the front of the lens, and of course the new lens hoods/styling.

 

[Tim Gray]

Agreed. Though the 28/2 did get some performance tweaks for sure. My brief tests mirror those I’ve read online. Corners are better on digital.

 

[james.liam]

The 28 Summicron underwent more significant "tweaking" than the Elmarit and far more than the 35 Summicron ASPH in order to perform properly on the SL. IIRC, improved corner performance on the M as well, with the Elmarit gaining in corner performance at the expense of some central sharpness. The hoods on all are improvements in function and aesthetics, with the 28 Elmarit & 35 Summicron sharing the same one. It is however, a bit too tong for the 28.

 

[Freakscene]

The new construction of the 28 Elmarit ASPH (11677) also makes the lens less likely to break by being handled by the hood than the 11606. The old one is very susceptible to being broken internally because of the way the hood and lens body attach.

The optical tweaking implemented in the 11677 is as substantial as the change in the Summicron, particularly in the corners on the M10M, where you really see it.

Marty

 

[Beemermark]

So I was watching an ebay 28 Elmarit ASPH (from a private indiviual) that just sold for a little over $1400, to answer the OP.

I appreciate people educating me on the difference between the two versions of the ASPH. On the older version does the hood screw on the outer barrel rather than the lens' filter threads? And if it does, can you get an after market 39mm WA hood that won't damage the lens? Maybe I'll just stick with my old tried and true V4. From everything I've read there isn't much difference in the end results. I just liked the ASPH because of the small size.

 

[Freakscene]

So I was watching an ebay 28 Elmarit ASPH (from a private indiviual) that just sold for a little over $1400, to answer the OP.

I appreciate people educating me on the difference between the two versions of the ASPH. On the older version does the hood screw on the outer barrel rather than the lens' filter threads? And if it does, can you get an after market 39mm WA hood that won't damage the lens? Maybe I'll just stick with my old tried and true V4. From everything I've read there isn't much difference in the end results. I just liked the ASPH because of the small size.

The old version the lens has a plastic hood which clips to the inner part of the lens barrel. The new design has a metal hood that threads to the same part of the lens, but the internal design is different. You can put an aftermarket 39mm hood on the filter threads of either lens, but round hoods aren’t as effective as the square ones and a hood mounted on the filter threads is also attached to the same part of the lens as the factory hoods. Buy whichever one you like and mount and dismount it by the part of the lens closest to the mount. The problem is that with tiny lenses it is hard not to grab the hood. The same thing happens with the version 4 35mm Summicron, although the most common points of failure for the 35 Summicron and 28 Elmarit ASPH lenses when handled by the hood are different.

The hood on the newer version works better and the corner performance is improved. They are both tiny.

Marty