Leica 35mm Summilux Steel Rim

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richfx

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I received my new Summilux 35mm steel rim lens several days ago and am putting it through the paces. Interesting so far. Quite soft wide open and painterly stopped down a bit, with a nice glow at times. Comparisons to the 35 Lux ASPH FLE and 35 Cron ASPH don't really make sense because of its recreated heritage technology, and I'm having fun so far. Interesting about the OLLUX hood. I reached out to Mark at Leica USA to see whether mine is affected and am awaiting a response.

Apologies if this has already been asked / addressed, but I quickly learned that the front lens cap is completely loose and as a result, useless. It doesn't grip the lens at all and, if I were to use it outside, it would be lost within five minutes. Has anyone else experienced this issue and has Leica been apprised of / acknowledged it? I'd expect a new front cap, perhaps with the new OLLUX hood, to be shipped to affected owners soon. Makes me scratch my head about Leica's QC on the lens.
 
I purchased a new 35 Summilux in 1968 ($333 at the time) and my brother bought a used steel rim version around 1970. The Leica rep at the time said they were the same optically and the mount was the only difference. Some claim they’re different but I’ve never seen that they are.

Are you using yours on film or digital? If digital and enlarging files to 100% I can understand why you’d say it’s soft. I was a journalist at the time and it and the Nikkor 35 1.8 were about the only game in town so you made do with what you had. But rarely we’re negatives enlarged to huge sized from negs shot wide open.

At that time it was a pretty earth shattering lens. Not super sharp at 1.4 but adequate unless you had pinpoint light sources in or near the edge of the frame, then you could be in trouble due to coma.

I only shot them on film so I never enlarged really big. 11x14 was probably it. At 1.4 not terribly soft but not really sharp either. I had a 35 FLE and 1st version Summicron ASP. Your steel rim won’t be close to either in performance. Remember that design goes back to the 60’s.

I don’t like the clinically sharp look. Matter of fact it’s cold and lifeless and I hate it. I’ve used Leica in my work since 68 and have essentially returned to my original kit from the 60’s with the exception of the 35 Summilux. I replaced it with an 8 element v1 35 Summicron. Live the images from that lens.

Honestly I’m not sure why the following this lens has.
 
gelatin silver print (summilux 35mm f1.4 No. 17772XX) leica m2

The original lens cap (soft plastic) is extremely rare. The best thing you can do is to make a short 41mm screw in lens hood and use a 49mm lens cap on the hood. The Ollux is nice to collect but not very practical.

The later 35mm f/1.4 Summiluxes do not compare to the steel rims, but opinions about lens quality are always subjective. I very much prefer the steel rims, it is the very rare optical glass that makes them different from the later 35mm f1.4 lenses.

Erik.

222-A-Utrecht-2018-1071.jpg
 
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richfx said:
I received my new Summilux 35mm steel rim lens several days ago and am putting it through the paces. Interesting so far. Quite soft wide open and painterly stopped down a bit, with a nice glow at times. Comparisons to the 35 Lux ASPH FLE and 35 Cron ASPH don't really make sense because of its recreated heritage technology, and I'm having fun so far. Interesting about the OLLUX hood. I reached out to Mark at Leica USA to see whether mine is affected and am awaiting a response.

Apologies if this has already been asked / addressed, but I quickly learned that the front lens cap is completely loose and as a result, useless. It doesn't grip the lens at all and, if I were to use it outside, it would be lost within five minutes. Has anyone else experienced this issue and has Leica been apprised of / acknowledged it? I'd expect a new front cap, perhaps with the new OLLUX hood, to be shipped to affected owners soon. Makes me scratch my head about Leica's QC on the lens.
Click to expand...
If this is about the lens I think it's about, the Summilux 35mm from around 1960 or so, you must have meant new to you, rather than brand new. Yes it is soft focus wide open, but more than that, it's very low in contrast, further contributing to the impression of unsharpness. It's a Mandler design, and according to some, it's as if it's a Summicron of the same vintage that has simply been increased in diameter to gain the extra stop, to benefit newspaper photographers. Walter Mandler's approach was to make a lens as sharp in the center as he could get it, and not worrying much about the edges. This apparently was just fine for photojournalists, who needed to shoot fast, putting the main subject in the center and letting the edges fall where they might.

I have one of these little jewels. I agree completely about its becoming "painterly" when stopped down a bit. And when stopped down a bit more, it seems about as sharp as a 1960's Summicron. Used with Eastman 5222, or with Tri-X, I get prints that have a nice, natural look and at times I prefer that look to that of my ASPH 35's.

About that lens cap: forget it. I keep on it the hood that was specifically meant for it. I don't remember its catalog number--something like 12504? I think that might be right. Anyway, it takes a series 7 filter, which goes into the hood--you can't screw a filter onto the pre-ASPH Lux. That's how I protect mine. Problem solved.
 
Rob-F said:
If this is about the lens I think it's about, the Summilux 35mm from around 1960 or so, you must have meant new to you, rather than brand new.
Click to expand...

I think it’s safe to assume that it’s the 2022 SUMMILUX-M 35 F/1.4 ASPH. "CLASSIC".

Leica Store | LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 "Classic"

Leica stands for visual enjoyment and lasting value. Our approach and Leica's unique technical expertise make our optical instruments ideal companions offering the highest possible reliability and durability.
leica-store.com.au leica-store.com.au

Rob-F said:
Anyway, it takes a series 7 filter, which goes into the hood--you can't screw a filter onto the pre-ASPH Lux. That's how I protect mine. Problem solved.
Click to expand...

The original steel rim takes 41mm filters and the new “Classic” takes 46mm filters. Yours must be a v2 or later pre-ASPH, which isn’t optically the same.

Marty
 
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Mine is the pre-ASPH all right, in fact it's very "pre!" So apparently there is/was a modern 35/1.4 I wasn't aware of. And apparently it's spherical? Now it makes sense it that it's soft wide-open, like my 1960's version. If that's the case, maybe it can be called the "Post-ASPH Summilux!
 
Is it possible that aspherical or ASPH lenses will prove to be only a brief chapter in Leica history? Just as Zeiss seems to prefer spherical lenses, and Hollywood is scrambling to find lenses with character rather than clinical sharpness, is Leica heading in that direction, too?
 
Rob-F said:
About that lens cap: forget it. I keep on it the hood that was specifically meant for it. I don't remember its catalog number--something like 12504? I think that might be right. Anyway, it takes a series 7 filter, which goes into the hood--you can't screw a filter onto the pre-ASPH Lux. That's how I protect mine. Problem solved.
Click to expand...
Then your lens is not a steel rim. The 12504 does not fit the steel rim. The term "steel rim" refers to the stainless steel ring on the front of the lens with a bayonet fitting that is intended for the Ollux. It is best to turn a lens hood in the filter ring (41mm) if you do not have an Ollux. You certainly can screw in a filter into the steel rim lens.

The later 35mm Summilux does not have a filter ring. On that lens you have to put a filter into the 12504 lens hood. It screws open to put a filter in it. This later Summilux accepts normal Leica lens caps, the steel rim doesn't. The (soft plastic) lens cap of the steel rim is a collectors item in itself.

Erik.
 
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Erik van Straten said:
Then your lens is not a steel rim. The 12504 does not fit the steel rim. The term "steel rim" refers to the stainless steel ring on the front of the lens with a bayonet fitting that is intended for the Ollux. It is best to turn a lens hood in the filter ring (41mm) if you do not have an Ollux. You certainly can screw in a filter into the steel rim lens.

The later 35mm Summilux does not have a filter ring. On that lens you have to put a filter into the 12504 lens hood. It screws open to put a filter in it. This later Summilux accepts normal Leica lens caps, the steel rim doesn't. The (soft plastic) lens cap of the steel rim is a collectors item in itself.

Erik.
Click to expand...
Right, Eric, I knew all that, and you are right, it's not a steel rim. I have the one that uses the 12504 hood. I was just focusing on the imaging properties, which are the same. Hope I didn't mislead anyone! But right, my comments about the filter, lens cap and hood are about my non-steel rim early Lux, not the steel rim one.
 
Rob-F said:
Right, Eric, I knew all that, and you are right, it's not a steel rim. I have the one that uses the 12504 hood. I was just focusing on the imaging properties, which are the same. Hope I didn't mislead anyone! But right, my comments about the filter, lens cap and hood are about my non-steel rim early Lux, not the steel rim one.
Click to expand...

The steel rim isn’t the same design as the later pre-asph lenses and it produces images that look quite different, as does the “Classic” which is different again.

The v2 was recomputed to increase contrast, particularly wide open and as a result also has more field curvature.

Marty
 
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