new lens or no?

[FrankS]

Can you give me your opinions on this please: I'm toying with the idea of buying a 35mm Summaron f3.5 lens. I've got some "spare" cash from the sale of some LF gear. The argument against the purchase is that I've already got a J-12, and a CV35 classic coming from Tim in Australia, and I'm primarily a 50mm shooter. Are the differences in the results going to be worth it?

 

[back alley]

hard to say frank.
are you happy with the fsu lens and it's results?

i don't know the leica lenses well enough to comment on the summaron but i think a german camera deserves some german glass.

on the other hand, the canon 35/2.8 is relatively inexpensive and a fine performer and would look great on that m2.

joe

 

[richard_l]

Frank, I'm sure you've seen enough pictures shot with the Summaron f/3.5 to know what they look like: high definition but moderate contrast.

The poor man's 35mm Summicron is the f/2.8 Summaron, which has fairly high contrast; the f/3.5 differs from the f/2.8 only by being a little slower and less contrasty. I like them both.

I'm sure there are lots of other 35mm lenses which are just as "good" as or "better" than the Summarons (at least on the test bench), but there's just something about Leica lenses..... I don't know exactly what it is. I just feel a sort of rapport with my Leicas that I never do with other lenses. (I'm probably just nuts.)

 

[Poptart]

35 is not a very wide wide-angle. If you want a more useful lens get something wider.

 

[rover]

A Summaron would look mighty good on your M2. Like the Canon 35/2.8, it too is relatively inexpensive.

 

[Pherdinand]

I agree, i'd spend the cash on something wider, not another 35mm. Unless the ones you have suck, whic I guess is not the case.
But that's just me. Some people seem to be quite happy with a collection of 35mm's...or 50's...😀

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Wait until you get the CV35 and see how you like it.

Some discussions on it here:
http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4683&highlight=summaron

Todd states that it must be stopped down past F5.6 or so for best results.

I have the 35mm F2.8 Summaron, with goggles for my M3. You know, the lens that we guys who drop money on Nikon SP's get. It is a sharp and contasty lens.

 

[Henk W]

Frank, I wouldn't buy a third 35mm lens before I did use my second. Use your new CV lens first and think about what a Summaron could offer you you haven't got yet. If you don't have wider lenses a wider lens is perhaps better than a third 35mm.

Henk.

And I don't agree with that german statement (Der Mann ohne Bauch...) 😀 So be carefull with what you eat.

 

[richard_l]

35 is not a very wide wide-angle. If you want a more useful lens get something wider.

35 seems wide to anyone who mostly uses a 50.

 

[back alley]

35 seems wide to anyone who mostly uses a 50.

so true.
after using a 35 mostly, a 50 seems like a tele. very wierd.

and a 28 seems like a superwide.

joe

 

[Pherdinand]

(Pherdinand hides his 17mm under the pillow.)

 

[FrankS]

I do have a CV25mm lens that I use sometimes.

 

[richard_l]

I have the 28mm Ultron. It seems so wide that I'm afraid my feet are going to be in the picture. It's a monster, but it's sure fun just to set it at hyperfocal and use the Leica like a point & shoot. I'd love to have one of those tiny CV 28mm, but I probably wouldn't use it enough to justify it.

 

[taffer]

35 is (was?) sort of perfection for me, until I started to develope the 'walking by' shooting (camera in hand, at hip level) which sometimes involves people pretty close to the camera (1-2 meters), where I think a 28 or wider would have saved some cropped heads 🙂

I agree that with the J-12 (a fine lens as well) and the CV 35 coming (a truly excellent optic) you could be better by getting something 'different'.

In my case, I had the opportunity to grab Rover's Canon 35/2, but that would mean I'd have to sell/leave at home the Canon 2.8 or the CV 35s, and I discovered I had become really attached to those lenses, specifically to the CV pancake.