Only one 35mm FL non-Leica lens...

C

Colin G.

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If you could have ONLY ONE 35mm FL m-mount/ltm lens, that isn't made Leica, what would it be?

Why would you chose that particular lens?


 
As of today's arrival, I do now only have one 35, and it's the 35 1.2 Nokton Simon said. :) All other 35's are gone.
 
35/2.8 Biogon-C.

Probably the nicest general-purpose lens I've ever used — including the 35 Summilux ASPH.

Sharp out to the edges right from full aperture, beautiful color, unimpeachable bokeh, light weight and low volume, almost no veiling flare, essentially zero geometrical distortion, minimal coma. It just renders beautifully and predictably. Its only fault is significant vignetting at full aperture, but this is really a problem only on a digital full-frame sensor (that is, only on the M9), which I don't own.

The 1.2 Nokton is a lovely lens, but too bulky and too heavy for my tastes, and is therefore less suitable for the street work that I like to do. If I was going to shoot in very low light and/or with something that big/heavy I'd go whole-hog and mount the new Nikon 35/1.4 on a D700 (or the Canon version on a 5D or 5DII). Using *any* M-mount rig for really low light work these days is strictly horse-and-buggy, IMO.
 
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I am agree with Simon, the Nokton 35/1.2 it's my "definitive" 35mm lens, the quality of the oof, the rendering of the color, and his magic look are unbelievable for that price...the second place imho should go to the canon 35/1.5 for the size, the contrast, the great looking in BW and the amazing performance in Color...of course someone could define these "problems" what i call "carachter" so it's always a matter of taste.
 
The Summicron 35/2 and the Summilux35/1.4 are my top choices for 35mm lenses.
As for non-Leica 35mm lenses, I use a Canon 35mm/1.5. The size of the Nokton 35/1.2 is too large for a RF 35mm lens, in my opinion. You might as well use an SLR.
 
raid said:
The Summicron 35/2 and the Summilux35/1.4 are my top choices for 35mm lenses.
As for non-Leica 35mm lenses, I use a Canon 35mm/1.5. The size of the Nokton 35/1.2 is too large for a RF 35mm lens, in my opinion. You might as well use an SLR.
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The size of the Nokton was a worry for me as well, I jumped in and got rid of all my 35's including an ASPH Cron. Nokton came today and as nervous as I was, it's size wasn't anything that made me regret it at all. A lot of people say might as well use an slr, but with the Nokton attached to an M body, it's still a nice sized kit vs an slr in my opinion. Plus if the images it produces in capable hands are any indication, then the size is made up for. If you have only one 35, it's tough to be beat, since you get speed as well as nice rendering, you're pretty much covered from morning into the darkest night you encounter with one single lens.
 
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^----- very valid reasons. To be clear, I don't have the same priorities as you but the REAL answer here is that it is AWESOME that such a terrific variety of 35's is available for M-mount! :)
 
semilog said:
^----- very valid reasons. To be clear, I don't have the same priorities as you but the REAL answer here is that it is AWESOME that such a terrific variety of 35's is available for M-mount! :)
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I couldn't agree more! For anyone entering RF cameras now, it's a great time, even for us who've been at it a while. CV is doing a kick ass job along with the Zeiss lenses, being able to pick from a huge variety of M lenses now at such a wide price range is pretty amazing. Conversely it's also the reason it's hard to just have one!
 
If not a Leica, then probably either Biogon C 2.8 or the CV 1.7 with M adapter. Biogon is better if there's enough light, but there's not always enough light.
 
The one I have of course:
The M-Hexanon 35 f/2.
great lens with beautiful build.
A bit too big for my taste, but only the summicrons are really smaller at that aperture.
I wouldn't go slower (f/2.8 is a no go for lots of available light situation), nor faster (The Nokton 1.2 might be a good lens, but its size is a deterrent, the Leica 1.4 options are out of my reach, and the Nokton 1.4 might be good, but I am too sensitive to the occasional distortion showing up to want to try it)
No, really, a superlative f/2 is what I want, and the hex is it (if it wasn't for the Hex, I would choose a V3 cron for the size, or the Biogon f/2 )
 
The only LTM/M 35mms I've used are the Summaron and J12. Two LTM J12s in fact. Neither impressed me. The lens on a Kiev was rather nice though.

I haven't used a 35mm lens on a Leica body that blew me away yet. The size of the Summaron though is great and enough to keep me using it for a while.
 
Without a doubt, the 35 UC hexanon. I've owned one a couple of times, but in the end I chose a pre-asph summicron as my 35.

There is not a better-made lens than that UC hexanon, in my opinion.
 
I didn't know there was a 35mm f1.2 for any regular SLR system (and it certainly would be twice the size of the nokton...).
apart from that, I'm not using rangefinders for their compact size alone, otherwise I wouldn't use a Mamiya 6.
I have a 35mm f3.5 summaron (and a broken VC 35mm f2.5 C-S) that I got for nothing for the very rare times that the 1.2/35 is 'too big' or for when I want 100% straight lines at the edges (usually doesn't matter), it is small and cheap enough to just throw it in your bag or pocket.

however, there are very few 35mm lenses out there that you can go wrong with.
 
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The size of the 35/1.2 was never a problem for me. Not seeing 30% of the viewfinder is.

I really like my Nikkor 35/1.8. :)

Roland.
 
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