How would you rate the Canon 35/2 in comparison to a pre-asph 35/1.4 Lux?
Raid, although, I do have a Canadian pre ASPH 35 Summilux here, I didn't shoot it yet.
But, I do see things in the pictures of the Canon 35/2 LTM version 1, I bought from a forum member here, which remind me very much of the look of the pre ASPH 35 Summilux.
These things are, what I like about the pictures with the pre ASPH (overall softer look, a lot lower contrast, than the modern ASPH lenses, not clipping blacks, but giving smooth tones into the shadows).
Well, the one thing, I found, the Canon is prone to is it's ugly behavior under direct light, like with the Maserati above.
The flare has not a beautiful, geometric nature, but looks like a wave across the frame without even shape - one must use a lens hood with the Canon (oh and screw filters, especially the vintage, original Canon ones - they work like a magnet for washed out detail and reflections)!
The Canon 35/2 handles absolutely beautifully - great ergonomics for it's tiny size!
It is comparable in size to the Leica 35 Summicron version IV, but with an overall smaller Ø of the barrel.
The only thing, one could wish for, is the inclusion of a focussing tab, which would make pre focussing easier (not, that the distance markings in meter are any difficult, to read in any light - I love, how well Canon made these).
One character, I like about the Canon as well, is it's natural light falloff, when shot wide open.
The center of the frame is sharp and contrasty, and the light falloff creates a certain focus, a magic to the center of the frame.
This works very nice with human subjects - I find.
I like that character with the pictures, I see from the 35 pre ASPH Summilux, and I love, that the Canon has this too.
One remark regarding
shooting the Canon with digital Leica!
When I use the Canon on the M8.2 or uncoded on the M9, it does show some ugly red edges and an ugly "extreme" vignetting towards the outermost edge of the corners.
This doesn't look nice in my opinion.
I use the Canon manually coded in the menu of the M9 as a pre ASPH Summicron - this way, it really looks nice and natural.
Question:
Is the distance scale centered on top of the lens barrel with the version 2 Canon, or is it the same centering around the viewfinder window, as with version 1?
Although, this might be a fun gimmick, in my opinion, it doesn't work very well for checking distance, while pre focussing.
With such a tiny lens, it is better positioned right on top.
