Post your 35mm Summarit f2.5 Photos

Shot on my M6

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Its a cracker. Its one of only two lenses I am taking for a 3 week shoot to finish off a documentary project. I will be shooting in harsh light, so the gentler tones of the Summarit will be very welcome.

PS thanks for the kind words Helen.
 
Damn it TURTLE ! what are you thinking ? using a cheap summarit !!
Thanks for posting TURTLE.... GREAT IMAGES, proving once again you don't need a summilux to take a great shots
 
I'm convinced that the Summarits are some of Leicas best lenses. I nice cross between modern and old school. I use the 50mm one and love it. Went for the C-Biogon for my small modern 35mm. I think what keeps people away from these lenses is that used leica legends used to be cheaper, f/2.5 never seems appealing, and they are still expensive compared to Zeiss and CV. Now that used Leica prices are going through the roof... the summarits will start to get their due.
 
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back alley said:
i wonder how it compares the zm 35/2.8...
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Both are considered top notch no matter what price point or criteria is used. What we have to consider is how did the summarit line become "cheap"... even the Zeiss $817 is not cheap. These are expensive lenses and should be great...as they are.
 
jsrockit said:
Both are considered top notch no matter what price point or criteria is used. What we have to consider is how did the summarit line become "cheap"... even the Zeiss $817 is not cheap. These are expensive lenses and should be great...as they are.
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My experience is that the Zeiss is the very best performing 35mm I've ever used in terms of sharpness wide open, contrast and color. Where is fails is in low light where it's vignetting at 2.8 becomes a big problem. It's also not coded, which gives the Summarit the advantage. Both have gorgeous bokeh, but the Biogon wins in controlling distortion, and the Summarit wins in controlling flare, but both are top notch in the flare department.

Brilliance wide open goes to the Biogon as it's the very best modern lens design, but for those seeking the best of both words, the rendering of the Summarit is smoother and very pleasing.

Ultimately, if size is not an issue, get the new Nokton II 35/1.2 and end your quest for the best 35mm lens available.....edit: would love to put the Zeiss wide open against the Nokton at 2.8 and see who comes out on top.
 
leicashot said:
edit: would love to put the Zeiss wide open against the Nokton at 2.8 and see who comes out on top.
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I have the 35 C Biogon and can do this....given time 🙂. I have the ZM 35 C Biogon for when I want stopped down performance and the CV 35 f/1.2 for low light/thin DOF shots. I think I have the best of both worlds, but I really *think* the 35 Nokton will hold up well against the C Biogon. Then the C Biogon will be relegated to my low weight kit 🙂
 
"would love to put the Zeiss wide open against the Nokton at 2.8 and see who comes out on top."

I've got the Summarit as well as the other two and one more "mystery 35mm" lens I'll throw into the mix. I need to decide which of these to keep and which to sell, now I have the Nokton. I can't justify having four 35mm lenses! 😱 So if I get time I'll take some shots tomorrow at 2.8.
I don't see any vignetting at 1.2 with the Nokton, although I haven't used it in low light yet, so I imagine at 2.8 it won't have any!
 
rsolti said:
I have the 35 C Biogon and can do this....given time 🙂. I have the ZM 35 C Biogon for when I want stopped down performance and the CV 35 f/1.2 for low light/thin DOF shots. I think I have the best of both worlds, but I really *think* the 35 Nokton will hold up well against the C Biogon. Then the C Biogon will be relegated to my low weight kit 🙂
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I too had this kit and found the Nokton euqlly as sharp but not as punchy as the Biogon-C. i'm now interested in a Nokton 'II' comparison to the Biogon-C.
 
There's some lovely work in this thread. As others have said: wow, Turtle. That's amazing reportage.

leicashot's summary is pithy and accurate. My only quibble is that flare is a bit more complex... Erwin Puts argues that the Biogon-C usually shows less flare than the Summarit, but not in every situation. As leicashot says, both lenses do an unusually good job of conttrolling flare. Call it a tossup.

To my eye, the overall renderings of the Summarit and the Biogon-C are extremely similar, which is to say, absolutely outstanding. I use the Biogon-C but I'd be *very* happy with either lens for general photography. I prefer both of them to the current Summicron ASPH. If you can't make good pictures with any of these lenses, the lenses are not at fault!

The ultra-fast lenses, Nokton and Summilux ASPH, are both wonderful but very different....
 
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semilog said:
There's some lovely work in this thread. As others have said: wow, Turtle. That's amazing reportage.

leicashot's summary is pithy and accurate. My only quibble is that flare is a bit more complex... Erwin Puts argues that the Biogon-C usually shows less flare than the Summarit, but not in every situation. As leicashot says, both lenses do an unusually good job of conttrolling flare. Call it a tossup.

To my eye, the overall renderings of the Summarit and the Biogon-C are extremely similar, which is to say, absolutely outstanding. I use the Biogon-C but I'd be *very* happy with either lens for general photography. I prefer both of them to the current Summicron ASPH. If you can't make good pictures with any of these lenses, the lenses are not at fault!

The ultra-fast lenses, Nokton and Summilux ASPH, are both wonderful but very different....
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I agree the Summicron ASPH is the worst (while not bad) of the current 35mm lenses, except for maybe the Biogon 35/2.

We're very lucky to have such great choices in this focal length
 
"I agree the Summicron ASPH is the worst (while not bad) of the current 35mm lenses, except for maybe the Biogon 35/2."

I don't think there is such a thing as a "bad" current 35mm lens. They are all more than good enough. What a person like's or dislike's about a lens is very subjective. Helen, for example has fallen in love with the Summicron ASPH other's love the Biogon 35/2
 
jsrockit said:
Both are considered top notch no matter what price point or criteria is used. What we have to consider is how did the summarit line become "cheap"... even the Zeiss $817 is not cheap. These are expensive lenses and should be great...as they are.
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I think the word "cheap" is due, in part, to the wagging tongue of Ken Rockwell and those like him. All this yammering on about "build quality" of lenses - specifically these lenses - is a lot of nonsense.

I don't know about anyone else but I'm pretty careful with my lenses; sure, I don't baby them but I'm not about to be running around throwing them to the ground etc. and I honestly don't think anyone else is either, however all it takes is one or two individuals nowadays to utter something that MAY be true (i.e. they've got no proof but they "feel" as though something's different) online and next thing you know it's become a defacto truth.

I'm now looking to snag the 35 summarit to go along with the 50. I may just relegate the 35 Lux pre-ASPH to my bag for special purposes.. 🙂

Cheers,
Dave
 
jsrockit said:
Can you explain?
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Well when i say worst, i don't mean bad. But in elaboration it's sharpness at f/2 is average, it's bokeh is not as smooth as any of the other 35mm lenses, and it's price is the highest, minus the Lux ASPH. I especially have never liked the bokeh and for that reason i much prefer the pre-asph's rendering.

I believe the Biogon-C, Nokton V1 and V2, Summilux ASPH, FLE are all better lenses in performance. The Summicron ASPH doesn't have any advantage over these except for size, and its an f/2.

Look I am nitpicking, and at the end of the day one of my friend's uses the Cron ASPH and takes better 'pictures' than me, so it's all crap talk really 😉
 
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