Suggestions for a compact 35mm lens with character?

daniel buck said:
I do have a 50/1.5 Summarit and I love the glares, glows and odd colors that it produces when shot wide open, and an out-of-focus rendering that almost swirls like some large format lenses. I'm wondering if there are any 35mm lenses that might be similar to this? Anything worth looking into?
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Don't overlook a Canon 35/1.8...plenty of swirls, glares, glows, footballs and odd stuff going on. My favourite lens on my R-D1.

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+1 on the Canon 35/1.8. It's pretty soft wide open, for images w/ a dreamy quality, and sharpens up a lot by f4 but w/ lower contrast than a modern 35. Great for b&w and color. Plenty of character when you want it.
 
Perar 35/3.5 triplet from MS-Optical. There have been lots of recent discussion on this super-compact wonder. And, yes, it is not cheap.
 
I have the CV Skopar 35/2.5 (PII version) that others have mentioned. It's a great little lens, very very sharp, but I wouldn't call it a "character" lens. Here's the Canon 35/1.8 stopped down a bit (maybe f5.6):

Stavanger by bingley0522, on Flickr
 
The 35mm Summilux-M pre-ASPH would be your best bet for a small 35mm lens with character (wide-open, sharp but lower contrast) and higher contrast (especially for color) when stopped down.
Example shots with this lens here at flickr
 
NIKON KIU recommends a W-Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 in screw-mount with an adapter.
More character than you will ever need.
:)
 
semilog said:
The 35/2.8 C-Biogon is stunning. Overall, the most well-mannered lens I've ever used. Surgical sharpness, wonderful color, great bokeh. Specular highlights can get a halo, but there's usually a total absence of any veiling or reflections. It has almost no distortion. Rockwell says it excites aliasing from full aperture on his M9, a very strong indication of its performance.

On the M9 it vignettes substantially at full aperture. The vignetting is still there on film, but less assertively so.
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I agree with all of this but this lens, like the 50 Lux ASPH has no character at all, being 'too perfect'.

So to anser the OP's question, I have to say that my favourite is the Hexanon 35/2 UC lens. Sharp wide open, and smooth bokeh, but with a painterly effect giving character to the picture.
 
FWIW - the most character-y 35 I've used is the Zeiss Jena 35/2.4 Flektogon. However, I believe it's only available in M42 mount and would require an adapter.
 
JMQ said:
Perar 35/3.5 triplet from MS-Optical. There have been lots of recent discussion on this super-compact wonder. And, yes, it is not cheap.
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+1 - not cheap, but not terribly expensive. And the smallest you can buy.
 
semilog said:
The 35/2.8 C-Biogon is stunning. Overall, the most well-mannered lens I've ever used. Surgical sharpness, wonderful color, great bokeh. Specular highlights can get a halo, but there's usually a total absence of any veiling or reflections. It has almost no distortion. Rockwell says it excites aliasing from full aperture on his M9, a very strong indication of its performance.

On the M9 it vignettes substantially at full aperture. The vignetting is still there on film, but less assertively so.
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Yes yes - but the OP already has a good lens [28 Summicron] but is looking for a 35mm lens which exhibits faults. Unfortunately for him the C-Biogon is a fabulous lens which gets out of the photographers way by not imposing faults on talented photography. A 28mm Summicron paired with a 35mm C-Biogon would be a fabulous partnership worthy of any talent; but low on 'decorating' faults.

Oops : - I had a little turn there and forgot where I was. I've used the common turn faults and have just remembered that the polite PC term here is character. Bad me; apologies, apologies.

.................. Chris
 
daniel buck said:
Hm, if it doesn't have much fuzzyness to the highlights wide open, it may not be what I'm looking for. But I may look at it for a more general lens. I do like the Zeiss lenses, I use several on my Canon 1Ds2, and I like them.

The C-biogon, is that in an M mount already? or does it require an adapter?
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I gave my superseded Nikon DSLR plus a prime lens to my daughter who finds it a delightful camera as long as she leaves a soft focus attachment on it all the time. It's not a Softar, just a cheap one, with a fairly small effect.

So you could have a razor sharp lens for when it suited you, and something with more "character" at other times.
 
back alley said:
no one thinks the canon 35/2.8 has character?
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I certainly agree that the Canon 35/2.8 has character, particularly if you're after a vintage look. It gives a more desaturated, "pastel" look to colors, and the low contrast also gives a vintage look to b&w. I got the sense, though, that the OP was looking for a lens that was distinctly soft wide open, which suggests to me that a faster lens might suit his needs, so I recommend the Canon 35/1.8.

The summilux recommended by Gabor and Thomas undoubtedly has lots of character, too, but at a significantly higher price than the Canon 35/1.8. I guess it all depends on what sort of look the OP is after and what his budget is.
 
J-12 or 3.5 Summaron. Given my choice, I'd go w/ the Summaron every time. Tons of Leica signature, yet still sharp enough. Tiny and light too, unless you go w/ the FrankenKamera goggled version (one of the best lenses I've ever used, but when I had that combo on an M3, it made me too self conscious when walking about. Too weird looking).
 
How "compact" is "compact"?

+1 for Summaron f3.5 if on a budget. +1 for preAsph 35/1.4 v2 if no budget (or alternatively the Cron 35 v3 or v4).
the Summaron is the smallest of the 3 above, but the 35 Cron and Lux are still small relative to their speed and unique signature.
 
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