Avotius
Some guy
All photos taken with Leica M6 TTL, Leica 35mm f2 Summicron version 3 and Ilford XP2 or Fuji Superia 200, except the first shot under this which was with the Ricoh GRD.
Leica M6 TTL with Leica 35mm f2 Summicron III sans hood.
The 35mm lens has always been a favorite for the rangefinder photographer, a wider angle and easier to use amount of information then the 50mm length. In fact I recall someone once said that 50mm lens was the hardest to learn but if you could then all the others would come a lot easier. Working with the Leica 35 III and the Voigtländer 35mm f2.5 PII taught me that I really am more of a 50 person. For me 35mm is just too wide to get really close in with the details and also not wide enough for my style of street shooting. Seems when I want to go wide a 28 is handier then the 35. I think the 35 is a challenge for me to get compositions that flow in the right directions, more elements in the frame but sometimes without the necessary coverage for my style of shooting makes 35 a kind of loose cannon. When I use my digitals it seems the 28mm equivalent always takes the majority of my pictures from my Canon 20D with 17-40 or my GRD.
People standing around a shop window talking.
When working with the Leica 35 Summicron version 3 I was always feeling that I wanted to be closer and then sometimes that I just was not wide enough. Also the day these photos were taken we were in a huge rush, only an hour and a half was allocated for talking pictures and I ran through this old town, across the river it sat by and up the mountain so I could go photograph this several hundred year old lords manor that was now a place for old people to live out their days. I think this can be seen as many of my compositions are rushed and don’t have much harmony or line play in them.
Sitting around the front door passing the time.
I have had this Leica lens for only a little while and in that short time I have really come to appreciate all the work that went into this lens. The focus is beyond smooth, the best I have ever used, it makes my Zeiss 50 Planar lens feel rough and stiff. The tab is nice to use and well distanced. The focus throw of the lens was a lot more then I was expecting, if you were looking straight on to the camera and lens, close focus would be clockwise at 3 where infinity is at about 8 which is more then it is on the Voigtländer lens. With the Leica lens when moving to close up I have to shift my fingers positioning a bit and sometimes I loose the tab where on the Voigtländer lens that doesn’t happen. Also the aperture rings on the Zeiss lenses are better, the one on this Summicron is a little hard to get your fingers on sometimes and I search around a bit for it on occasion.
Seems like sitting around is most of what Chongqing countryside people do.
This shot I was right on the table and near the limit of close focus and had to use my thumb to focus, weird but worked. The frame lines on the M6 are not as accurate as those on the Bessa R2A in my opinion.
This old guy playing cards to pass the afternoon in the countryside takes a long hard look at me every time I pass by, and I return the favor by takings some snaps.
The character of this lens is a lot different then my other lenses, I would say it renders highlights brighter with that creamy look more then my old screw mount 50 Elmar red scale, also the Zeiss 50 Planar has much stronger contrast then this lens, pushing highlights towards white where the Summicron is preserving these in the gray areas. This looks is both good and bad for some things. For keeping shadows and highlights in areas like this where contrast is very high, the Summicron is a good lens to have.
Light coming in from the street makes a nice atmosphere to enjoy a milk while the cat wanders around your feet. The dim light and the warm Chongqing countryside air drains the drive out of people, and sitting around in the shade playing cards or killing time is part of what gives this area is laid back character.
Most of China’s light however….the sky here is most areas is a perpetual gray, which means a lot of the light here is diffused, so when this light falls on some objects like the wood panels of the houses here a low contrast lens can make things look muddy. I noticed this with my Elmar as well, and in discussions with my teacher about such problems he said the best thing I can do is use a filter which wont cure the problem completely and will introduce a lot of other problems, or just use a different lens.
It seems wherever I got around the town, this old guy is there too.
One thing that does work well though is that in bright situations like this mountain side picture, the lower contrast greatly improves to ability to catch details in the haze of clouds here. No doubt this is where a high contrast lens like the Zeiss or Voigtländer would have blown the sky
Up in the hills where they farmers grow their crops, many paths weave around like these going along the rice paddies. Paper money for the dead burns along the path, a gesture to an ancestor passed on.
I know many people prefer the older Leica lenses for their lower contrast classic look, also the ability to preserve shadow detail. I am kind of on the fence about this, the lower contrast look can be really neat, like how my Yashica GSN renders black and white, but also the look can get a little tedious when you are not going for that effect and only after the fact realize that a high contrast would have been better in the situation where you don’t always want to keep shadow details. Of course I know a lot of things can alter those effects like developing and filters, not to mention Photoshop, but sometimes its nice to work with a well sorted negative first then go from there.
While he sits there watching TV, I wonder where he got the Amway bag.
The Summicron renders images on film that are very easy to scan though, the latitude of the negatives and scanner are less of a problem when trying to scan a film like XP2 where a high contrast lens will be harder to control.
Typical street of an old style countryside town, houses sit across from each other and the paths usually narrow.
Flare is very well sorted with this lens, in the couple hundred frames I have shot, no flare spots has been noticed in area of them and only a very mild veiling glare in situations where most lenses would be lost. Back lighting is also very well controlled as this shows.
I took this picture of the gf Wangyi standing there because many years ago she had taken a similar photo standing in the same place. Note the strong resistance to back light overpowering.
Color on the other hand is hard to say with this lens. I use lenses with both color and black and white so they have to be good at both. I think the Leica lenses are better at black and white, and the Zeiss lenses are better at color. This lens gives a rather flat look to colors, which I have heard been described like an oil painting, yes a neat effect again, but maybe not the best all rounder.
The families house with door panels removed exposing the insides to the sunlight, the family goes about its daily business as If nothing is different. The flat stone sitting outside the door is for baking rice cakes, the shelves are lined with jugs of fermented peppers, red paper giving away its contents. I like the circular flower pattern in the middle of their floor which is made of broken ceramic rice bowls pressed into the concrete floor.
For color photography I no doubt pick up my Zeiss 50 Planar every time and I find its black and white just acceptable, then the Leica is a good black and white lens and maybe not the best color lens, hard choice to make really, but for color photos I really prefer the Zeiss 35 Biogon, which is funny since I ended up with the Summicron, but it is the better all around lens for me even if it is a 35…actually I am giving serious thought to maybe the Zeiss 28 Biogon instead of the Leica 35. An upcoming trip to Hong Kong will let me play around with all the details more.
This old guy was sitting there at the door to the main part of a large manor on top of a hill, when I asked him if I could come in all he did was give me a big smile
Overall….im a bit torn, the fact that the lens is a Leica doesn’t really interest me much, the fact that my camera says Leica at first was really cool but the effect has worn off and I am notice a lot of things about it that I wish it had and competitors like the Zeiss Ikon do, but then again there is no free lunch here either. Would I do it again? Hard to say. Will I sell the lens later on down the road for one of Zeiss’s offerings? Strong maybe. Its still too early to say, I have only taken a few hundred pictures with it and printed only a handful of photos in the darkroom from it, but that is the nice thing about this lens, because it says Leica, I can always sell it and be good if I so desire. My upcoming trip to Hong Kong I am switching films to a lucky find of TRI-X that I found at the only film shop in town then will reexamine my findings here.
Once again, people just killing time outside.
Leica M6 TTL with Leica 35mm f2 Summicron III sans hood.
The 35mm lens has always been a favorite for the rangefinder photographer, a wider angle and easier to use amount of information then the 50mm length. In fact I recall someone once said that 50mm lens was the hardest to learn but if you could then all the others would come a lot easier. Working with the Leica 35 III and the Voigtländer 35mm f2.5 PII taught me that I really am more of a 50 person. For me 35mm is just too wide to get really close in with the details and also not wide enough for my style of street shooting. Seems when I want to go wide a 28 is handier then the 35. I think the 35 is a challenge for me to get compositions that flow in the right directions, more elements in the frame but sometimes without the necessary coverage for my style of shooting makes 35 a kind of loose cannon. When I use my digitals it seems the 28mm equivalent always takes the majority of my pictures from my Canon 20D with 17-40 or my GRD.
People standing around a shop window talking.
When working with the Leica 35 Summicron version 3 I was always feeling that I wanted to be closer and then sometimes that I just was not wide enough. Also the day these photos were taken we were in a huge rush, only an hour and a half was allocated for talking pictures and I ran through this old town, across the river it sat by and up the mountain so I could go photograph this several hundred year old lords manor that was now a place for old people to live out their days. I think this can be seen as many of my compositions are rushed and don’t have much harmony or line play in them.
Sitting around the front door passing the time.
I have had this Leica lens for only a little while and in that short time I have really come to appreciate all the work that went into this lens. The focus is beyond smooth, the best I have ever used, it makes my Zeiss 50 Planar lens feel rough and stiff. The tab is nice to use and well distanced. The focus throw of the lens was a lot more then I was expecting, if you were looking straight on to the camera and lens, close focus would be clockwise at 3 where infinity is at about 8 which is more then it is on the Voigtländer lens. With the Leica lens when moving to close up I have to shift my fingers positioning a bit and sometimes I loose the tab where on the Voigtländer lens that doesn’t happen. Also the aperture rings on the Zeiss lenses are better, the one on this Summicron is a little hard to get your fingers on sometimes and I search around a bit for it on occasion.
Seems like sitting around is most of what Chongqing countryside people do.
This shot I was right on the table and near the limit of close focus and had to use my thumb to focus, weird but worked. The frame lines on the M6 are not as accurate as those on the Bessa R2A in my opinion.
This old guy playing cards to pass the afternoon in the countryside takes a long hard look at me every time I pass by, and I return the favor by takings some snaps.
The character of this lens is a lot different then my other lenses, I would say it renders highlights brighter with that creamy look more then my old screw mount 50 Elmar red scale, also the Zeiss 50 Planar has much stronger contrast then this lens, pushing highlights towards white where the Summicron is preserving these in the gray areas. This looks is both good and bad for some things. For keeping shadows and highlights in areas like this where contrast is very high, the Summicron is a good lens to have.
Light coming in from the street makes a nice atmosphere to enjoy a milk while the cat wanders around your feet. The dim light and the warm Chongqing countryside air drains the drive out of people, and sitting around in the shade playing cards or killing time is part of what gives this area is laid back character.
Most of China’s light however….the sky here is most areas is a perpetual gray, which means a lot of the light here is diffused, so when this light falls on some objects like the wood panels of the houses here a low contrast lens can make things look muddy. I noticed this with my Elmar as well, and in discussions with my teacher about such problems he said the best thing I can do is use a filter which wont cure the problem completely and will introduce a lot of other problems, or just use a different lens.
It seems wherever I got around the town, this old guy is there too.
One thing that does work well though is that in bright situations like this mountain side picture, the lower contrast greatly improves to ability to catch details in the haze of clouds here. No doubt this is where a high contrast lens like the Zeiss or Voigtländer would have blown the sky
Up in the hills where they farmers grow their crops, many paths weave around like these going along the rice paddies. Paper money for the dead burns along the path, a gesture to an ancestor passed on.
I know many people prefer the older Leica lenses for their lower contrast classic look, also the ability to preserve shadow detail. I am kind of on the fence about this, the lower contrast look can be really neat, like how my Yashica GSN renders black and white, but also the look can get a little tedious when you are not going for that effect and only after the fact realize that a high contrast would have been better in the situation where you don’t always want to keep shadow details. Of course I know a lot of things can alter those effects like developing and filters, not to mention Photoshop, but sometimes its nice to work with a well sorted negative first then go from there.
While he sits there watching TV, I wonder where he got the Amway bag.
The Summicron renders images on film that are very easy to scan though, the latitude of the negatives and scanner are less of a problem when trying to scan a film like XP2 where a high contrast lens will be harder to control.
Typical street of an old style countryside town, houses sit across from each other and the paths usually narrow.
Flare is very well sorted with this lens, in the couple hundred frames I have shot, no flare spots has been noticed in area of them and only a very mild veiling glare in situations where most lenses would be lost. Back lighting is also very well controlled as this shows.
I took this picture of the gf Wangyi standing there because many years ago she had taken a similar photo standing in the same place. Note the strong resistance to back light overpowering.
Color on the other hand is hard to say with this lens. I use lenses with both color and black and white so they have to be good at both. I think the Leica lenses are better at black and white, and the Zeiss lenses are better at color. This lens gives a rather flat look to colors, which I have heard been described like an oil painting, yes a neat effect again, but maybe not the best all rounder.
The families house with door panels removed exposing the insides to the sunlight, the family goes about its daily business as If nothing is different. The flat stone sitting outside the door is for baking rice cakes, the shelves are lined with jugs of fermented peppers, red paper giving away its contents. I like the circular flower pattern in the middle of their floor which is made of broken ceramic rice bowls pressed into the concrete floor.
For color photography I no doubt pick up my Zeiss 50 Planar every time and I find its black and white just acceptable, then the Leica is a good black and white lens and maybe not the best color lens, hard choice to make really, but for color photos I really prefer the Zeiss 35 Biogon, which is funny since I ended up with the Summicron, but it is the better all around lens for me even if it is a 35…actually I am giving serious thought to maybe the Zeiss 28 Biogon instead of the Leica 35. An upcoming trip to Hong Kong will let me play around with all the details more.
This old guy was sitting there at the door to the main part of a large manor on top of a hill, when I asked him if I could come in all he did was give me a big smile
Overall….im a bit torn, the fact that the lens is a Leica doesn’t really interest me much, the fact that my camera says Leica at first was really cool but the effect has worn off and I am notice a lot of things about it that I wish it had and competitors like the Zeiss Ikon do, but then again there is no free lunch here either. Would I do it again? Hard to say. Will I sell the lens later on down the road for one of Zeiss’s offerings? Strong maybe. Its still too early to say, I have only taken a few hundred pictures with it and printed only a handful of photos in the darkroom from it, but that is the nice thing about this lens, because it says Leica, I can always sell it and be good if I so desire. My upcoming trip to Hong Kong I am switching films to a lucky find of TRI-X that I found at the only film shop in town then will reexamine my findings here.
Once again, people just killing time outside.
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Rafael
Mandlerian
As always Colin, I really enjoyed reading your post and seeing your photographs. Personally, I love the Summicron III (but then again, I shoot B+W film 80-90% of the time). I agree with you that one of this lens' real strong points is its resistance to flare. This lens doesn't get all of the press of its slightly younger relative, but I certainly won't be giving mine up any time soon. I'll be interested to see how the TRI-X works for you with this lens.
I actually have the opposite relationship to yours with the 28mm and 35mm focal lengths. I have never really been able to make 28 work for me. So I recently sold my 28mm Biogon, but only because I didn't get along very well with the focal length. If you like the 50mm Planar, I think that you will be impressed by the Biogon. Signature-wise, the two pair very well in my opinion.
Have fun in Hong Kong.
I actually have the opposite relationship to yours with the 28mm and 35mm focal lengths. I have never really been able to make 28 work for me. So I recently sold my 28mm Biogon, but only because I didn't get along very well with the focal length. If you like the 50mm Planar, I think that you will be impressed by the Biogon. Signature-wise, the two pair very well in my opinion.
Have fun in Hong Kong.
totifoto
Well-known
OMG boy! I dont think it matters what kind of camera or lens you have in youre hands you always come up with fantastic photos
I have to say I love the b&w this lens gives, the higlights are so fantastic. I dont like it when they are too contrasty but here it seems to have a bit contrast but also fantastic highlights.
I agree with the Zeiss beeing better at colors, at least from what you have been showing. The 50mm Zeiss photos you showed here a few weeks ago where amazing.
Kepp on WOWing us man
I have to say I love the b&w this lens gives, the higlights are so fantastic. I dont like it when they are too contrasty but here it seems to have a bit contrast but also fantastic highlights.
I agree with the Zeiss beeing better at colors, at least from what you have been showing. The 50mm Zeiss photos you showed here a few weeks ago where amazing.
Kepp on WOWing us man
tomasis
Well-known
very good thread as usual..I find photos of China always interesting because the country is kinda of exotic for me
I feel pretty much same as you regarding focal length. I used Nikon zoom before and I found 28mm as great to use. Really wide as it should be. Not in between as you said. I use Barnack camera for wide and M for normal and it works great. Maybe in the same way GRD do for you with M6. Both cameras makes a compact package for traveling.
IMHO leica older lenses are better suited for BW likewise as CV. Zeiss and Leica ASPH works good on color because its higher contrast. I found myself having to use always much higher contrast in Photoshop when it comes to colors. So I think it is better have low contrast lenses with enough good resolution because you can always enhance effects afterwards. Vice versa it would be harder, I'd imagine.
Having too much lenses is not very bad, shameful. Instead it can be fun!
Good there are CV zeiss alternatives for low money.
It looks like I repeat here what you said above. I guess you know what you're doing and I'm looking forwards to your newer pictures
I feel pretty much same as you regarding focal length. I used Nikon zoom before and I found 28mm as great to use. Really wide as it should be. Not in between as you said. I use Barnack camera for wide and M for normal and it works great. Maybe in the same way GRD do for you with M6. Both cameras makes a compact package for traveling.
IMHO leica older lenses are better suited for BW likewise as CV. Zeiss and Leica ASPH works good on color because its higher contrast. I found myself having to use always much higher contrast in Photoshop when it comes to colors. So I think it is better have low contrast lenses with enough good resolution because you can always enhance effects afterwards. Vice versa it would be harder, I'd imagine.
Having too much lenses is not very bad, shameful. Instead it can be fun!
Good there are CV zeiss alternatives for low money.
It looks like I repeat here what you said above. I guess you know what you're doing and I'm looking forwards to your newer pictures
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Florian1234
it's just hide and seek
I can also congratulate you. Either it is both your skills and the photogenic world of your area or just the first. These shot's are impressive.
But I also can see your mentioned rush somehow in them.
If you ask me: Keep the combo. I'd take it, too, but I guess I can't afford a Leitz lens at all for the next 4 years or so.
But I also can see your mentioned rush somehow in them.
If you ask me: Keep the combo. I'd take it, too, but I guess I can't afford a Leitz lens at all for the next 4 years or so.
nightfly
Well-known
Great shots.
The black and white tonality is perfect. I wouldn't get rid of this lens (and I have the same version) for anything.
I actually use it for black and white but often favor a Voigtlander 28/3.5 for color if I want it to appear a little more vivid. I use the Voigtlander for black and white too but compared to the Summicron, the tonality is a little too harsh. I tend to see in 35 better than I do in 28 and shoot primarily in black and white.
This lens is for me the reason to have a Leica. It pretty much lives on my M4-P.
By the way if that's what you can do with XP-2 which always feels sorta overly grey and blah to me, I can't wait to see what you do with a traditional black and white emulsion like Tri-X. I would assume you'd get the same wonderful tonalilty with a little more bite.
The black and white tonality is perfect. I wouldn't get rid of this lens (and I have the same version) for anything.
I actually use it for black and white but often favor a Voigtlander 28/3.5 for color if I want it to appear a little more vivid. I use the Voigtlander for black and white too but compared to the Summicron, the tonality is a little too harsh. I tend to see in 35 better than I do in 28 and shoot primarily in black and white.
This lens is for me the reason to have a Leica. It pretty much lives on my M4-P.
By the way if that's what you can do with XP-2 which always feels sorta overly grey and blah to me, I can't wait to see what you do with a traditional black and white emulsion like Tri-X. I would assume you'd get the same wonderful tonalilty with a little more bite.
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Florian1234
it's just hide and seek
I also tried out Tri-X after shooting about 5 or 6 rolls of XP-2 in the past months. Didn't get chemicals yet - but ordered-, so this might take some days of waiting.
N
Nikon Bob
Guest
I really enjoyed your photos and musing on lenses. I normally like colour film but you B&W ones could get me to rethink that. Thanks for posting.
Bob
Bob
maddoc
... likes film again.
No 3 and 8 (not counting the Leica photo) are my favorites of this series. Strong BW, especially in no 3 I like the contrast between the man in the background and the sitting man in the front.
Thanks for sharing these and your description of the photos. Looking forward to see more
maddoc
PS: I think that you manage the 35mm FL very well.
Thanks for sharing these and your description of the photos. Looking forward to see more
maddoc
PS: I think that you manage the 35mm FL very well.
BigSteveG
Well-known
What a good photographer you are!
raid
Dad Photographer
Thank you for posting these wonderful photos. You are a gifted photographer. The lens is a good lens. I have Version 1 of the 35mm Summicron.
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edodo
Well-known
I think this cron low contrast versus the Zeisses high ones is a big plus! For me the low contrast lenses from the old time are just the best glasses you could put in front of a digital body. So in the futur those lens would be pricey and desirable for this fact only imho. One day will come when we'll all be able to afford one decent RF leitz thread digital body!
After all adding a lil bit of contrast is doable in the processing phase.
After all adding a lil bit of contrast is doable in the processing phase.
Honus
carpe diem
Nice work, Colin. I think the tonality that you are extracting is very well suited to your photography. I have a 35mm Summicron and a 28mm Biogon. They are very different beasts. Just as you have found, I find the Summicron lower in overall contrast, but provides a smoother transition between tones. The Biogon produces beautiful, saturated color and paints b&w with a broader brush stroke (imo). I'm also finding the 28mm focal length to be a great companion to 50mm. On my R-D1, it then becomes a 42mm and 75mm combo.
I think you would really like the 28mm Biogon, but I urge you to find a way to hold on to your Summicron. You really make nice images with it.
I think you would really like the 28mm Biogon, but I urge you to find a way to hold on to your Summicron. You really make nice images with it.
Vics
Veteran
Well, that's maybe the most educational thread I've read on RFF! Congratulations on your fine photography and thank you for your commentary on this lens! I love my Summicron 50 DR for my M3, but would like to find a good match for it in a 35. I hadn't even considered a v. III.
Thanks again, Vic
Thanks again, Vic
Bingley
Veteran
Thanks for posting this thread, Colin. Great photos as always, and your commentary is very interesting. I was particularly interested in the discussion about the use of high- and low-contrast lenses under different lighting conditions. There is a very recent thread on a similar subject over in the optics and lenses forum; your analysis dovetails nicely w/ that one, w/ the added bonus of your excellent pics!
kevin m
Veteran
Nice write up and good pics, too!
Alex Krasotkin
Well-known
You have done a great job with this lens!
nzeeman
Well-known
colin - congratulations like always. as usually i read your full post very carefully and had very enjoyable time. you say your photos were taken in a rush so they lack the quality of your older. maybe you are right , but also i think it is the matter of the lens also. it seems that zeiss is better for your style of photography. i dont know why but that high contrast of zeiss give even more action to your photos. anyway i know you will make good decision about that.
best
srdjan
best
srdjan
ferider
Veteran
Nice, Colin.
Just wanted to add that among the four versions of this lens, vIII is the most contrasty one. I like it because it is so small and flare resistant, not typical for pre-asph Leica lenses.
And mellow contrast for color always worked for me ... If I want more I take different film or Photoshop.
Roland.
Just wanted to add that among the four versions of this lens, vIII is the most contrasty one. I like it because it is so small and flare resistant, not typical for pre-asph Leica lenses.
And mellow contrast for color always worked for me ... If I want more I take different film or Photoshop.
Roland.
Avotius
Some guy
Just a note, I am going to try out the summicron on my bessa for a few piles of film then see what happens, work with different exposure values then see what happens, with my bessa I think its a lot easier to mess with different things with more consistency, thats one thing that keeps coming back in my head, the bessa is more consistent then the m6.