Time for a 35?

40mm's bring up the 50mm frameline, but it is easy enough to tape the selector to 35mm frameline. Or if you are intrepid, slightly file the selector metal on the lens to bring up the 35mm frameline.

I shoot with the 35mm frameline taped up and it pretty much approximates the 40mm perspective. Haven't lost any heads or hands yet in photos ;-)
 
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Use the search, you big-nosed dummy 😛

Seriously... If this other big-nosed, left-eyed (and bespectacled) sod could make any recommendation it would be to trade your M6 Classic for an M6 TTL .58x, and by all means to get a real 35mm - doesn't have to be a 4th version Summicron, the much cheaper Voigtländer 35/2.5C is very nice optically and ergonomically, too. The .58x viewfinder has easy to see 35mm framelines, and usable 28mm framelines; it is also slightly brighter and less prone to flare than the .72x finder (in my experience). And you always have the option to add a 1.25x eyepiece magnifier to use with longer lenses. Other benefits of the M6 TTL as compared to the M6 Classic are a more sensitive meter (by 1 EV), a better meter display with 3 diodes, and an easier to use shutter speed dial (but it rotates the opposite way); downsides are higher battery consumption and the infamous OFF switch on the shutter speed dial (a major design flaw in my opinion).

Vincent
 
Vincent, GREAT pics on your signature link.

I'm pretty sure my next body will be a stock MP, as much as I'd like the angled rewind crank (and while I'm at it, the M4-7 style advance lever tip), a la carte is just too much dosh. Likely at .72x. I'd look to add the 1.25x mag. to my M6 for my 90 Summicron, since I sometimes have trouble focusing with that one in low light (my concert photography discovery of the week is to never, ever focus on a mircophone in front of the singer's face -- it will invariably be the only thing sharp 🙂. The 35 and 50 framelines in a .72x finder are just about perfect for me. I think with the 28 I should just stop stressing about it and basically ignore the framelines and just use the edges of the viewfinder window for framing (M4-style).

I'm now, after thinking more about the minimal price difference and looking at some (admittedly unscientific) comparison photos, leaning towards an ASPH 35. I assume the popflash description 'used in mint condition' being code for grey market applies the lenses as well (my holdout option if nothing better comes my way). I need to do some env. portraiture in the next couple of weeks and so need to make a move of some kind relatively soon...
 
peter_n said:
Vincent if you don't like the off switch on the M6TTL then I think you need an M7 already... 😉
Click to expand...
LOL! But I don't care much for autoexposure... Actually I'm seriously thinking of removing the batteries from the M6 and just relying on my hand-held meter.
 
Just to close the loop... I looked around this week and saw a lot of beat up 4th version 35 crons for what I thought was waaayyy too much money. So, since I didn't have any critically sharp current production lenses in my arsenal, and had never gotten a new Leica lens for myself, I went ahead and ordered a 35 ASPH cron from Tony Rose ("used mint!" 😉). Got it yesterday.

Now, I've shot bricks and bricks of C-41 black and white film with all my other lenses (50mm 1st version collapsable cron, 50 lux, 90 cron pre-ASPH and CV 28 1.9), so as a test I shot my normal afternoon walk with BW400CN, rated at 320 as I normally do, and the new 35 on my M6 (I figured this would be a good test as well as a worst-case scenario -- 400 speed essentially color negative film and machine processing).

My lands! This thing is SHARP. Just ungodly sharp. Reminds me of MF. Loving it so far... Precise drawing. Objective, formal description. Large and easy to control depth of field. I think I've found my 'Walker Evans' lens (just have to work on the photographer part). Zero to complain about at large apertures as well, easy to know what's in focus and the OOF areas are very pleasing to my eye (I'm no expert, but I'd say the bokeh is as creamy, undistracting and just 'right' looking as anything I've either owned or used).

Anyway, just a note to say thanks for the feedback. I always assumed any ASPH lens would be out of reach, glad I considered the (often minimal) price difference. While I probably would have been happy with the pre-ASPH version, I'm psyched to have at least one critically sharp lens in my bag to bring out when it's called for. I'm a happy camper. Environmental portraits, here I come!
 
Congratulations, Geoff, on the new lens! I'm curious if it came packaged "as new" or if it seemed to actually be a used one.

I'm sure you'll like the lens, as I am so impressed with the 28mm Asph 'Cron I got last year. The cost was painful, causing months of GAS pains and shopping, but there just wasn't another lens as small & fast, or as excellent. A brilliant lens, and I expect your new Asph 'Cron is too!
 
Thanks all. You're right, I might be too happy. Here's one thing I'm not too wild about: the soft rubber of the special hood cap seems to attract lint like a magnet. I had been putting it in one of my pockets (which I keep pretty clean), but it seems like it will be needing to go back in the bag. And yes, it's a bit bigger than the 4th version, but still only about half the length of my 50 lux. Pretty pocketable on my M6 (without the hood -- heck even w/ the hood!).

The only other thing to be unhappy about is being tempted by the blazing sharpness at every aperture into forsaking the unique characters of my other lenses and wanting to get all asphericals, but as I am basically broke from buyng this lens, not a problem! (I'm mostly kidding, I wouldn't trade the wide open "glow" of my 50 lux pre-ASPH for anything) Similar, but related and much more dangerous, would be letting the lens' characteristics cloud my judgement about what focal length to use in a given situation. Like I said, I wanted a 35 for an env. portraiture project over the next few weeks, so I think I'm just going to shoot the heck out of it and get it out of my system.

Doug, in answer to your question, no signs of use and it was packaged as new as any new lens I've bought (in fact seemed "newer" than some SLR lenses I've unpacked from, say, B&H). Everything but the warranty card (Tony provides a 1 year dealer warranty through Popflash).

I guess it's time to break in my gallery here on RFF. I'll post up a few shots from it soon either here or on my Flickr stream.
 
Geoff, you're making me all tingly with your descriptions. I just picked up a 35/2 ASPH Thursday, and I'm saving it for when my M6 arrives Monday. I can hardly wait!
 
Interesting observations, thanks for sharing. It was also my impression that the 35mm Summicrons 4th generation currently appearing on the used market are overpriced (even more so here in Europe).

Vincent
 
Geoff glad to hear you are enjoying the lens! I have a "new" one too but I bought mine used from a photo.net member in Rhode Island who was going digital. He was genuinely sorry to be giving up the lens and I can understand why. I really dislike the huge hood that comes with these things so I bought a heavystar 46mm wide hood for $7 and that works well. Picture attached below. I don't use caps at all - all my lenses have UV filters and hoods permanently on the front...

WRT to the 4th gen. 35mm cron and the ASPH I think there is a feeling that the pre-ASPH lens is superior in the OOF department. This page of Jim Arnold's shows otherwise, at least to my mind.

 
Pics posted

Pics posted

Peter, I like the look of that hood, looks like the integrated ones when they're pulled out. I remember reading that page by Jim Arnold during researching all this. I have a hard time finding fault with either lens from the pics but found myself actually preferring the OOF renderng on the ASPH, so yeah, I guess it helped contribute to my decision.

Anyway, I've posted up some shots from my first afternoon walk/test roll. Nothing earthshattering, or even interesting, but I've shot all of these subjects with tons of cmaera/lens/film combinations so they're good for me to evaluate with. Hopefully they're not completely useless to others as well.

My Gallery
 
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Yep. those look do good good Geoff! I should explain that mine is a Summilux hence the 46mm thread size on the front, I think it is still 39mm on the Summicron ASPH.

 
I picked up a used ASPH 35 cron some months ago, fantastic lens and the one that lives on the camera. The rubbery cap does seem to attract dust and lint but I can live with that, after all it attracts it from the lens element also.

Peter, the filter thread is M39. Your right it's 46 on the 50 lux ASPH which is an odd size, the dealers have to order them in. Still waiting for a yellow one.
 
Geoff, just looked at your test shots, there really is somethin almost alive about this lens. Thaks for shareing.

Just a thought, my lens has the square hood with the rubber cap, that was the one I was refering to in my last post.

A fewof examples from mine:
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=18257&cat=500&ppuser=1521

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=22492&cat=500&ppuser=1521

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=22490&cat=500&ppuser=1521
 
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