Which Summicron 35mm?

[J. Borger]

Never was happy with the 35 cron asph ..... so i got the v4 as an addition .......... never used the asph since.

 

[alexz]

Well, I hadn't chance to compare personally the pre-ASPH 35mm 'Cron with my ASPH and neither with Biogon, but in the past, when contemplating about the choice of 35mm I ended up with ASPH just for the reason of being able to afford one then, the neat look (and usability) of rectangular hood, size and hoping not being disappointed by the performance given the kind of money it costed..
I guess, performance-wise, I would probably be equally happy with Biogon, but would always hesitating what would I earn would I fork out twice as much $$ for ASPH... , and would always envy that cool rect. hood..LOL
So far I didn't shoot enough with my 35mm ASPH to gain a proved confidence in its performance at the extremes (my main FL left to be 50mm), but from that little experience I gained so far I can't point on its pitfalls performance-wise, what I tend however to agree with X-ray is about the focusing tab..I still find focusing ring to be much more convenient solution, IMHO, of course...
What I wouldn't agree with X-ray through is his point of view on hoods. My personal experience (not only related to RF, applicable to an SLR, MF, etc) insists on using dedicated hoods for every lens it comes with, if not only for flare resistance but at least for mechanical protection. Hence, once comparing the lenses size-wise I always consider the dedicated hoods on.
I wish Leica would design and offer a dedicated rect. hood for their 50mm "Cron (latest one) - I'd happily use one instead of built-in retractable one..

 

[vincentbenoit]

Pre-asph

Pre-asph

Pre-asph because much more compact. As to optical performance, any difference between asph and non-asph is irrelevant to me; either lens is good enough.

Vincent

 

[Vincenzo Maielli]

I vote for the Cron 35 V4 Pre Asph but i find the choice a little bit too short. My preferred Cron 35 is the first version, the 8 elements, a true magical lens. I own an M3 goggled version.
Ciao.
Vincenzo

 

[raid]

I vote for the Cron 35 V4 Pre Asph but i find the choice a little bit too short. My preferred Cron 35 is the first version, the 8 elements, a true magical lens. I own an M3 goggled version.
Ciao.
Vincenzo

I concur with Vincenzo that the first version is magical. Leica was at its best.

 

[Krosya]

I concur with Vincenzo that the first version is magical. Leica was at its best.

Would you care to show any examples of that MAGIC you are reffering to?
I'm yet so see it from this so called " special" lens.

 

[ferider]

Two recent v3 shots (who does color, anyways ...):

On Reala 100.

Cheers,

Roland.

 

[-vin-]

Would you care to show any examples of that MAGIC you are reffering to?
I'm yet so see it from this so called " special" lens.

time for a battle of the crons!!!
I learnt that the 2nd and 3rd versions have the same optical design (those shots from ferider show a great detail and some flare), now I'd like to see some 1st version's pictures!
Vincenzo, please show us some results of your "new" lens. (ciao!)

for what is worth, I'm really satisfied by my poor man's summicron, the canon one, but i'll soon try a real one.

 

[vieri]

Tried both, kept the v.4 - smoother, less clinical sharpness but sharp enough, smaller.

 

[Doug]

Here's a shot with the 8-element version 1 (Z-I body, fuji NPZ 800)

 

[raid]

Would you care to show any examples of that MAGIC you are reffering to?
I'm yet so see it from this so called " special" lens.

There are many images posted online from the V1.

 

[35mmdelux]

to original post: Pix are sharp and for me at least hard to tell because little use of boke.

 

[kipkeston]

I got my hands on a 4th today. Build is not what I would associate with what is traditionally known as "Leitz" but maybe the glass will make up for it.

 

[summilux]

here is the result of a homemade test by Viewfinder magazine sometime ago:

it seems the summaron 35 is quite good at certain apertures and certain image circles. I have tested both the first summicron and the summaron at f2.8, the summaron has higher contrast/resolution, but alas more vignetting than the 8 element too.

and for 35mm in general, you might also want to consider the new summarit 35/2.5 and c biogon 35/2.8. many who had tried the summarit say it has better bokeh than the 7 element summicron and flare less too.

 

[edodo]

I don't know if the f2.5 summarit 35mm is similar to the lens on the minilux (same f stop summarit 40mm) but it's the minilux that showed me the power of modern leica glass... superb imaging! Not only resolution but something else maybe THE glow who knows...

 

[cam]

I vote for the Cron 35 V4 Pre Asph but i find the choice a little bit too short. My preferred Cron 35 is the first version, the 8 elements, a true magical lens. I own an M3 goggled version.
Ciao.
Vincenzo

I concur with Vincenzo that the first version is magical. Leica was at its best.

+1

i agree completely with both of you.

 

[Krosya]

I keep hearing of all that magic - can anyone show me some examples of that magic?

 

[HuubL]

First two are V1 Summicron
Last one is the Summaron

I don't see much of that Leica glow, but the negs are plenty sharp enough.
Not satisfied with the grain too much, development temp was too high (HP5 in Rodinal 1:100, 30 min).
Forget to mention that the middle one is cropped about 50%.

 

[chut]

Great photos Andy. I especially like the first and third shots. What developer did you use for these?

I use a 35/2 v.4 pre-asph as well and am very happy with it.

 

[chut]

Okay. Looks like your lab does good work. Seems like D-76 if I were to guess.