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My new buddy: Summilux-M 35 mm f/1.4 asph II

ashwinrao1

Active member
Hi guys,
Thanks to Robert (monza) at Precision Camera, I was able to get a hold of this outstanding lens last evening. Given the first winter snow storm in Seattle in 2 years (and the fact that I couldn't bike, plus public transportation was hit-or-miss at best, I got to take the 35 lux asph II and M9 out for a maiden voyage through the snow....

The whole set of test shots is here:

SLIDESHOW

SET

And here are a few examples:














The one above is heavily cropped...

Images were processed solely in lightroom. I did some color adjustments (direct positive and old polar, 1 B&W coversion using an "orange filter" conversion)....It was a cool, evening day, around both sunrise and sunset, when I took the shots...part of the coolness in color rendering is due to the time of day and setting. Some was due to processing in LR3.

My initial thoughts
1. No detectable focus shift (maybe the best lens for this that I own...)
2. A bit more contrasty than the prior lens, with a slightly cooler rendering
3. A mix of modern asph look, with a touch of the classic creaminess, similar to the first version
4. Aperture and focusing rings turn smoothly, and are not stiff
5. THe lens hood is a real winner, though it takes a bit of force to get a 46 mm UV-MRC filter in....
6. It seems smaller than the prior asph version, mainly due to hood design
7. It's build quality is tops, no faults here (no element wobble)

Seems like a winner to me. Thanks for humoring my mini review!

My best to you all, and happy holidays!
 
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Amin

Active member
Terrific set, Ashwin, and I enjoyed the review as well. Love the second photo in this thread.
 

ashwinrao1

Active member
Yeah, the price was a bit nauseating, and the primary reason I didn't jump up at first and put my name on a list. However, I was able to make a fast sale on the v1 summilux for a reasonable price, and was able to turn that and a bit more ( ;) ) into this ....

Thanks for the kind words, Jan, Amin, & Mike!
 

D&A

Well-known member
Ashwin,

Extremely nice series of diverse shots to show off some of the characteristcis of this lens. In my testing, I actually found the new 35mm Lux asph (Ver II) slightly warmer than the previous one (Ver I)...just the opposite of what you observed. Possibly due to lighting. In any case, enjoy the new lens!

Dave (D&A)
 

ashwinrao1

Active member
Thanks, Charles, Alfonso, David, and Dave.

Interesting findings, Dave. I admitedly was shooting in very "cool" lighting circumstances, and some of my post-processing in LR3 may have accentuated that. As I get to know the lens more, it'll be interesting to see how things turn out, given your experience....

Thanks to everyone for your kind words!
 

D&A

Well-known member
Hi Ashwin,

Interestingly, as much as your posted images were shot under "cool" lighting type circumstances, much of mine were under "warm" lighting...both indoors under tungsten and warm end of day light. So there might have been some bias in each of our situations. At the time though, I shot both lenses (Ver I & II) side by side, so differences seen I suppose would be relative to one other regardless of the temp. of light present. The differences weren't profound, but neverless obvious.

A second difference, which I noticed (and had previously been observed by others who have made direct comparions). were the OOF areas (bokek), which appeared to be somewhat more diffuse and soft in Ver I lens, especially with reflections and somewhat direct light sources in the background. There appears to be a set of tradeoffs, in order for the Ver II lens to perform the way it does. In any case, both lenses are truly amazing in their image capturing prowless.

Dave (D&A)
 

ashwinrao1

Active member
Fascinating. I didn't run a side by side (had to sell the v1 before I could buy the v2). The additional confounder there is that the M9 doesn't always do white balance well, but given the same lighting, subject, and warmth, it should come out that the lens makes reproducible results. I will try to test the lens soon in warmer circumstances and see what happens.

I agree that the V1 seems to have a softer OOF based on my soley subjective evaluation...Its almost as if the new lens is behaving more contrasty, more aspherically (I don't know if that's a word), with possibly harsher OOF transitions. I need to test this more doing "ugly tests" to provoke harsh bokeh and see what happens...I was initially a bit nervous about the images that I saw before buying the new lens, in terms of harshness of the OOF regions/bokeh/whathaveyou, but I am a sharpness freak, and suspect that the lens would improved once stopped down....

The V1 lens is still magic, to my eyes. It is possibly the best balance out there between classic and modern looks....If one has "a good copy" with minimal focus shift (mine was that...no noticeable focus shift), one shoule probably keep it...

I do think the look of this lens will pair better with the 50 lux asph and 90 cron/75 cron and 90 elmarit....

But there's a richness there to the files, something different than the clinical beauty of the 75 cron and 50 lux asph...hard to describe...

I am excited to share more, and Dave, please do the same. We can sort this lens behavior thing out over time! I, for one, am excited, to keep discovering the lens!
 

ashwinrao1

Active member
Looking at my own shots, one could postulate areas of "nervous bokeh", which have been mentioned before for this lens...I actually like a slight bit of activity in the bokeh in certain circumstances, can really add to the atmopshere of the shot....
 

danlindberg

Well-known member
Great testshots! I particularly like to see how well it controls the direct sunlight in the b&w bikeshot. Excellent.

The image with the single leaf on snow, the snow is very very blue. Did you put the M9 on auto whitebalance?
 

Paratom

Well-known member
great shots and a dream lens....I had ordered one but canceled my order because I thought I should resist. I hope I can.
 
Congratulations Ashwin,
What a great news :) I also received mine yesterday from Leica dealer in Bahrain I've got it along with the 75mm APO.
What a day.

I can't wait to go out and shot with these lenses.

I hope that you enjoy your time.
 

monza

Active member
Ashwin, these are excellent images. You sure they are just test shots? :) Glad you are enjoying it!
 
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