Leica S 30-90 vs. S 30 vs. S 35

[Thomas73]

Hi all,

I would like to know how these lenses compare to each other. Ok, each of them is known to be superlative but apart from the widest aperture, is one even better (especially the Vario-Elmar)?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[thedigitalbean]

At 30mm the Vario-Elmar doesn't get sharp in the extreme corners until you stop down considerably. From memory the S 30 was pretty spectacular across the frame even at f/4.

 

[peterv]

Thomas, there were two quite informative threads about the 30-90:

http://www.getdpi.com/forum/leica/48836-new-45mm-s-vs-30-90-zoom-any-thoughts.html?highlight=30-90

http://www.getdpi.com/forum/leica/54539-short-leica-s-30-90mm-lens-review.html?highlight=30-90

Regards,

Peter

 

[fotografz]

The primes are quite excellent … probably splitting hairs when comparing them … do not know how the zoom compares at 30 or 35mm wide open.

I opted for the 35/2.5 because I shoot mostly people and I found 35mm (28mm equivalent) to be as wide as I wanted to go when shooting groups of people and avoiding to much distortion of people toward the edges.

- Marc

 

[Stuart Richardson]

The S 35mm is a better performer than the 30-90mm zoom. I do not have the 30mm, but I would imagine it is the same story.
The zoom is convenient and very good compared to most lenses you would find from other manufacturers, but the laws of optics have not changed...zooms are compromises, primes are much less so. The zoom is at its best though at that range, and I can see it being a very viable alternative to have one zoom for 30-40mm use if you mostly need it in that range. Then for times when you don't need the extreme corner performance, you also have the rest of the range available. The downsides are that it is heavier than the other two lenses on the camera (though one lens is lighter than two), it is slower, and it does not have the lens shutter option. The ergonomics are great though, and if you are primarily looking at the wide end, the corner and edge performance is not a problem. It will be higher in the primes, but not egregiously so. The bigger problems in corner and edge performance are not visible until 50 to 60mm and above. Even then, in a lot of compositions they will not be relevant.