Leica Summilux-M 35mm f1.4 ASPH Quick Look:
Hey everyone, I know, it’s been a while. I’ve been shooting more, and just been very busy lately. I’m going to get back to reviewing some gear, and what’s really cool is recently, I was finally able to get the new version of the Leica Summilux-M 35mm f1.4 ASPH. I’m super excited about it, and I have used it but just haven’t gotten around to post processing any photos yet. I just wanted to mention it here, so all of you that are interested, know that I will be reviewing this lens.
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I waited quite a long time for it. I heard there were some issues with broken aperture mechanisms in the early releases…I don’t know, I don’t really visit forums all too much. All I know is I had to wait a long time to get my copy but so far, it’s been great. It’s a beautiful, beautiful lens, and it feels so solid in the hands like pretty much any high end Leica lens out there. I absolutely love the new lens hood design as well. It’s built into the Summilux-M 35mm f1.4 ASPH. You simply twist it, and the lens hood protrudes out. It’s very smooth, and more importantly, it has a tight feeling. It’s also, in my opinion, better than the old version, which made the lens feel larger. Of course, the aperture ring clicks nicely in half stops with just the right amount of resistance, and the focus ring is buttery smooth.
In terms of size, it doesn’t really feel that much larger than the Summicron 35mm lenses. I’ve been using Summicron 35mm’s my entire life. Normally when I shoot a 35mm, I stop it down to a smaller aperture, so having a faster 35mm, just wasn’t that important to me. This time around, I wanted to try something different. I do feel the extra weight from the Summilux, which makes the camera slightly more front but other than that, it still makes a great street lens just like the Summicron lenses. To me, there hasn’t been any issues with it in terms of walking around with it or anything.
Anyway, I posted a few photos of the lens mounted on my Leica M11, so you can see how it looks like. I will have some sample photos taken with the Summilux 35mm soon, I promise. I know no one wants to just see the gear lol. I really wanted to post some photos, and I had plans to but I just didn’t have enough time to look through them yet. Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned! If you have any questions, let me know!
Hi Patrick, can’t wait to get your review and pictures. I tried this briefly at a Leica shop and was pleased with the size too. I took some pictures outside with my M10-r where there was more vignetting than I desired. It might just be that it was bit dull and cloudy day. The IQ was great and in one of the pictures, I had a bit of sunstar from a taxi’s headlight! However I’m yet to decide… I’m trying a 35/2 Biogon at the moment 🙂
Hi Mahesh!
Good to hear from you!
I’m going to go out again this week to get some shots with the lens. I’ll try to get some images posted ASAP. The 35mm Biogon is a nice lens. I’m a big fan of the Zeiss stuff. Hope you’re doing well!
Best,
Patrick
Thanks Patrick. The Biogon went back today. It was nice but you know sometimes you get a look where the object in focus appears like it is stuck on the picture. It does not look like a part of the picture anymore. I wasn’t happy with that. I might just bite the bullet with the new FLE, now I just need to read a review that gives me the reason 😆
Hi Mahesh, in my opinion, you can never go wrong with a Leica 35/1.4. I used to own the original version and it is one of the few lenses I regretted selling.
Thanks Brian..
Patrick,
Thanks for the review, and I’ll look forward to seeing your pictures. I really struggled with whether to get this or stick with my Summicron; I’ve really gotten used to the small size and weight of the 35 f/2. In the end I’ve decided to keep shooting the 35 Cron and ordered the 35 f/1.4 Steel Rim Summilux.
But the close focus capabilities really intrigued me, so I got the new 50mm f/1.4 Summilux close focus version. (If you want to borrow it for testing and review, send me an email.)
Hi Patrick,
always good to come here just for the images alone. I am sure the 35 Lux is great. I recently bought the new 50 Lux that can also focus closer and I love it. I swapped my M for the SL2s though and you are back to the M11 😀. For personal work I guess the M is still more fun to use but my eye sight is not as good as it used to ne so …
Greetings Markus
Cheers mate.
I am looking forward to be seeing some photographs and some thoughts from you about the most important thing – the image quality.
Very best
Hi Patrick, wish you a very happy new year and there is a reason I say that on this page 🙂 🙂 You must have been very busy or probably lots of gear to look at. I turned 50 last year and I was going to make a big purchase (M11-p and a good lens 28 / 35mm) but haven’t taken the jump yet.