Leica R 35mm f/2 Summicron (Type I) vs Canon 35mm f/1.4L

[fWord]

Merry Christmas everyone. Currently at work and it's been pretty quiet, so I'm on the forums.

Something put the "Leica" word into my mind recently, and I've been looking into the 35mm primes in particular because I am after a good 35mm prime lens to use on a FF DSLR.

With information from a good man at these forums and a bit of reading up, I've narrowed choices to just the Leica R stuff because the others are simply not compatible.

I think the Summilux f/1.4 is going to be out of reach. But what's the difference between the Type I and Type 2 versions of the 35mm f/2 Summicron? Any users here who can comment on their performance?

The Canon 35mm f/1.4L is a stellar lens that also comes with an exhorbitant price tag, so I was wondering how it would compare against the Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 Type 1. Obviously with the adapter I'd lose auto aperture and AF on the Leica. What's the price differences like?

[gohaj]

for usability for multi purposes, i will choose Canon 35mm f/1.4 L due to AF.
if use with adaptor on Canon EOS body, i will choose Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/2 ZF instead of Leica R 35mm though Leica R 35mm is good as well. If you need cheaper ones than Contax Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 with adaptor is a good choice.

[fWord]

Originally Posted by gohaj for usability for multi purposes, i will choose Canon 35mm f/1.4 L due to AF. if use with adaptor on Canon EOS body, i will choose Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/2 ZF instead of Leica R 35mm though Leica R 35mm is good as well. If you need cheaper ones than Contax Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2 with adaptor is a good choice.

Thanks for the suggestions. The 35L is a no-brainer and a great overall package. But I am always curious about the more obscure stuff. The Leica R 35mm is supposed to be a good deal cheaper in its type I incarnation. The newer one is not on my list because it's much too expensive for a manual-everything lens.

[gohaj]

did not know that Leica R 35mm f/2 is quite ex! $600++ for used one right? Contax Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 is abt $300 only.

[fWord]

Originally Posted by gohaj did not know that Leica R 35mm f/2 is quite ex! $600++ for used one right? Contax Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2 is abt $300 only.

I would expect it to be thereabouts. That said, is that the type I or type II summicron? The newer one is more expensive than the older one of course.

The Contax CZ sounds quite reasonably priced, however again it would be interesting to see how it compares. The 35L is the obvious buy, but if I can find an excellent 35mm prime that exceeds its performance while being cheaper, then I may be able to justify going manual-everything, although it will be such a pain to use.

[gohaj]

Originally Posted by fWord I would expect it to be thereabouts. That said, is that the type I or type II summicron? The newer one is more expensive than the older one of course. The Contax CZ sounds quite reasonably priced, however again it would be interesting to see how it compares. The 35L is the obvious buy, but if I can find an excellent 35mm prime that exceeds its performance while being cheaper, then I may be able to justify going manual-everything, although it will be such a pain to use.

you can rent a Contax Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 @ http://203.117.75.5/forums/showthread.php?t=138924 to try out.

Or can buy one (made in japan) from me Or can buy one (made in germany) from aria1209

For Leica R 35, can buy from parlin44.

For Canon 35 L, it is not difficult to find!

Many choices for you to choose.

[YOL925]

Don't think Contax Carl Zeiss has a 35mm f2 lens. Either 35/1.4 or 35/2.8, IIRC.

Leica R: 35/1.4, 35/2, and 35/2.8.

There is a short and nice review on the R35/2 summicron lens at photo.net, here. You may want to take a look.

YOL

[fWord]

Originally Posted by gohaj you can rent a Contax Carl Zeiss 35mm f/2 @ http://203.117.75.5/forums/showthread.php?t=138924 to try out. Or can buy one (made in japan) from me Or can buy one (made in germany) from aria1209 For Leica R 35, can buy from parlin44. For Canon 35 L, it is not difficult to find! Many choices for you to choose.

Thank you for the headsup on those. I've had a look at those threads. Currently it's still heavily weighed in the Canon's favour. It's easy to find and I'll probably buy new anyway. But I always want to try the obscure things.

[fWord]

Originally Posted by YOL925 Don't think Contax Carl Zeiss has a 35mm f2 lens. Either 35/1.4 or 35/2.8, IIRC. Leica R: 35/1.4, 35/2, and 35/2.8. There is a short and nice review on the R35/2 summicron lens at photo.net, here. You may want to take a look. YOL

Thanks for the link. I had a read of that yesterday while at work. Yes, I was working Christmas day.

I'm only guessing that the reviewer was referring to the type 2 summicron, but I could be wrong.

[gohaj]

Originally Posted by YOL925 Don't think Contax Carl Zeiss has a 35mm f2 lens. Either 35/1.4 or 35/2.8, IIRC.

corrected the mistake!
Contax Carl Zeiss is 35mm f/2.8
and
Zeiss ZF is 35mm f/2

[gohaj]

Originally Posted by fWord But I always want to try the obscure things.

can't find any rental for Leica R 35mm!

[fWord]

Originally Posted by gohaj can't find any rental for Leica R 35mm!

Heheh...no problems. If I really want to try it, I'll buy from Parlin. Only trouble here is that I can't find any conclusive reviews of this lens. The 35L is easy. Get a new one, get it calibrated, voila! Should be razor-sharp straight from wide open, as I've seen from some 100% crops posted at another forum. That said there's a number of really sad copies out there as well.

[gohaj]

Originally Posted by fWord Heheh...no problems. If I really want to try it, I'll buy from Parlin. Only trouble here is that I can't find any conclusive reviews of this lens. The 35L is easy. Get a new one, get it calibrated, voila! Should be razor-sharp straight from wide open, as I've seen from some 100% crops posted at another forum. That said there's a number of really sad copies out there as well.

http://www.photozone.de/active/survey/querylenstxt.jsp?filter=%22brand='Leica%20R'%22

[fWord]

Originally Posted by gohaj http://www.photozone.de/active/survey/querylenstxt.jsp?filter=%22brand='Leica%20R'%22

Thanks for yet another link...you've been most helpful. I'm surprised to see the result isn't as good as I've read in some user reviews. I would have expected it to rate higher in the vignetting and even the wide open performance category.

[framus]

if gaining 1/2 stop is a must for you, then go for the canon :-) the R summiluxes are soft wide open, i had the 50/1.4 once. the same cannot be said for their m lenses though, especially the aspherical versions: super super sharp and great contrast at any aperture!

[fWord]

Originally Posted by framus if gaining 1/2 stop is a must for you, then go for the canon :-) the R summiluxes are soft wide open, i had the 50/1.4 once. the same cannot be said for their m lenses though, especially the aspherical versions: super super sharp and great contrast at any aperture!

Going from f/2 to f/1.4 is a one-stop difference I think, so the advantage is greater. The M lenses are supposed to be very sound overall. I would have tried the 35mm f/2 version 4 Summicron-M on my camera if only it would fit.

[Keltzar]

Originally Posted by fWord I would expect it to be thereabouts. That said, is that the type I or type II summicron? The newer one is more expensive than the older one of course. The Contax CZ sounds quite reasonably priced, however again it would be interesting to see how it compares. The 35L is the obvious buy, but if I can find an excellent 35mm prime that exceeds its performance while being cheaper, then I may be able to justify going manual-everything, although it will be such a pain to use.

re:Summicron
Are you planning to use it on an R-series camera? If not, it makes little difference unless you are buying the very latest (2006?) designs which are improved. For most of the pieces, the difference is in the metering cams... which makes no difference if you intend to adapt it to EOS. Best buy may even be an old 2-cam lens.

The contax CZ is either the 35/1.4 or the f2.8 .. unless you are buying the newest Zeiss ZF 35/2. That said, the 35/1.4 is a very good lens and the f2.8 very so-so.

The summicron 35/2 is probably the best R35mm in the range... much better value than the R35/1.4

For practical purposes the L-35/1.4 is the easiest to use. If you are on a skinny budget, consider the EF35/2 ... it is very under-rated.

For R-users in the know, the Summicrons represent Leica's best designs. Both the 35/2 and 90/2 I used to have were excellent lenses. In certain situations, they were so good at picking up micro detail that even shooting at f2.0 gave the illusion that the background was still just about in-focus.

[limhousen]

I own a beat-up leica 35mm/f2 (Type1) and previously owned a 35mm/f1.4 which I sold within a week. I do use the leica lens on a Canon 10D regularly for instant gratification. Focusing is not so easy on the 10D, but stopped down aperture priority exposures are fairly accurate. I shoot wide open and therefore I get automatic aperture priority exposure using this lens on the 10D.

The Leica had noticeable vignetting but the colour, sharpness, contrast and bokeh are excellent WIDE open. You should get a lens shade (which is a rare and expensive item) to control flare .

The problem with the canon lens is not so much a sharpness or colour issue, but a problem controlling highlights. WIDE open, the purple fringing was too much to bear and it affected the image quality. The effect is akin to the image from a high end point-n-shoot with small plastic lens. The purple fringing does go away when you stop down substantially. You can test this at any shop before buying. Shoot the shiny metallic surfaces. Of course, away from strong highlights, the lens performs well enough.

The Canon 35mm L and 135mm L are considered to be legendary lenses. In the end, I kept only the 135mm.

[Keltzar]

The old R 35/2 uses a series-6 or 7 thread if I recall. You can find a S6/49mm or S6/52mm adapter and buying regular cheap threaded hoods which shouldn't be critical since its only a 35mm view angle.

As for your 10D ... it may benefit from two things:
1) focus calibaration by Canon (all my DSLRs benefitted from this, esp the 10D)
2) a manual focus screen ... which should be cheap since the 10D is quite old.

[fWord]

Originally Posted by Keltzar re:Summicron Are you planning to use it on an R-series camera? If not, it makes little difference unless you are buying the very latest (2006?) designs which are improved. For most of the pieces, the difference is in the metering cams... which makes no difference if you intend to adapt it to EOS. Best buy may even be an old 2-cam lens. The contax CZ is either the 35/1.4 or the f2.8 .. unless you are buying the newest Zeiss ZF 35/2. That said, the 35/1.4 is a very good lens and the f2.8 very so-so. The summicron 35/2 is probably the best R35mm in the range... much better value than the R35/1.4 For practical purposes the L-35/1.4 is the easiest to use. If you are on a skinny budget, consider the EF35/2 ... it is very under-rated. For R-users in the know, the Summicrons represent Leica's best designs. Both the 35/2 and 90/2 I used to have were excellent lenses. In certain situations, they were so good at picking up micro detail that even shooting at f2.0 gave the illusion that the background was still just about in-focus.

I am indeed planning to use the lens on an EOS camera, and also wide open unless photographing landscape or still life shots that don't move. If the lens functions as good as you say at wide open then it's a strong reason for me to buy this lens. While I had a thought about the EF 35mm f/2, my understanding is that it's not really usable wide open, may not have very pleasing bokeh, average build quality and buzzy AF. A good lens for the price however.

But now that I've decided that the 35mm focal length is probably what I want to use most, I'm looking for a very special 35mm prime. It's been said over and over that the older Leica lenses especially have a '3D effect' that gives 'rounding' to faces and structures. I've never personally seen it in any of my photos, and I guess it's all very subjective.