denoir
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I've been planning for a while to make a formal comparative test of my four 35mm prime lenses and I finally got around to it today.
The lenses are:
1) Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux ASPH ("Lux35")
2) Zeiss 35mm f/2 Biogon ZM ("ZM35/2")
3) Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 Distagon Rollei ("ZR35/1.4)
4) Zeiss 35mm f/2 Distagon ZE ("ZE35/2")
(the lenses are always enumerated the same way which you'll see in the test image name)
The first two lenses were used on a Leica M9 and the last two on a Canon 5DII.
Mixing two camera systems was more complicated than I thought as:
1) Getting the same framing was difficult as the M9 and 5DII have different dimensions so just switching cameras on the tripod resulted in shifts in the framing.
2) Colors are different
3) White balance is different when set manually
I tried to work around those problems as best I could, but they are a source of variation between the shots - a lot in some and less in others.
Ok, the results. Open the images in separate tabs in your browser and flip between them.
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Scene A:
f/1.4: Lux35 , ZR35/1.4
f/2: Lux35 , ZM35/2 , RZ35/1.4 , ZE35/2
f/2.8: Lux35 , ZM35/2 , RZ35/1.4 , ZE35/2
f/5.6: Lux35 , ZM35/2 , RZ35/1.4 , ZE35/2
Scene B:
f/1.4: Lux35 , ZR35/1.4
f/2: Lux35 , ZM35/2 , RZ35/1.4 , ZE35/2
Scene C:
f/1.4: Lux35 , ZR35/1.4
f/2: Lux35 , ZM35/2 , RZ35/1.4 , ZE35/2
Scene D:
f/1.4: Lux35 , ZR35/1.4
f/2: Lux35 , ZM35/2 , RZ35/1.4 , ZE35/2
Scene E:
f/5.6: Lux35 , RZ35/1.4 , ZE35/2
A couple of 100% crops from the above:
For some reason I forgot to take a 35 Biogon shot which is a pity as I know from experience that it's the best performer stopped down - and not by a small margin.
Scene F:
f/1.4: Lux35 , ZR35/1.4
Scene G:
f/1.4: Lux35 , ZR35/1.4
Scene H:
f/1.4: Lux35 , ZR35/1.4
Scene I:
f/1.4: Lux35 , ZR35/1.4
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Conclusions: My first conclusion is that tests like this are worthless  Seriously, after using these four lenses for a while I have a much better and more general knowledge of what look they will give. There were some interesting things though of a technical nature to observe. Each lens has its strong points and weak points.
Leica 35 Summilux:
+Excellent performance across the frame
+Very nice sharpness-to-blur transition
+Good bokeh for the most part
-Dodgy bokeh on occasion
(-)Barrel distortion
Zeiss 35/2 Biogon:
+Über-sharp stopped down across the frame
+Zero distortion
-Dodgy bokeh
Zeiss 35/1.4 Distagon Rollei:
+Center sharpness
+Best bokeh of the lot
+Very nice sharpness-to-blur transition
-Weak corners even stopped down
Zeiss 35/2 Distagon ZE:
+Good sharpness across the frame
+Decent bokeh
-Heavy vignetting wide open
The position of 'my favorite' is shared by the Summilux and the 35/1.4 Distagon. I somewhat prefer the rendering of the Distagon but the Summilux advantage in raw optical performance can't be ignored. Plus both are lenses that I use primarily handheld and for that purpose the M9 is much nice to use than the 5DII. So in the end I'm more likely to pick up the Summilux for walkaround photography.
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