[Juha Kannisto wrote:
There's just one (Silver) in Yahoo Japan Auctions for 110K yen (including tax) and it has some wear on the body and the optics are not in pristine condition either: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e1027976382
Hmm, about USD850 (including tax) for what sounds like a user copy. lens-db.com lists the production type as “Small-batch production” and a review mentioned a “rumour” that the lens was assembled in Germany with glass elements left over from producing the discontinued Rollei 35 miniature cameras. The Sonnar 40/2.8 together with a Sonnar 80/2.8 were marketed with an LTM version of the Bessa R2 called the Rollei 35RF.
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Desmolicious wrote:
The Rollei Sonnar 40 2.8 is just gorgeous on film:
In your experience, which 35mm lens comes closest to that rendering on a Leica M film body?
thinking about snapping one up in LTM for my canon 7. since I can't find the 35mm i've wanted (ltm summaron) for a decent price yet. looks like a solid performer, but I already have a hexar AF which is my dedicated 40. i just love how small this one is. i sure did love the size of my CL/40mm combo when i had it years ago.
Pretty sure this is the first sunstar taken with the CV 40 2.8 off a Stingray's front bumper. In Pasasdena. On Kentmere 400. With an MP. In a Zhou case.
;p
I used to have a Rollei 40/2.8 for years and didn't rated the performance very high. backlite flare was worse than the C-Summicron, which I acquired much later (its price were higher when Rollei was new). Of course, it feels more "solid" than the C-Summicron, or the newer CV 40/2.8. I wouldn't buy a Rollei again, since they all seem to develop fog in some inner elements. Obviously something went wrong in coating or assembly of that lenses.
Sonnar wrote:
I used to have a Rollei 40/2.8 for years and didn't rated the performance very high. backlite flare was worse than the C-Summicron, which I acquired much later (its price were higher when Rollei was new). Of course, it feels more "solid" than the C-Summicron, or the newer CV 40/2.8. I wouldn't buy a Rollei again, since they all seem to develop fog in some inner elements. Obviously something went wrong in coating or assembly of that lenses.
Not sure about this comment, most clearly on the Rollei feeling more solid than the Summicron and CV. Having all three lenses in front of me the Leica and CV are in another league in quality of construction. They are much tighter and smoother while the Rollei is built to the old standard of the 28 3.5, 50 2.5 etc where while optically great, everything just feels looser.
Also the flare is much worse with the Summicron than the Rollei - and I have included current images in this thread showing that. The Rollei has much better coatings.
The Leica lens in ways is most impressive with quality of construction given my copy is maybe 40 years old, well used and still feels rock solid and smooth.
I'm not a fan-boi, I critique my gear showing flaws and all. The Cron is tiny, sharp and fast. But terrible with flare protection. The Rollei has delicious Sonnar rendering, handles well but uses a gen 1 Cosina 'shell' (it looks near to identical to my Cosina Voigtlander lenses of same vintage. The CV 40 2.8 is very sharp, fantastic against flare, really well built, tiny but vignettes more, and is fiddly to use.
