Fred Miranda wrote:
I'd love to review this lens and compare it with the Leica 35mm f/1.4 FLE. Looks like the release is planned for November.
Which version do you prefer? Silver, black or Titanium?
I’m thinking about Silver or Titanium. I have a black M11. I liked the silver on black look. I need to figure out how to get it in China. My mom knows nothing about buying cameras. May need to check with my cousin who works in tech.
ftllens wrote:
I have a silver one reserved in asia since silver chrome looks good on every body type vs the other colorways are more selective pairings.
How did you pre-order? I don't see anything on their site.
I wish one of the options was semigloss black on brass, but I could settle for silver anodized aluminum (if the aperture blades don’t make sawteeth bokeh).
Yes, I reserved with distributor but no idea when it's actually arriving. Really excited about this one cause the bokeh temperament/plane of focus quality ratio looks ideal to me.
ftllens wrote:
Yes, I pre-ordered with distributor but no idea when it's actually arriving. Really excited about this one cause the bokeh temperament/plane of focus quality ratio looks ideal to me.
No info on price yet, I did put down a pretty big deposit for the reservation though. I'm hoping it will be around or under $2k for the chrome aluminum version. I would definitely pay more for a brass silver chrome variant though, as I prefer the heavier helicoid rotation weight.
I just used regular distributor dealer to reserve it, maybe pre-order was the wrong word? I prebuy stuff like this all the time so I can guarantee a copy on whatever official launch day is.
There are direct discount prices from China dealers but that's mainly due to tax exemption plus the dealer sacrificing their profit margin to increase sales volume. For example on ebay, shotenkobo (japan) price if you bypassed ebay and got the tax refund rate a $820 elcan would be about $620. For qycamera (china), it would be about be about $525 for the lens because they include a LLL hood and the UV filter in their kit.
BTW, this isn't just restricted to LLL, even bigger company dealers like Hasselblad-DJI will give you discounts on surplus or slow moving items if you purchase in China directly.
My Elcan was $1,000 from Popflash before they stopped becoming official distributor and I don't regret it all because Tony has a no questions asked return policy with essentially instant refund. The premium was worth it for me over a possible long drawn out return or exchange process.
The same is for my reservation/pre-order at the dd I'm using. They also have excellent service, but they aren't high volume (lower allotment) and I will likely pay the same price as the official website.
Just was told black/silver aluminum version will be $1,500ish and the titanium version will be $1,900 and be available in December. Pretty happy with the pricing here if it holds.
Sounds fair.
I just hope the wide-open center sharpness is on par with the Summilux ASPH. In my opinion, that kind of retro bokeh works best when the sharpness is at least crisp and contrasty to balance it out.
I think it'll surpass it, since LLL stated they are essentially reviving the rare classics with high-performance optics. Kind of curious for a disassembly of the lens too, since they stated they don't use the glue retention anymore either.
Aside from LLL’s attempt to recreate this legendary AA lens, are there any other modern M-mount lenses that feature double aspherical elements? I’m trying to figure out whether I’m drawn to this hype out of nostalgia or for actual performance reasons. The LLL 50/1.2 (1966 version) didn’t really impress me in terms of optical performance. By comparison, the Nokton 50mm f/1.0 performs much better in terms of sharpness and overall rendering.
dumplinknet wrote:
Aside from LLL’s attempt to recreate this legendary AA lens, are there any other modern M-mount lenses that feature double aspherical elements? I’m trying to figure out whether I’m drawn to this hype out of nostalgia or for actual performance reasons. The LLL 50/1.2 (1966 version) didn’t really impress me in terms of optical performance. By comparison, the Nokton 50mm f/1.0 performs much better in terms of sharpness and overall rendering.
The goal of the LLL project is really to recreate a specific look from the past. When the Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux AA first appeared, it was celebrated as an optical marvel. By today's standards, many lenses surpass it in technical performance and level of correction, but very few can reproduce the subtle imperfections and character of that era's design.
Voigtlander and others can certainly produce lenses with far greater correction and multiple aspherical elements, but LLL's aim is different. They're creating a faithful reproduction of the OG Leica lens, which many photographers value for its distinctive color, contrast, and 3-dimensional rendering..
Eager for initial reviews. 35 FLE is my most used lens, if this lens winds up being similar with some added “character” I would be interested in owning both despite the similarity
