steel rim ? wide open or just tiny bit stop film like (also good on actual film camera), stop down decently sharp, illumination circle and fall off quite decent, size great, price quite bit more 3X but it is two in one lens .
I go back and forth with my new LLL 35.1.4 and the steel rim...... I am not always sure which one I'll choose to carry on a given day. I do think I like the LLL a bit better for indoors light relatively wide open- it is somewhat akin to 1.2 50 LLL indoors but better less soft opened up, outdoors, whether open or stopped down harder choice.
Fred Miranda wrote:
I keep getting this question quite often, so I am posting it here in case it helps others who are considering the same options.
Question: I am looking for my first 35mm lens for a Leica, mainly for street, travel, landscape, and occasional portraits, with a vintage Kodak film like rendering.
I am considering the LLL 35mm f/1.4 11873, the Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4, and the Nokton 35mm f/1.5.
Which would you choose and why?
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Answer: They are quite different. You mentioned street, travel, landscape, and occasional portraits. That basically covers everything , so ideally you are looking for one lens that can do it all instead than something highly specialized.
Right away I would rule out the Nokton 35mm f/1.4 Classic. It is great for certain uses like portraits, but it is not ideal for landscape work, even when stopped down. The corners never really clean up fully, and for street it is not the most consistent option either. Since you did not mention wanting a very small f/1.4 lens, I would scratch it off the list.
The LLL 35mm f/1.4 is a strong all-rounder for what you described, and the same goes for the Nokton 35mm f/1.5. Both give a similar rendering style, not overly sharp wide open which works well for a more filmic look, with some residual SA that is actually great for portraits, and then solid sharpness when stopped down for street and landscape work.
If price is a factor, the Voigtlander is the better deal, especially used, although the LLL has a nicer aesthetic in my opinion.
steel rim ? wide open or just tiny bit stop film like (also good on actual film camera), stop down decently sharp, illumination circle and fall off quite decent, size great, price quite bit more 3X but it is two in one lens .
I go back and forth with my new LLL 35.1.4 and the steel rim...... I am not always sure which one I'll choose to carry on a given day. I do think I like the LLL a bit better for indoors light relatively wide open- it is somewhat akin to 1.2 50 LLL indoors but better less soft opened up, outdoors, whether open or stopped down harder choice.
I would put the Leica 35mm f/1.4 Lux Steel Rim in the same general category as the Nokton 35mm f/1.4 Classic, though the Nokton is better corrected for SA, so it delivers higher contrast and less glow. Both are fairly similar in rendering structure and in coma correction, but the Steel Rim actually pulls ahead in corner sharpness once stopped down.
Is it sharp enough for landscapes? I would say no as a primary choice, but it's definitely usable. Perhaps more so for street stopped down to at least f/5.6. I'd reach for other lenses if landscape work is one of the main goals.
Both the LLL 35/1.4 and the CV 35mm f/1.5 Nokton lean toward smoother transitions and minimal outlining, which will appeal more to people who prefer that rendering style.
I can see that, the 28 apo lanthar is my current fav for landscapes.. for me the 35 is my second if I have two lenses, a 50 apo summicron as my more perfect lens, and then a 35 as my character either the LLL or steel rim, then if I add more lenses ithe 28 apo my third... landscape and all, and onward if four then 90 or 135, then back to specialty 50s noktons if low light or F2 character if bright.... and on and on until my back complains or my backpack runneth over in a strategic mistake then return to a two lens carry. In the end I dont like 35 for landscape it is neither here or there, which makes it great for street the in-between, I like 28 so much better. But where the 35 LLL or steel rim do work for more landscape is mood shots where sharpness is not expected and the lighting sets the stage- you had amazing Yosemite shots recently that such great arty shots of light and mood..
Fred Miranda wrote:
I would put the Leica 35mm f/1.4 Lux Steel Rim in the same general category as the Nokton 35mm f/1.4 Classic, though the Nokton is better corrected for SA, so it delivers higher contrast and less glow. Both are fairly similar in rendering structure and in coma correction, but the Steel Rim actually pulls ahead in corner sharpness once stopped down.
Is it sharp enough for landscapes? I would say no as a primary choice, but it's definitely usable. Perhaps more so for street stopped down to at least f/5.6. I'd reach for other lenses if landscape work is one of the main goals.
Both the LLL 35/1.4 and the CV 35mm f/1.5 Nokton lean toward smoother transitions and minimal outlining, which will appeal more to people who prefer that rendering style....Show more →
EMH2025 wrote:
I can see that, the 28 apo lanthar is my current fav for landscapes.. for me the 35 is my second if I have two lenses, a 50 apo summicron as my more perfect lens, and then a 35 as my character either the LLL or steel rim, then if I add more lenses ithe 28 apo my third... landscape and all, and onward if four then 90 or 135, then back to specialty 50s noktons if low light or F2 character if bright.... and on and on until my back complains or my backpack runneth over in a strategic mistake then return to a two lens carry. In the end I dont like 35 for landscape it is neither here or there, which makes it great for street the in-between, I like 28 so much better. But where the 35 LLL or steel rim do work for more landscape is mood shots where sharpness is not expected and the lighting sets the stage- you had amazing Yosemite shots recently that such great arty shots of light and mood..
I agree. The Voigtlander 28mm f/2 APO is probably the most technically corrected lens currently available in M-mount, and it would be my pick for landscape work. But, I also use 15, 21, 50, and 90mm lenses for landscapes depending on the scene.
Ironically, the original question was about the best 35mm all-rounder, but I rarely use 35mm for landscapes since it sits too close to 28mm for my preference.
I have never played with the in camera options. I use Dehancer as a Photoshop plugin. It is pretty powerful.
I use the option with the Zf, it’s really good, better than the grain option of Lightroom. But the Dehancer one is also better than the Zf’s, I did get the standalone app recently since I decided to try my hands at video, it works wonders on stills too indeed.
, so ideally you are looking for one lens that
