Andrew CD
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 p.5 #10 · Zeiss 35mm 1.4 zm still my preferred 35 | |
Desmolicious wrote:
Leica operates in a much higher orbit - they in essence take a money is no object (especially if it’s yours!) approach to designing their lenses. So they can make them small, optically excellent, and focus closely. Also the haptics - feel and finish - tend to be great.
The ZM Distagon is huge. It is. The focus ring feels sticky as if they use molasses as a lubricant. But the worst part is the CV lenses seem to offer better build quality, high image quality and nicer handling for a lot less money. And we are not even mentioning the latest Chinese entrants.
The ZM is IMO in the no-man’s land of too expensive, too big with too many other choices in either direction.
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Very useful perspective, thanks. You’re completely right about both the size of the ZM and the haptics of Leica lenses, I’m sure. And indeed, the quality of modern CV lenses too, although, having owned the CV 35mm f/1.4 Classic and f/1.5 Asph, I still feel that the ZM’s image quality is in a league of its own (for native M-mount 35mm lenses faster than f/2). As for the list price, well, it was perhaps understandable ten years ago when the only real alternative was the ‘Lux, but it looks a bit daft relative to the price of the excellent, more recent CV lenses. Mind you, I think B&H were, briefly, offering a reduction of over $800 a week or two ago, which was tempting ….
Rather foolishly, I traded in my ZM when I bought a Summilux pre-FLE Asph just under two years ago. Which, although I’m happy with the ‘Lux (it is a pleasure to use), was a mistake. Having never possessed both at the same time, I can’t give an apples-to-apples comparison, but these two snaps are reasonably representative of what I have found with respect to flare resistance, which I care about. (Even the ZM can exhibit a bit of CA at times, I think.) The first ZM image is unprocessed, other than LR defaults. The ‘Lux one has been edited, particularly to boost shadows and reduce highlights.
For quite a while now, I have been wondering about repurchasing the ZM. For me, it is the epitome of the Zeiss character, which I love. Threads like this don’t exactly help …. 
LEICA M11 Zeiss Distagon T* 1.4/35 ZM lens 35mm f/13.0 1/125s 64 ISO -0.3 EV
LEICA M11 Summilux-M 1:1.4/35 ASPH. lens 35mm f/11.0 1/12000s 200 ISO -1.0 EV
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The other being I know it'd be a good copy and you picked it after trying a bunch of different lenses. I was still thinking about the nokton 1.2 for Sony but it's another chunky one. And maybe the VM version would be nicer to have on the MP, but if I had the ultron maybe I wouldn't need it and I could use it for digital too.
