I’m also keen to try this lens and will order the titanium version for something different. I prefer the look of the non knurling option but when I owned the Leica APO 35mm, I found the knurling to be useful when close focusing. With 0.3m minimum focus, the throw is long, and just using the tab for small adjustments when it’s so high up on the lens is a bit awkward. I’m undecided which way to go.
Just fyi BH Photo is now offering pre-orders for this lens and the 35mm 8 elements.
Course you don't get Fred's discount and you do pay tax. But if you're worried about tariffs and want easy free 30 day returns BH is good.
I myself already ordered the titanium smooth version ot the apo one at LLL.
regards to all
Joe D
tunisia wrote:
Just fyi BH Photo is now offering pre-orders for this lens and the 35mm 8 elements.
Course you don't get Fred's discount and you do pay tax. But if you're worried about tariffs and want easy free 30 day returns BH is good.
I myself already ordered the titanium smooth version ot the apo one at LLL.
regards to all
Joe D
The last lens I purchased from LLL (20 days ago) was the LLL 50/1.5 Z21, and there was no tariff when purchasing directly from LLL's website. I ordered it and it arrived with no extra payment of any kind.
Dummy Question: Do they charge you the full amount for the pre-order up front?
Glad to hear there has been no previous tariff fees, any other duty import fees? Just had a surprise $149 import fee for an LLL lens I bought from a dealer in the UK. Lammmmmmeeee.
Fred Miranda wrote:
The last lens I purchased from LLL (20 days ago) was the LLL 50/1.5 Z21, and there was no tariff when purchasing directly from LLL's website. I ordered it and it arrived with no extra payment of any kind.
Thanks for the information. I ordered 35/1.4 and 35/2 APO from LLL with FREDMIRANDA code.
May I know which shipping you choose? Any difference?
Hi Fred,
Yes, same here but it may depend where you are ordering from. My deliveries come from where you are. Well not literally but Caliornia. I've never paid a tariff other than from some ebay orders. I thought some in Canada had issues, but I may be wrong.
Joe D
RomanMF wrote:
Dummy Question: Do they charge you the full amount for the pre-order up front?
Glad to hear there has been no previous tariff fees, any other duty import fees? Just had a surprise $149 import fee for an LLL lens I bought from a dealer in the UK. Lammmmmmeeee.
Wouldn't that be the expected tariffs? Not all vendors are absorbing those for their customers (why should they?). Also a dealer would have lower margins than compared to ordering directly from the manufacturer, who may opt to absorb the tariffs, for whatever reason.
I’m cool with paying it, I would just like to be aware its coming ahead of time/the cost.
rscheffler wrote:
Wouldn't that be the expected tariffs? Not all vendors are absorbing those for their customers (why should they?). Also a dealer would have lower margins than compared to ordering directly from the manufacturer, who may opt to absorb the tariffs, for whatever reason.
RomanMF wrote:
I’m cool with paying it, I would just like to be aware its coming ahead of time/the cost.
Yes its annoying these days because you never really know what you're going to get hit with when buying something internationally. the way tariffs are applied are is so murky that I hesitate to buy stuff internationally from ebay or even sometimes here on FM. That said, Map Camera from Japan is A+
Most interested to see if they managed to fix the checkered/onion pattern in the bokeh.
The water bottle sample photo 10 out of 28 on the product page appears to show onion rings in the highlights.
People seem really excited, but would it be very wrong of me to hope that this lens is disappointing? The thing is I have the VM 35mm Apo. It's fantastic - so good I thought I was done with 35s forever. Like I'll never need another. Sharper than I could ever need. Rendering that pleases me enormously. Great build quality. All for less than 15% of the price of the Leica equivalent. How great is that? What more could I ever need?
And then along come LLL, promising the same thing. In a smaller package. With close focusing. For less than 25% of the price of the Leica. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in again. I really don't mind the size of the Voigtlander, and I haven't ever really missed the ability to close focus. But if someone's offering them I know I'll feel like I'm missing out.
So my only hope is that there's a flaw - something (anything) I can tell myself is a good reason not to spend £1600 on a lens I really don't need.
With my last LLL purchase, it appears they transshipped it through Canada. As a result I paid my first duty for an LLL lens in a very long time.
Another LLL lens coming to me just a few weeks prior to this Canadian transshipment lens (type Z21 75/1.5) came from CA in the USA without a duty charge.
Matt White wrote:
People seem really excited, but would it be very wrong of me to hope that this lens is disappointing? The thing is I have the VM 35mm Apo. It's fantastic - so good I thought I was done with 35s forever. Like I'll never need another. Sharper than I could ever need. Rendering that pleases me enormously. Great build quality. All for less than 15% of the price of the Leica equivalent. How great is that? What more could I ever need?
And then along come LLL, promising the same thing. In a smaller package. With close focusing. For less than 25% of the price of the Leica. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in again. I really don't mind the size of the Voigtlander, and I haven't ever really missed the ability to close focus. But if someone's offering them I know I'll feel like I'm missing out.
So my only hope is that there's a flaw - something (anything) I can tell myself is a good reason not to spend £1600 on a lens I really don't need.
All I needed was a 35 Lux, the a Cron APO, then a Lux V2, then the LLL 11873, then an 8e, then MS-Optics 35 1.4…..you’re lucky you’re only on #2. And what the hell, pre-ordered this one too, see how it compares to the real deal
All I needed was a 35 Lux, the a Cron APO, then a Lux V2, then the LLL 11873, then an 8e, then MS-Optics 35 1.4…..you’re lucky you’re only on #2. And what the hell, pre-ordered this one too, see how it compares to the real deal
#2? I wish! It took a lifetime of restless acquisition and a cupboard full of 35s to find my peace, and now LLL have reignited the doubt. Curse them. And their children. And their children's children.
rsolti13 wrote:
All I needed was a 35 Lux, the a Cron APO, then a Lux V2, then the LLL 11873, then an 8e, then MS-Optics 35 1.4…..you’re lucky you’re only on #2. And what the hell, pre-ordered this one too, see how it compares to the real deal
My all-time favorite is the 35 Lux FLE (0.7m MFD). If I could only keep one lens, that would be it.
as I am someone completely new to this game - is this lens expected to perform as well as the Leica lens ? Does this company have an established record? I only ask because I can see threads comparing pictures but can't seem to find a general consensus among more experts here.
In technical terms, that is what is expected. The LLL has an extra element, newly developed coatings - things we associate with more correction, that is, 'performance' as commonly understood in the modern era. Element shaping is quite different as well, this alone will induce a different light ray path regime. You can have a read through their page on the development:
I think LLL will aim for a differentiated take on the source M design, perhaps a warmer image preferred by Chinese users, more attention to focus fade with constrained bokeh across focus distance ranges. They appear to have been working on this one for some time, and they see it as heralding a new APO range, with the 50mm next up. And, beginnings are delicate times!
People want a knurled focus ring, but Leica's 2022 Summilux 35mm is similarly smooth and is totally dependent on a tab, with engravings occupying the entire width of the ring should you try to grip it, finger and thumb. Might be where LLL got the idea to leave off the knurl, but they retain the scales. That Summilux turns 176 degrees.
Worth adding that the Leica 35/2 APO source lens has a 300 degree rotation from the same MFD (0.3m) to infinity. Voigtlander's 35/2 APO is 90-120 degrees (E,VM) and 250 degrees (Z, closer MFD). For info, because it matters.
philip_pj wrote:
In technical terms, that is what is expected. The LLL has an extra element, newly developed coatings - things we associate with more correction, that is, 'performance' as commonly understood in the modern era. Element shaping is quite different as well, this alone will induce a different light ray path regime. You can have a read through their page on the development:
I think LLL will aim for a differentiated take on the source M design, perhaps a warmer image preferred by Chinese users, more attention to focus fade with constrained bokeh across focus distance ranges. They appear to have been working on this one for some time, and they see it as heralding a new APO range, with the 50mm next up. And, beginnings are delicate times!
People want a knurled focus ring, but Leica's 2022 Summilux 35mm is similarly smooth and is totally dependent on a tab, with engravings occupying the entire width of the ring should you try to grip it, finger and thumb. Might be where LLL got the idea to leave off the knurl, but they retain the scales. That Summilux turns 176 degrees.
Worth adding that the Leica 35/2 APO source lens has a 300 degree rotation from the same MFD (0.3m) to infinity. Voigtlander's 35/2 APO is 90-120 degrees (E,VM) and 250 degrees (Z, closer MFD). For info, because it matters....Show more →
Good point about the latest Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux FLE 2 having a longer focus throw because of its close-focus capability and reliance on the focus tab. Light Lens Lab may be onto something by offering both options.
Personally, I would not use the close-focus feature very often, and if I did, I think using the tab would be perfectly fine. I much prefer the simpler design non-knurled focus ring now.
