The focusing is dampened and smooth. It's not as "slippery," as the Mandler or the Voigtlander 35 F/1.5 I have (the latter is more dampened than the former).
It feels more like my Thypoch lenses in that regard but the tolerances are tighter. I only other LLL lens I own is the 50mm Z21, which has a lot more play in it. I hate wobble in my lenses, lol. teaaaa wrote:
How's the helicoid? Does it feel smooth with enough resistance for precise focusing?
RomanMF wrote:
It showed up a day early! Build quality seems nice thus far. The focus throw on this thing is SUPER long. Black paint version will be a fingerprint magnet. I'll be taking it with me to NYC and then camping out in the Sequoias. I don't have a digital Leica body at the moment, so the ZF will have to do. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55560237964_8124c6e77d_c.jpg
?si=Tf3FdXxRMCeWfiXK
Curious about the claims it will cover 44x33 so if you get a chance to test that would be awesome to see if it's true...
First day out with the lens. I didn't touch the colors or general contrast on these images to give you a more neutral view of how the lens renders on the ZF. I may pickup an M EV1 rental for a few days just to shoot it on a digital M and see if there's any huge differences. RMF_3934 by Roman France, on Flickr
Would be interesting to compare it to my Pentax/Cosmicar 35/2.8 on 44×33. That lens covers and is great in the FF IC and a little beyond then gets a lot of SA and coma.
selahsean wrote:
Curious about the claims it will cover 44x33 so if you get a chance to test that would be awesome to see if it's true...
We are writing to inform you of a recently identified issue affecting some Light Lens Lab 35mm f/2 “Apochromatic” lenses.
Following feedback from our community and customers, we have identified excessive flare under certain lighting conditions. Although some flare can occur in any lens, the level observed in affected units does not meet the standards we have set for our Apochromatic Series.
Mr. Zhou and our production team have determined that the issue stems from internal reflections that the manual lens blackening process did not fully suppress. Based on our current findings, approximately one in ten lenses produced is affected.
We identified this issue in production units during our September run. Now that we understand its cause, we are implementing the necessary corrections to prevent it from recurring in future production of the 35mm f/2 “Apochromatic”.
If you have experienced excessive flaring with your lens, please reply to this email. We will arrange your choice of the following options:
Free replacement: We will replace your lens with a corrected unit at no cost. Replacement units will ship in batches after October 7, 2026, following Mr. Zhou and our laboratory team’s return from the National Day holiday in China. For customer orders, your order status will temporarily be marked as “unfulfilled” while we arrange your replacement.
Free return and full refund: We will cover return shipping and issue a full refund for your order.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate the feedback that helped us identify this issue. We are committed to resolving it and ensuring that our lenses meet the optical standards you expect from Light Lens Lab.
Please contact us with any questions or concerns.”
I shot mine straight into the sun and had minimal flaring, so I think I dodged a bullet.
RomanMF wrote:
Update from LLL on the 35 APO production:
“Dear Testers, Reviewers, and Valued Customers,
We are writing to inform you of a recently identified issue affecting some Light Lens Lab 35mm f/2 “Apochromatic” lenses.
Following feedback from our community and customers, we have identified excessive flare under certain lighting conditions. Although some flare can occur in any lens, the level observed in affected units does not meet the standards we have set for our Apochromatic Series.
Mr. Zhou and our production team have determined that the issue stems from internal reflections that the manual lens blackening process did not fully suppress. Based on our current findings, approximately one in ten lenses produced is affected.
We identified this issue in production units during our September run. Now that we understand its cause, we are implementing the necessary corrections to prevent it from recurring in future production of the 35mm f/2 “Apochromatic”.
If you have experienced excessive flaring with your lens, please reply to this email. We will arrange your choice of the following options:
Free replacement: We will replace your lens with a corrected unit at no cost. Replacement units will ship in batches after October 7, 2026, following Mr. Zhou and our laboratory team’s return from the National Day holiday in China. For customer orders, your order status will temporarily be marked as “unfulfilled” while we arrange your replacement.
Free return and full refund: We will cover return shipping and issue a full refund for your order.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate the feedback that helped us identify this issue. We are committed to resolving it and ensuring that our lenses meet the optical standards you expect from Light Lens Lab.
Please contact us with any questions or concerns.”
I shot mine straight into the sun and had minimal flaring, so I think I dodged a bullet....Show more →
Great that LLL right away acknowledged the issue and came up with a plan for a fix. Leica had the same flare issue with the 50 APO M upon release, same cause, and it took them over a year to identify, notify, and fix.
highdesertmesa wrote:
Leica had the same flare issue with the 50 APO M upon release, same cause, and it took them over a year to identify, notify, and fix.
So it's a pretty accurate copy of the Leica sauce, eh
RomanMF wrote:
First day out with the lens. I didn't touch the colors or general contrast on these images to give you a more neutral view of how the lens renders on the ZF.
The CA isn't out of control, but certainly more than I'd want or expect from a lens advertised as APO.
It mostly covers the X2D II sensor. If you shoot in 1:1 or 3:2 you'll be fine.
First is wide open at 0.7M, the second is F/5.6 at the same distance. LLL 35 APO Testing by Roman France, on Flickr
RomanMF wrote:
First day out with the lens. I didn't touch the colors or general contrast on these images to give you a more neutral view of how the lens renders on the ZF. I may pickup an M EV1 rental for a few days just to shoot it on a digital M and see if there's any huge differences. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55561011337_2bf28ae356_o.jpg RMF_3934 by Roman France, on Flickr
Thanks for sharing these sample images, Roman! They look exceptionally clean with impressive contrast. It definitely has the signature resolution and contrast of a top tier APO lens with virtually non existent color fringing. It is very reminiscent of the Voigtlander 35mm f/2 APO (but in a smaller package), but with noticeably smoother transition zones which many will prefer.
A few more before I really get into the work day.
Another variant of the Halloween house. Followed by a flower shot at the lenses closest MFD wide open. And then another shot of the dancer on the beach, all shot at F/2.0 RMF_3720 by Roman France, on Flickr
Going to shoot more after work. I brought the Mandler with me as well, so I can compare two lenses that share a focal length but wildly different intentions.
As far as I can tell, the only Light Lens Lab lenses that currently state on their official product pages that they support medium-format coverage (up to 44×33 mm) are the 50mm f/1.5 "Z21" and the 75mm f/2 "SP-II".
The 75mm f/1.5 "Z21" does not mention it on the product page (only in the older announcement post here), so likely it's another lens with medium format coverage.
LLL should be a little more strict with what their partners/early access folks say, then. From the Macfilos article:
The most striking disclosure concerned what Mr Zhou called spectral weighting — his explanation of the elusive “Leica look”. The spectrum visible to the human eye is roughly 400 to 700 nanometres. But when you want the Leica character, you often need to extend the design range to about 380 to 720 nanometres. The question is how you weight those different spectral regions. What people call the Leica look frequently comes from placing slightly more emphasis on the blue-green region. Chinese lenses typically end up with a red bias. This is a closely guarded trade secret.
He also claimed the lens has an unusually large image circle. Because the image circle is so large, the lens is basically usable on a 44x33mm medium-format sensor. It is hard to verify that claim with access to a suitable camera, but it is a striking one for an M-mount lens of this size.
Either he's putting words into Zhou's mouth or speaking out his rump. Based on Roman's samples, there is nothing "unusually large" about that.
LLL also reposted and signal boosted supposed photos taken on the 907x, though I really have to wonder if they were, given that the original posted labeled them as 45P, which of course is a native Hassy lens.
No one else cares about it, but I'll write to LLL to ask about focus breathing and the shift in angle of view at close focus distance - important for racks. I'll post what they have to say. They are fine with responses to queries, from recent experience.
