Argh, Carsten I so wish you had not said that. I have been thinking about that lens but I was going to say that a) it's really too expensive b) it's not available anywhere. To see the exact price in order to convert it to Euros I went to the homepage of the online shop where I usually buy my camera stuff.
To my horror I discovered... they have it in stock! Damn it. The lack of availability was a good excuse for forgetting it for a while. Now I have to make a decision fast instead while they still have it in stock.. Damn. I'm not too thrilled with my Zeiss 35/2 but I'm also not too thrilled about spending €4000 on a single prime lens. Especially not considering how much I've already spent on the M9 and lenses.
What also complicates matters is that I've seen some pretty amazing images shot with it where I have loved the rendering style but I have also seen it in some shots share some of the attributes of the 75 Cron which I'm not sold on. I definitely like what I've seen better than what I get from my 35/2 Biogon but I'm not sure I think that difference is worth spending €4000 on. At the same time 35mm is my favorite walkaround FL and it's a shame to have a weak lens at that FL. The 35 Cron would of course be an option, but as I said, I would really like a fast 35. And since the 35 Cron isn't exactly cheap either then I'd rather spend a bit more to get an f/1.4 lens.
As I said, Carsten, I wish you had not mentioned the 35 lux. I am however leaning towards the solution of acting like an adult with some form of impulse control and stick with the Zeiss
Perhaps a CV 35/1.2 down the road would make more sense. I've seen some very interesting stuff from that lens. It's a bit too large for my taste but I do approve of the price
Luka, amazing B&W shots Nice shots with the ZM 35. Hope your M9 is back soon
Having a fast shorter FL is a necessity for functions.. or just a wish list
Fast wides are great because you get the double benefit of larger aperture and smaller minimum shutter speed. Still, I'm starting to feel that I'm overdoing it with new gear. I usually need a month or two of pretty intense shooting before I feel that I've really gotten to know a lens. In the past 30 days I've bought five lenses and a new camera so I think I need to slow things down a bit.
Right now I'm mostly just looking forward to getting a calibrated M9 back.
denoir wrote:
Perhaps a CV 35/1.2 down the road would make more sense. I've seen some very interesting stuff from that lens. It's a bit too large for my taste but I do approve of the price
i've seen some wonderful, characterful shots with that lens. it might suit you the way the rokkor does. but, it's also giant for a rangefinder lens and much of that character comes from lacking the perfection of the 35 lux.
Luka, nice B&W tones from the museum series and the building. #3 and the last building shot is my fav. Is the #3 shot shot with the 75Cron or Sonnar?
If you can afford it, Luka, just go out and buy the 35Lux and get over the agony!
Unfortunately for me as well, the 35mm FL is my favorite.. I can shoot with this one lens every day. If only I had some extra body parts to sell, the new 35Lux would be in my bag.
Was at the the Museum of Fine Arts Boston this afternoon for the Richard Avedon exhibition. If any of you are in the area, this is highly recommended. The cast, sets and composition send shrills to my spine, a truly splendid exhibition. Richard Avedon is really an amazing artist and photographer, one of my favorites.
It was a community day (free to public) and the Grand opening of a new wing at the museum, and luckily I brought along my M9 and 50CronV3. I accidentally coded the lens as a 50CronV4 and the DNG files came out different, I won't say bad.. just different I need to be more careful with the manual lens profile next time.
A few color shots to show the rendering of this 50CronV3 @f/2. All with default profile in LR3, zero exposure adjustments and auto WB.
Luka, what don't you like about the 35/2 zeiss? Smeone is sellin an m8u with that lens and a cv wide for $4k and I was thinking of going that route..but it's not much farther to get an m9, which seems to be a significant upgrade.
Otoh, maybe I should be smart and get a 5dmk2, but it's heavier and not a rangefinder. I'm bouncing/torn. If I get the m9 I wil only buy one 35mm lens and it has to be affordable (comparatively, maybe a cv to start or zeiss, but it wont be a leica lens I doubt).
The issue with 5d is that mf without a split screen is very difficult, and with split screen iirc the vf is going to be dim in low light.
I've decided to take a month trip up the west coast to Vancouver and back a different way (stopping at the grand canyon since I haven't been as an adult) and I really want to have a good ff and 35 for the trip, the 35L has not been reviewed that positively it seems. the 5d, kens and trip would cost the same or less than the m9!
sebboh wrote:
i've seen some wonderful, characterful shots with that lens. it might suit you the way the rokkor does. but, it's also giant for a rangefinder lens and much of that character comes from lacking the perfection of the 35 lux.
Yep, it's very long and blocks a significant part of the viewfinder. At the same time the rendering may be exactly what I'm looking for. I'll always prefer interesting rendering over raw optical performance.
joe88 wrote:
Luka, nice B&W tones from the museum series and the building. #3 and the last building shot is my fav. Is the #3 shot shot with the 75Cron or Sonnar?
If you can afford it, Luka, just go out and buy the 35Lux and get over the agony!
Thanks Joe. #3 was with the 75 Cron.
I have been agonizing a bit more about the 35 Lux. I changed my mind and decided to get it after all. I can afford it but it is objectively a very high price for a lens and I'd rather not spend so much without getting something I really love in return. But I also thought that I do want a fast 35 and the 35 Lux is the only realistic candidate (don't like what I've seen from the CV 35/1.4).
Then I spent some time looking through 35 Lux ASPH II images and concluded that while I really liked Lloyd Chamber's sample photos, I have not been blown away by the other samples I've seen. I have been spoiled by the incredible Zeiss 35/1.4 Distagon (converted Rollei) on my 5DII that I'm bound to get disappointed.
So I'm back to thinking that I should not get it.
Sorry to bore you with my indecision and agonizing, I'm just thinking out loud It does however help to structure things..
Great shots with the 50 Cron! I really like the rendering of that lens.
h00ligan wrote:
Luka, what don't you like about the 35/2 zeiss?
Bobu wrote:
What's wrong with the 35zm? Your images shot with this lens look quite good.
Boris
Well, I think it lacks some of the Zeiss 'bite' - local and global contrast, sharpness, saturation etc. I'm not crazy about the bokeh either. It's just not the type of rendering I'm used to getting from a Zeiss. The 25/2.8 Biogon ZM on the other hand is exactly what you would expect from a wide Zeiss prime.
Anyway, although I find it a bit too neutral, I probably should not say that I don't like the 35/2 Biogon. I've gotten some decent shots out of it and after reviewing a lot of samples from both it and the new 35 Lux, I can can conclude that almost all of my criticism against the Biogon applies to the Lux as well. Primarily it's the very neutral rendering and the LoCA filled bokeh. Both also suffer from veiling flare in counter light. Overall however, I'm more positive than negative.
At medium distances (and far distances as well) it can produce really traditional Zeiss rendering:
At MFD things get funky and un-Zeiss like. I find myself almost liking it, but only almost:
There is a thin line between "lively" and "harsh" and I think the 35/2 ZM is by a hair more in the harsh direction.
Luka, interesting examples with the ZM 35. The bokeh, is somewhat harsher, than what I would have expected.
Really look forward to your first shots with the 35 Summilux Asph II. I am still waiting, maybe this week stock will be available
Joe, interesting lens coding mistake, but I really love the rendering Maybe you need to document it, so it can be repeated I have been reviewing some of the M9 shots by well known photographers, and it fascinates me how they achieve some of beautiful rendering in their shots.
Boris, sadly no. There is some assorted information on various sites but nothing systematic.
-Steve Huff ( http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/all-reviews/leica-reviews/ ) has some reviews. The problem with them is that Steve tends to get overexcited with any lens he tries. He's pretty good at post processing and a good photographer so usually he can get convincing results from any lens. His conclusions however tend to be that whatever lens he is trying is the best lens in the world.
-Sean Reid (http://www.reidreviews.com/reidreviews/), subscription service. Solid technical analysis of many lenses but he is sort of the opposite of Steve Huff. He can make any lens look bad. Poor B/W samples and a horrible site design.
-Erwin Puts (http://www.imx.nl/photo/) good technical analysis but only of Leica lenses and mostly on a theoretical level. Few real samples. You can get an idea about the raw optical performance but not much about the rendering style.
-Lloyd Chambers (http://diglloyd.com/), subscription service. His DAP section has a very detailed M9 review and brief reviews of many Zeiss and Leica lenses. This is possibly the best source of information. If you are considering an M9, I'd recommend getting a subscription. Chambers is a skeptic when it comes to the M9 and he accurately describes various shortcomings of the system. It's good to know before spending that kind of money.
Many here and in other Leica forums criticize Chambers for not being a true rangefinder guy and that is true. However if you are not one yourself and come from the DSLR world then his perspective is valuable.
Edit: One more bokeh test shot with the 35/2 Biogon:
If I had not known, I would have immediately guessed it was shot with a Leica and not with a Zeiss. Totally uncharacteristic rendering for a Zeiss. The rapid focus->blur transition is atypical as is the look of the bokeh highlights.
