9 Leica 35MM Lenses Brief Review | Apo, Summicron, Summilux FLE, Summaron and Summarit 

Man I love the summarit. The 50 2.5/2.4 is also fantastic because it’s the shortest 50 from Leica, same length as the 35, can you believe it.

thats what I did actually 😅

Yeah I'm super looking forward to a comparison review of this "underdog". I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Yeah the ZM Distagon is an amazing lens. In fact it was my first large aperture 35mm lens for M system. But I'm a sucker for size so sold it for the FLE v1. I'd say they perform very close and maybe a touch creamier bokeh for the Zeiss.

I’ll probably pick the 35 cron 4th gen or 3rd gen (will review soon) for 90% of my daily use cases. They’re small, fast enough and just feels right on m bodies. The rest 10% really depends on my mood. Any of these lens would work honestly.

​@@JimmyCheng thanks for your instant reply, and it really helps my decision making without troubling for such great lens selection. I'll keep following your content! Have a great day!

I'm glad you enjoyed the overview! I'll release pair wise comparisons of these lenses and more (some voigtlander and zeiss counterparts). About the summarit, I'm actually planning for a trip with this and the 50 summarit. I think they are great pairs to bring along with you on long trips for their size and weight. I loved my KOB, it was my first serious Leica 35mm lens. I shot tons of photos with it and bring it everywhere. It's sad that these lenses are being treated as antiques these days. I wish more people can enjoy shooting with them.

Thanks, great question. I've actually never thought about only having one 35 or 50. If it were 35, I would probably go with the 35 summilux asph as it is "reasonably" priced compared to the APO and some vintage glasses and it is the most versitle of the bunch. Being a 1.4, it draws beautifully for portraits and stop down it is as sharp as the apo. 50 summilux ASPH will be my choice of 50 as well, same reasons. The crons are wonderful too, but the result does not stand out from other lenses from other manufacturers and since film is limited when it comes to light gathering capability, 1.4 is always more versitile than 2.0 in dark conditions.

@@JimmyCheng thank you very much for sharing your thoughts regarding this. I tend to keep just one lens on the Leica's, so I'd like to look at getting a single lens for each - and just work with that (I say this in a positive way). I have other cameras (digital) where I have several lenses and I change them out as necessary for the occasion, but I'd like to approach the Leica's in a more minimal way - so as to learn and enjoy shooting either with the M3(50mm) or the M6(35mm) - whichever I happen to have with me. I forgot to mention that I didn't want to take cost into account; not that cost isn't an issue, but that I'd rather consider the quality/character of the lens, and then I'd address cost as needed - versus selecting or limiting the options based on cost. I say this because an expensive lens is not necessarily better - it may just be different. Despite my failure to mention this, you provided an excellent response. I sincerely appreciate you sharing your thoughts and insight, and taking the time to provide a thorough response. Thanks again, and all the best! I look forward to updates from your channel!

@@arkphotog for a single 50mm to use above all I agree with Jimmy that you should go with the 50mm Summulux ASPH v1. V2 has closer focusing but on M3 you wouldn't really be able to use that anyway.

@JimmyCheng , would love to hear your thoughts?

Hey Allen, thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately I’ve not used LLL’s 8-ele so I can’t comment on that. I might do a future review on that lens once I get my hands on one.

great lens collection. I also do have the 8E, in fact I’ve got two copies one Canadian and one German. I love that lens. Unfortunately I left it at my parents’ house and haven’t used them in quite a while.

pretty sure they are

Hi Kim, thank you for your comment. I will do a detailed review of the apo, the lux FLE and FLE v2 in the future. I’ve not yet done a comparison test of the v2 yet, but I think the v1 should perform similarly. If that’s the case, then the biggest difference you’ll notice is corner/edge performance and purple fringing. The apo is gonna be noticeably better in these two regards. But if you don’t find yourself shooting above f2.8 when doing landscapes or streets, then you’re not gonna notice it. Because at f4, the two lenses are virtually identical, or when you have an object near the center, you’re gonna blur out the rest anyways.

@@JimmyCheng Hello, Thanks for the quick reply. That's what I would think too. The advantage over FLE v2 is f1.4. and the price is better. Maybe I would have chosen FLE v2 today if it had come on the market then. But I am now very satisfied with my APO. It has been stuck on my Leica MD and stuck on the f2 since I got it.Tanks

@@kimhansen2185 ah you’ve got an MD, that’s a fantastic camera. I learnt you should never sell these. I sold one before and I regretted so much that I recently bought another. I doubt Leica would come out anything as pure as it in the future (digital wise).

@@JimmyCheng 😃 I'm very happy about it. I have absolutely no plans to sell it. It is the best camera I have ever had. It's my "film" camera without film.... I'm thinking of buying a "nr 2 M(11P" or SL(2/3) where I can also use close focus on APO35. But I want to borrow one for a while before I buy into SL. I have lived in press photography for 35 years and always with Nikon and Canon. My feelings about Nikon and Canon have never been the same as leica M. Don't know if SL is just a "new" Canon / Nikon. But no doubt that my Canon/ Nikon have been my bread / butter camera for 35 years now.

@@kimhansen2185 that’s great to hear! I’ve just uploaded a 50mm comparison review, should be on air soon. I hope you would enjoy that one as well!

这个看个人喜好吧，综合来说35有近距离对焦更好一点

I treat them as investments 😝

Oh really? I haven’t noticed that tbh. I’ll test it out 😅

@@JimmyCheng yea man.

35 1.4 二代

@@JimmyCheng 谢谢吉米哥，我想念351.4很久了 😁

sorry it's exclusively Leica lenses for this episode. I'll do more comparisons with Voigtlander and Ziess in the future.

没差啊，也很漂亮

@@JimmyCheng 没有最近40mm啊😂

@@justinlee7974 无所谓啦，给自己一个理由买apo哈哈

@@JimmyCheng 这。。。说服不了自己🤦‍♂

Sorry it’s meant to be an introduction to a series of detailed comparison videos.