Leica 35mm Summicron

Leica Summicron Voigtlander Nokton

Leica Summicron 35mm v4 vs Voigtlander Nokton 35mm v2 – By Vincent Bihler

When I bought my first Leica M4 back in 2014, I decided to couple it with a Nokton 35mm f/1.4 S.C that I bought new (first time of my life I bought anything new). It was a great moment. I absolutely loved it and ignored its flaws as it was all I could buy myself at that time. I was so happy with it. But time went on and as many of you may know, once you start thinking “Leica”, it is very hard to resist to the temptation of getting more gear… German gear… So I ended up selling that Nokton to get myself a nice Summicron 35mm v4 (aka the King of Bokeh).

Leica 35mm f/2 eight-element Summicron and Leica M240 – Candid Portraits – By Steven Bleistein

The first generation Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 eight-element lens with attached optics, often called goggles, were made for the Leica M3 to convert its .91x 50mm finder frame, the widest it has, to a 35mm one. It was only later that Leica offered the M2 with a .72x finder optimized for its 35mm frame that required no optics for 35mm lenses.

5 Frames with Kodak T-MAX P3200 (Pushed to 6400), a Leica M3 and v1 35mm Summicron – By Steven Bleistein

The other day, I was shooting in Tokyo’s Tsukiji outer market on a dark and drizzly morning. Not only was it overcast, but I was shooting in the shadows of buildings, so ISO 400 speed just wasn’t going to cut it, to say nothing of ISO 100! What I really needed was ISO 6400. Now I could use a digital camera for low-light performance, but why? My Leica M3 outperforms most digital cameras in low light—but only if I do things right. 

Leica 35mm f/2 Summicron v3 Lens Review

The Leica 35mm Summicron V3 is lens I instantly felt at home with. I bought it not long after I bought my M7 and for a little while it just seemed to make the ideal combination for almost everything I wanted to photograph. In the time since then though, the regularity with which I have used it has gradually dwindled. What’s interesting about this, is that whilst my appreciation for it as a lens hasn’t changed, what I want from a lens and perhaps even the camera it’s attached to has.

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