An excellent wide angle lens.
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On the Leica M10. I added the red indexing dome.
The top plate label reminds me to turn on GPS on the iPhone!
When I first profiled the Canon 35mm f/2 LTM lens attached to my Leica M3 film camera I wrote: “After running a roll of Kodak Ektar 100 through it I can confirm that the lens is sharp and a delight to use. The only thing I miss is an infinity lock which would make it easier to mount and remove the small optic. The only modifications I made were the addition of the requisite LTM-to-M bayonet adapter, a protective, multicoated UV filter and a red indexing dome (extremely useful).”
Here are the test images taken at all apertures from f/2 down to f/22 – I used a 6-bit coded LTM-to-M adapter for in camera correction of color aberration, coded to be the 35mm Summicron-M pre-ASPH. The code is ‘000110’, where ‘1’ denotes a black paint filled pit:
Test images from f/2 to f/22.
These are SOOC.
You can view all 8 images in medium size by clicking here.
To view full size 22mb originals click here. It’s a large file so be patient when downloading. You can zoom in on these to your heart’s content.
Conclusions?
- No flare at any aperture
- At f/2 the whole frame is usable and will easily make a large print with excellent resolution, with micro contrast from the center to half way out
- At f/4 the resolution is high across the frame
- Peak definition is reached at f/8 but there’s very little to choose between f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6 and f/8
- I can see no diffraction at the smallest apertures
- No meaningful color fringing at any aperture – that’s the 6-bit coding doing its magic
- Amazingly, LRc includes a lens correction profile for this optic. It corrects very minor barrel distortion. I expect that you would only want to use it in architectural photos and the like.
By the way, disregard the f-stop data in the EXIF information. The M10, even with a 6-bit coded adapter does a very poor job of estimating the aperture used. (There is no electrical or mechanical link between the lens’s aperture setting and the camera, so Leica estimates the aperture based on the shutter speed and ISO used). Go by the file names, moving the decimal point in the last three digits one place to the left to see the aperture used. So, for example ‘220’ means f/22.
A special lens with the caveat being that you will likely have to buy from Japan on eBay, the source of most listings, and you have to disregard all the nonsense about ‘Ex+++’ and ‘Mint’ sellers there seem to revel in. Any mention of ‘tiny fungus’, ‘minor balsam separation’ or ‘cleaning scratches’ means you should move on. These are 50 years old lenses so it takes diligence to find a clean one. ‘Tiny dusts’ (sic) are usually OK but you want a smoothly rotating focus collar and well defined click stops. Ask before paying to get the seller on the record with eBay. Don’t worry if the listing states ‘No returns’. If you have the seller’s responses on the record and they are clearly fraudulent, eBay will refund you. I know, having been there. I paid $331 for mine with tax and shipping, plus $16 for the correct Fotodiox Pro 6-bit adapter. I explain how to fill in the coding pits for best results here. Add a few pennies for the red indexing dome and $8 for a multi-coated 40mm UV filter (strange size) and my total outlay was $365.
If you can get a good one and do not fancy paying Leica’s ridiculous prices, new or used, the 35mm f/2 Canon LTM, which is very compact on the Leica M body, is recommended. For many, the author included, 35mm is the ‘standard’ lens on the Leica M body for street snappers.