LEICA APO SUMMICRON-SL 35mm ASPH.

One of the L-mount 6A lenses

A review and Photo example of the Apo Summicron SL 35mm with a digital camera.

Gallery

The photo examples were taken with the LEICA T typ701.

Review

Usage
Lens overview
Comparison with competitors

1．Usage

The Apo-Summicron SL 35mm was the only 35mm lens with an Apo-Summicron until the M-mount Apo-Summicron with a focal length of 35mm was released.

I bought the lens second-hand at a map shop for a reasonable price, but I didn’t have much time to use it because I had just sold my LEICA SL typ601. I used it on my LEICA T, and it made me feel that the resolution and depiction of a lens larger than the SUMMILUX TL was superior.

It fully meets the standards required for modern lenses, such as bokeh in front and behind, no loss of contrast in backlight, and no ghosting, and is a lens that is satisfactory even when used with the LEICA SL2, which has over 40 million pixels.

The lens hood attached to the lens attached to the LEICA T was a Haoge 67mm square screw-in lens hood. I used this one because the included hood was too large and inconvenient to carry around. The position of this hood can be adjusted after it is screwed in, making it convenient for lenses whose barrel does not rotate when focusing.

2．Lens overview

The Apo-Summicron SL 35mm is an L-mount prime lens released in April 2019.

This lens is large, and although it is being compared to the Summilux TL 35mm for APS-C sensor cameras, it is clear that the Apo-Summicron is thicker and longer.

The Apo-Summicron SL series is based on the policy of having all lenses in the same barrel size, and the barrel size is based on the Apo-Summicron 90mm or 21mm, which are the lenses that require the most vertical and horizontal dimensions for lens design. For this reason, the 35mm and 50mm are oversized to match that. Thanks to this, the lens design has a high degree of freedom, which can be said to have made it possible to achieve high performance.

It is better to hear the person in charge clearly state that costs have been reduced3 by standardizing parts than to make useless excuses, but it is a bit stingy for a lens that sells for more than five times the price of other companies’ lenses with the same specifications. It is a good logic for the company to build a lens line cheaply and sell well, but as a user who purchases it, I would like the manufacturer to give it a design that is appropriate for the lens specifications. Since I have switched to medium format digital cameras, I have not continued to purchase SL lenses, but I sometimes think it would be nice to have all the types and be able to use them depending on my mood on the day.

In terms of the actual lens size needed, the Summicron-SL 35mm, which was released in March 2023 without the aperture, is about 20 mm shorter in overall length, so this size should be sufficient.

3．Comparison with competitors

As you can see from the table below, the Summicron without an APO lens, released in 2023, is half the price and half the weight of the Summicron with an APO lens, allowing you to put together a lightweight system. It is assumed that you will not notice the difference unless you are very concerned about color bleeding.

The Apo Summicron 35mm M-type lens, released on April 24, 2021, is surprising in its compact size. I don’t know if it is because of this, but the price is about 1.3 million yen including 10% consumption tax, more than twice the price of the L-mount, making it quite a high price.

The Apo Summicron SL has been on the market for a while now, and the used price has settled at about 400,000 yen, so if you can ignore the lens size, you can get a high-performance lens at a low price and it seems like a good deal.

The Leica R-mount Summicron is a fairly simple lens with six lenses. Because it is an older design, there is a high chance that roughness will be visible in the depiction of the edges of the image on recent high-pixel cameras, but depending on the subject, there are scenes in which roughness is more noticeable than in others, and since the acceptable range varies from photographer to photographer, it is up to the photographer to make their own judgment.

Sigma’s L-mount 35mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary is being offered at an incredible price, and it is difficult to rationalize such a large price difference for the same specifications. It is perhaps similar to the feeling you get with a luxury watch.

Comparison of Leica 35mm lenses

Lens name	APO-SUMMICRON-SL(11184)	SUMMICRON-SL(11192)	APO-SUMMICRON M	SUMMICRON-R(II)	35mm F2 DG DN
Focal length(mm)	35	←	←	←	←
Max aperture	2	←	←	←	←
Min aperture	22	←	←	16	22
Lens Construction	11群13枚	9群11枚	5群10枚	6群6枚	9群10枚
Apature balde	9	9?	11	6	9
Min distance(m)	0.27	0.24	0.3	0.3	0.27
Lens length(mm)	102	83	40.9	46	65.4
Lens diameter(mm)	73	74.5	53	66	70
Filter Size(mm)	E67(67mm)	←	E39(39mm)	E55	58
Weight(g) (Only lens)	750	402	252	430	325
Release date	2019.4	2023.3	2021.4	1976	2020.
Price(Jp-Yen)	630,000-	300,000−	1,190,000-	–	Open Price (70,000-)

Specification

LEICA SL APO SUMMICRON Lens Variations

Lens name	APO-SUMMICRON	APO-SUMMICRON	APO-SUMMICRON	APO-SUMMICRON	APO-SUMMICRON
Focal length(mm)	28 (11183)	35 (11184)	50 (11185)	75 (11178)	90 (11179)
Max aperture	2	←	←	←	←
Min aperture	22	←	←	←	←
Lens Construction	10群13枚	11群13枚	10群12枚	9群11枚	9群11枚
Min distance(m)	0.24	0.27	0.35	0.5	0.6
Lens lenght(mm)	102	←	←	←	←
Lens diameter(mm)	73	←	←	←	←
Filter Size(mm)	E67(67mm)	←	←	←	←
Weight(g) (Only lens)	700	750	740	720	700
Release date	2021.2	2019.4	2019.8	2018.2	2018.2
Price(Jp-Yen)	660,000-	630,000−	610,000-	580,000-	640,000-