SUMMICRON R 35mm (Typ-II)

A simple 35mm focal length lens

A review and Photo example of the SUMMICRON 35mm F2(Typ-II).

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Gallery

Sample photos taken with the LEICA SL typ601,LEICA CL typ7323 and LEICA R8 +Kodak film.

Review

Overview
Usability
Add info

1．Overview

The Summicron-R 35mm II is a Leica R-mount lens with a focal length of 35mm that was released in 1976.
The new lens has a lens configuration of 6 elements in 6 groups, a minimum focusing distance of 0.3m, and 6 aperture blades.

The lens hood is built-in and is pulled out from the front of the lens.

Lens mounts include 3-cam, R-cam, and those with a ROM terminal.

2．Usage

Compared to the old (I) model, the new Summicron 35mm (II) model has a newer design for its age, and is a lens that produces solid images with a moderate impression without any quirks, but it also feels like a lens that was designed with cost reduction in mind.

The following three points are areas where cost cutting can be felt:

As shown in the overview, the lens configuration consists of 6 elements in 6 groups, which is a reduction in the number of lenses from 9 elements in 7 groups in the previous (I) type.
By adopting a compact lens barrel with a built-in lens hood, the lens weight is 70g lighter than the previous (I) type.
The number of aperture blades has also been reduced from 8 in the previous (I) type to 6.

3．Add info.

・Mount Adapter

The image circle of this lens is not very wide, covering about 86% of the X2D digital medium format 44 x 33mm sensor, but there is some distortion on the edges, so 35mm is the limit of its shooting range.

The rear lens is contained within the mount, so error 20 (Err20) does not occur, which is a problem when used with the EOS 1DS MK-III, and occurs when the rear lens interferes with the camera sensor.

When using a lens with a ROM terminal with a LEICA SL and the genuine L-R mount adapter (16076), shooting information can be recorded in the Exif of the shooting file.

・Similar lenses

The YASHICA/CONTAX Distagon 35mm F2.8 also has a 6-element, 6-group lens configuration with relatively wide spacing between lenses and a thick glass for the third element, so the lens configuration is slightly different. However, since they were released around the same time, I lined them up thinking that they might have similar concepts. I’m not an expert, so I can only go by appearance, but since the lenses used in front of and behind the thick, powerful lens are different, it seems that the design concepts are quite different.

The diagrams are taken from the official PDFs of each company, and the sizes have been adjusted here.

The design of this lens is almost the same as the latest third-generation Elmarit 35mm/F2.8, and I owned both lenses, but sold the Elmarit because I used it less frequently with the R-cam.

The R-type Summicron is not a lens shrouded in legend like the M-type Summicron. There are three R-mount lenses with a focal length of 35mm, but the SUMMILUX R 35mm is the most legendary and memorable.

Specification

Lens name	SUMMICRON 35mm(New)	SUMMICRON 35mm(Old)	Distagon 35mm F2.8 Y/C mount
focal length(mm)	35	35	35
Maximum aperture	2	2	2.8
Minimum aperture	16	16	22
Lead blade	6	8	6
Lens configuration	6element in 6group	9element in 7group	6element in 6group
Minimum distance(m)	0.3	0.3	0.6
Lens length(mm)	57.5	61.5	46
Lens max diameter(mm)	66	66	62.5
Filter diameter(mm)	55	Series 7(or E48)	55
Weight(g)	430	508 (with hood and Filter 569)	240
Release date	1976	1970