LEICA SUMMICRON M 35mm ASPH.

Summicron with aspherical lenses

A review and photo examples of the SUMMICRON M 35mm ASPH.

Table of contents

Gallery

  • SUMMICRON-M 35mm ASPH. Photo example (with Leica M9 digital camera)

Review

1.Overview

The Summicron 35mm ASPH. is a Leica M-mount lens with a focal length of 35mm, and is the latest version of the M-type regular Summicron.
As the “ASPH.” in the lens name suggests, this lens uses aspherical lenses.
It has been supplied since 1996 and is still available in 2024, and a considerable number of lenses have been produced.
The current lens has a 6-bit code for lens recognition, and older lenses can also be modified to add the 6-bit code. Before the minor change, it was released in three colors: black, silver, and titanium.
The 2016 minor change version has the same lens configuration, but with the following changes.

  • The number of aperture blades has been changed; the old model had 9 blades, while the new model has 11 blades, and the aperture shape has been changed to maintain a circular shape.
  • The hood has been changed from the snap-on type 12526 to a screw-in type.
  • The new lens barrel color is only black except for limited editions.

2.Usage

A lens that provides stable imaging even at full aperture, with good resolution all the way to the corners, and is resistant to backlighting, producing a modern image.
Among the increasingly large M-series lenses, this lens is as compact as the Elmarit-M 28mm ASPH., and when combined with an M-series Leica, it makes for a lightweight camera.

I have owned both the black and silver versions, though not at the same time, and the silver lens feels heavier and more solid than the black.

The lens is well-balanced when mounted on a mirrorless camera with an APS-C sensor, and the image quality is modern, providing solid imaging with a variety of image sensors and image engines.
The official compatible hood is the 12526, but older hoods such as the IROOA and 12504 are also compatible.

RICOH GXR A12 + Summicron 35mm
Hood 12526

3.Add info.

Silver is now quite expensive, but the titanium color, which I have passed on purchasing several times, has risen in price even more, making it a lens that is out of my reach. Even though the APO-Summicron-M 35mm will be released in 2021, the aspherical Summicron 35mm will continue to be sold, so it is assumed that this lens provides sufficient image quality and that the APO-Summicron 35mm is expensive. 1.2 million yen for a single 35mm lens is out of reach for the average hobbyist.
In the 2010s, the price of the Summicron was under 200,000 yen, but in the 2020s it has become quite expensive, at 300,000 yen for a used lens and 450,000 yen for a new one.

Specification

ItemValuenote
focal length(mm)35
Maximum aperture2
Minimum aperture16
Lens configuration5groups 7elements
Leaf blade9New version is 11
Minimum distance(m)0.7
Lens length(mm)34.5Distance form mount frange
Lens max diameter(mm)53
Filter diameter(mm)39
Weight(g)53
Release dateYear 1997
List price(Yen)

Reference links

Update history

  • 2024.12.13
  • 2024.02.20:Update article
  • 2022.06.08:First draft

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