LEICA SUMMICRON M 35mm ASPH.

Review and Photo example of the SUMMICRON M 35mm ASPH..

Gallery

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

Review

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 an aspherical lens.
It is still in supply from 1996 to 2024, and a considerable number of lenses have been produced.
Current lenses have a 6-bit code added for lens recognition, and older lenses can also be modified to add a 6-bit code. Before the minor change, three colors were released: black, silver, and titanium.
The 2016 minor change version has the same lens configuration, but has the following changes.

The number of aperture blades has been changed, the old model has 9 blades, 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 inset type 12526 to a screw-in type.
The new lens barrel color is only black, except for limited edition models.

A lens that provides stable depiction even at wide open aperture, provides accurate resolution to the corners, and is resistant to backlighting and produces modern-looking images.
Among the increasingly large M-type lenses, it is a compact lens along with the Elmarito M 28mm ASPH. When combined with the M-type Leica, it becomes a nimble shooting camera.
Although not at the same time, I have owned both the black and silver lenses, and the lenses with silver barrels feel heavier and bulkier than the black ones.
The aspherical version also does a solid job, but I don’t find it interesting, so I think the slightly cloudy Summicron is just right.

Silver lenses are now quite expensive, but titanium color lenses, which I had put off buying several times, have skyrocketed in price even further and are now very unaffordable. Even if the Apo Summicron M 35mm is released in 2021, the aspherical Summicron 35mm will continue to be sold, so it is assumed that this lens produces sufficient images and the Apo Summicron 35mm is expensive. 1.2 million yen for a single 35mm lens is unaffordable for the average hobbyist.
Summicron lens prices were also under 200,000 yen in the 2010s, but in the 2020s they have become quite expensive, ranging from 300,000 yen for used lenses to 450,000 yen for new ones.

The official compatible hood is 12526, but the old IROOA, 12504, and other hoods can also be used.

Specification

Item	Value	note
focal length(mm)	35
Maximum aperture	2
Minimum aperture	16
Lens configuration	5groups 7elements
Leaf blade	9	New version is 11
Minimum distance(m)	0.7
Lens length(mm)	34.5	Distance form mount frange
Lens max diameter(mm)	53
Filter diameter(mm)	39
Weight(g)	53
Release date	Year 1997
List price(Yen)	–