LEICA SUMMILUX TL 35mm

Review of using the Summilux TL 35mm with a Leica T digital camera

Gallery

Sample photo taken with the LEICA T typ701.

Review

Summilux TL 35mm is a large aperture lens with a focal length of 35mm for cameras equipped with Leica L-mount APS-C sensors.
Since the image circle covers the APS-C sensor size, the focal length in practical use is equivalent to 50mm in 35mm format.

The design is common to all Leica L-mount lenses, and since the aperture value of the lens is controlled by the camera, it has an elegant design with only a focus ring. The hood comes with a bayonet hood that can be reversed. The hood is also large, so when you put it on, the already voluminous lens becomes even bigger and its presence increases.

The focusing speed of autofocus (hereinafter referred to as AF) is slow as long as you use contrast AF on the LEICA T series (T / TL / TL2). Focusing accuracy depends on the subject, but I felt that it was not very accurate.
I also tried using it with the LEICA SL typ601, which has a 35mm full-size sensor, but I didn’t notice much difference in AF performance, so AF performance seems to be at the limit of the lens.
Among the Leica L mount APS-C lens lineup, I felt that it was faster to focus than the Apo Macro Elmarito TL 60mm, but slower than the Summicron TL 23mm.

It is a modern lens with a slightly loose depiction when wide open, but sharp when stopped down to around F2.8.
It can also be used with the LEICA SL, which has a 35mm full-size sensor, but the recorded image size will be forcibly cropped to APS-C size. The advantage of using this lens with the LEICA SL is that the viewfinder of the SL is by far superior, giving it a great advantage in focusing.
The external EVF, VISOFLEX, which can be attached to the Leica T series shown in the photo below, has perfect specs such as the number of pixels, but the response speed is slow, probably due to the CPU performance of the camera, and there are problems with the camera’s operability, making it difficult to focus. Camera operations may not be smooth when the EVF is attached, such as difficulty in zooming in, which can be frustrating.

This lens is smaller than the Apo Summicron SL 35mm and Summilux SL 50mm, which are for 35mm full-frame sensors, so when attached to the LEICA SL, the camera system becomes compact and fits easily in a camera bag, so you can attach it occasionally. I was using it.

Specification

Leica APS single focal length lens

Lens name	ELMARIT	SUMMICRON	SUMMILUX	APO MACRO ELMARIT
Focal length(mm)	18	27	35	60
35mm equivalent focal length	27	35	50	90
Max aperture	2.8	2	1.4	2.8
Min aperture	16	16	16	32
Lens Construction	8elements 6groups	9elements 6groups	12elements 8groups	10elements 9groups
Min distance(m)	0.3	0.35	0.4	0.16
Lens length(mm)	21	37	77	134
Lens diameter(mm)	62	63	70	70
Filter Size(mm)	E39	E52	E60	E60
Weight(g)	80	154	428	320
Release date	2017.12	2014.5.26	2016.3.31	2016.9.24
List Price	¥142,500	¥230,000	¥310,000	¥320,000

Reference links

LEICAの公式ページ

Update history

2024.07.01
2024.03.06
2023.07.25

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