[Leica] Zeiss Wide Angle 35mm f/2 Biogon T* ZM

[bamboozld at gmail.com (K Landdeck)]

Wendy,

After using it virtually daily for about 2 years, I'm confident in  
saying that it's a fantastic lens.  Compared to the 35 Summicron ASPH  
it has more moderate contrast (actually a good thing for b/w in my  
experience), slightly less resolution, slightly more depth of field at  
a given aperture, and a slower transition to out of focus.  With the  
famous Zeiss coatings it takes effort to get it to flare noticeably.   
Out of focus areas are very pleasant (if that's your thing).  I had no  
complaints whatsoever.  And there is something special about the Zeiss  
color rendering -- just delicious colors.  Every time I'd use it with  
color I'd mutter to myself about how I needed to shoot more color film  
with that lens.    (In case it's of interest, my flickr set with the  
Biogon is at: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shudaizi/sets/72157606550611842/show/ 
  )

There are two things though that you might want to be aware of: (a)  
Zeiss lenses sometimes develop a "wobble", which is easily fixed by  
tightening the lens retaining ring (mine never had this problem,  
despite heavy use, but it has happened to enough Zeiss users that it  
qualifies as a "known issue") and (b) when I borrowed an M8 for a few  
weeks I found that at f/2 the Biogon would produce color fringing on  
high contrast edges.  I didn't do any systematic testing, but if  
memory serves it was gone at f/2.8.  Haven't seen this on film at all,  
so only an issue if one shoots digital.

Other small considerations are that it has no focus tab, but just a  
small bump (whether that's a good or bad thing is a matter of personal  
taste of course); is fatter and longer than Summicrons (but not  
horribly so); the hood (which isn't really needed for flare control  
but only for physical protection) is a nice, sturdy bayonet mount; and  
it has 1/3 click stops for aperture instead of the usual 1/2 (again,  
not a big deal though you may find that you have to remind yourself at  
first that it's 3 clicks per stop).

There are some that will argue that it's the greatest 35mm ever; I'm  
not quite that partisan about it (or any other lens for that matter),  
but it's definitely a world class lens.  I doubt you'd be disappointed  
with it.

Best,

Kevin

=============
Only connect.
=============
Modern Chinese History Ph.D. candidate
at University of California, Berkeley

my photography:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shudaizi/

bamboozld at gmail.com









On Feb 26, 2010, at 8:59 PM, Wendy Thurman wrote:

> I'm not necessarily in the lens market; I feel I should stick with  
> the 50
> lux I have as I learn the Leica system.  One of these days I'll want/ 
> need a
> wider lens.  While of course a Leica 35 cron is, well, a Leica, I  
> would
> appreciate opinions or experiences any of you may have with this  
> lens.  It's
> affordably priced and appears to be generally well-regarded.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Wendy
>
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