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A Guide to the Leica 35mm Lens: Choose the Best One

Chris Gampat
No Comments
04/06/2021
4 Mins read
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The 35mm lens is currently experiencing a renaissance, and the Leica 35mm lens is front and center to it!

You love your Leica! Let’s be honest; it’s a badge of honor that you’ve worked hard to get such a high-quality product. You adore the way it feels in your hand. The way that the classic ergonomics suit anyone and everyone is just a wonder to us. And very few lenses are dreamed of like a Leica 35mm lens. Many Leica photographers proclaim their 35mm lenses as the most indispensable in their kit bag. Each of them has something special about it. And we dove into our archives to figure out what that is. Here’s our guide to choosing the best Leica 35mm lens for your needs.

Editor’s Note: This is a sponsored blog post by Leica Camera.

Table of Contents

  • Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH
  • Leica 35mm f2 Summicron-M ASPH
  • Leica 35mm f2 APO Summicron-SL ASPH
  • Leica 35mm f2 APO Summicron-M ASPH

Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH

The Secret Recipe: The Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux is a lovely lens for the photographer who craves low light performance. This is THE ONE if you’re smitten with your Leica M9, your Leica M6, or anything older. The f1.4 aperture will let your exposure soak up a ton more light. And the creamy bokeh will be the cherry on top of your sundae.

In our review, we stated:

“In general, I never stop these lenses down beyond f4 or f5.6. And if I stopped the lens down at all, I usually just stayed at f2 or f2.8. The reason why is because these lenses perform so well when shot wide open.”

Buy Now: $5,895 from the Leica Camera Store

Leica 35mm f2 Summicron-M ASPH

The Secret Recipe: The Leica 35mm f2 Summicron-M has been a mainstay for many photographers. It has beautiful bokeh, feels flawless in hand and is incredibly compact. In fact, one of the biggest draws is just how small it is. This lens pairs well with any Leica body and balances well with their ergonomics, perhaps the best of any lens on this list.

In our review, we stated:

With the Leica 35mm f2 ASPH Summicron, you’re getting solid image quality for a pretty affordable Leica price point. For the photographer that is bound to stop the lens down and use it anywhere at around f5.6 or so, you’re going to get solid results consistently.

Buy Now: $3,895 from the Leica Camera Store

Pro Tip: Leica M mount lenses can potentially have a subject in focus faster than autofocus lenses. They have zone-focusing distance markers on them. When you stop one of these lenses down to around f5.6 and focus a few feet away, a whole range of the area will be in focus. All you then need to do is walk that distance away from your subject. This is known as hyperfocal length shooting and zone-focusing. The Leica 35mm lens is perfect for this type of shooting.

Leica 35mm f2 APO Summicron-SL ASPH

The Secret Recipe: The Leica 35mm f2 APO Summicron-SL is a beast of a lens. The SL camera system has IP durability ratings all around it. To that end, this lens can stand up to some of the toughest conditions you’d throw a camera into. On the new Leica SL2-S, it’s also bound to focus very quickly. 

In our review, we stated:

“It feels like a small bottle of hairspray chocked full of glass. With all this said, it’s still not as heavy as other primes I’ve used for L mount. And most of all, it’s very well built. The Leica 35mm f2 Summicron SL APO is also weather sealed. So you don’t have to worry about it in the rain or most other situations.”

Buy Now: $5,095 from the Leica Camera Store

Leica 35mm f2 APO Summicron-M ASPH

The Secret Recipe: The new Leica 35mm f2 APO Summicron-M has some seriously cool things happening. It boasts 11 aperture blades, is incredibly small, and focuses the closest of most M-mount lenses. In fact, it can focus just under a foot away. If you need something that’s a complete workhorse of a lens, this is likely it.

In our review, we stated:

“So, what do you get from a lens that costs $8,195? Almost absolute perfection. The image quality is so good that every picture you create will bring a tear to your eye. I have used many 35mm lenses in my days, but none have rendered images quite like the Leica APO Summicron M 35mm f2 ASPH. I went to edit my images and hardly had to touch them. They’re that good. Sharp, contrasty, colors to die for; you get the idea. Bokeh, oh the bokeh.”

Notify Me: $8,195 from the Leica Camera Store

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Chris Gampat

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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