[Leica] report Vario-Elmarit-R 2.8/35-70 ASPH, part 1

[Erwin Puts <imxputs@knoware.nl>]

Well back to business. It is real, and I have one of the first 
production lenses: the new Vario-Elmarit 1:2.8/35-70 ASPH is 
available, alive and kicking.
The VE has about twice the volume of the 4/34-70, which makes sense. 
It is double the aperture. It balances nicely with the R8, has an 
extremely smooth one-finger-without-pressure-distance ring and, yes, 
it weights around one kilogram. As a whole, this combo makes for a 
formidable picture machine.
Its image quality is impeccable to say the least.
The 35 mm position at full aperture produces a high contrast image 
with extremely fine detail already crisply rendered. The edges of the 
larger outlines are a shade of soft and there is a faint trace of 
astigmatism and miniscule color fringes along edges. Outlines and 
very fine texture details are recorded with great fidelity over the 
whole image field. Only the far edges are soft and here the finest 
details are lost in fuzzyness.
There is some slight barrel distortion, some light fall off and 
absolutely no decentring and curvature of field.
The 2,8 performance is better than the 2,8/35 and the 2/35 at 2.8. 
Not so much in the center but especially in the field.
At 4 the trace of softness disappears, and the corners improve. Now 
exceedingly fine detail starts to be recorded. At 5.6 the   overall 
image is a bit below the f/4 performance and from now it well useable 
till f/22, but at these apertures the highest image quality  can not 
be expected.
Close-up performance at full aperture is excellent, but slightly 
below the infinity setting. One should stop down one stop to get the 
best performance.
The 50 position at full aperture is as good as the 35 position at 4. 
Extremely fine detail is recorded with clearly defined edges over the 
whole image field, including the edges. No distortion or decentring 
or astigmatism.
Stopping down to 4 brings in a shade more crispness and clarity and 
now the optimum is reached.
This lens is better in the field than the Summicron-R 2/50 at 2.8. 
The performance gain is not very large , but quite visible.
Close-up performance has the same pattern as the 35 position. 
Stopping down a bit for max performance is advised.
At 70mm we reach the overall best position of this lens. At 2.8 it 
approaches very closely the wide open performance of the famous 
2.8/100 APO. The finest possible details, just at or even over the 
border of the recording capacity of the best current films, are 
defined with utmost clarity and edge contrast. Overall outlines are 
edged into the grain with a razorsharp line and this performance 
extends over the whole image field. Close-up performance is 
identical. No need to stop down here. Stopping down to 4 improves 
contrast a bit and the minuscule details are rendered with slightly 
better edge contrast.  After 5.6 the image softens a faintly and a 
bit more so after f8.
This report will be concluded with flare, night performance and macro position.

Erwin