Re: Bokeh with 35/2 in 1965. How 'bout '75?

[cmiller@berkshire.net (Curt Miller)]

Thanks for the story Lucien.

I owned and loved the first (8 element) 35 Summicron that we're talking
about here.  I now own a 2nd generation (6 element) 35 Summicron from about
1978.  At f/4 the corners of the image are still unsharp (the rest of the
image is just as superb as produced by the earlier lens).  I need to move to
about f/5.6 to remove this unsharpness.  This is the same as changing from
400 ASA film to 200 ASA film if we just consider exposure.  Each generation
of this lens was supposed to be an improvement on the previous generation,
as I understand it.

There are probably many Leica lenses with this corner unsharpness.  How do
others feel about it?  Any other anecdotes about the various 35 Summicrons
and their imaging qualities?  We started on this a couple of weeks ago but
it was dropped.

Regards,

Curt 

>
>Also in Leica Fotographie Nr 2 1965 - page 83
>Chit-Chat on Leica Technique (XVI) by Chris W. Broere
>
>"...If you can afford it, purchase the 35mm f/2 Summicron. This lens is
>universal.
>Even at f/4 its definition is fantastic, so that I rarely stop down
>further. As with all wide-angle lenses, the depth of field is enormous,
>wich is a further reason for not stopping down much further than f/4 , as
>otherwise everithing from front to back is sharp. The result is dull and
>monotonous and detracts from pictorial effect...
>...One of the great virtues of the Summicron is the soft transition from
>sharp definition to unsharpness, giving enhanced relief while retaining
>shape in the unsharp features of the picture. I have worked with many
>wide-angle lenses of a great variety of makes but the 35mmm Summicron is
>superior in quality to all of them...."
>
>
>Was that guy the father of all LUGers ? (not of Detlef & Dan I presume) ;-)
>
>
>Lucien
>BELGIUM
>
>

Elizabeth Mei Wong
Birding with Women Outdoors at http://members.aol.com/womenout/index.htm
           or with Berkshire County's Hoffman Bird Club

Henry Curtis Miller, M.P.A.

Pittsfield, Massachusetts
In the Berkshires, next door to Tanglewood