[Leica] Flash: 35/1.4 Asph Results In!

[John Collier <jbcollier@home.com>]

Well all of you who have been waiting with breath bated and hearts a
palpating can relax now. Yes, .....John Collier likes the 35/1.4 Asph! What
a lovely lens. I cannot say enough wonderful things about its performance.
Absolutely spectacular! Best of all it goes to f1.4 and I can retire the
pre-asph summicron with the vise-grips on the aperture ring. It is indeed
substantially heavier than the pre-asph summicron. The weight makes the
camera/lens combination feel like a dousing rod gently tugging at your
wrists saying: "Hey! There is a picture. Hurry... oh .... you missed it.
What a chump!" I love it. I like my lenses crisp and cheeky! The only
downside to the weight issue is the dent it is pounding into my two year old
son's head. The non-asph summicron left bruises as it banged into his head
when I picked him up but the 35/1.4 Asph is pounding holes!

I also shot my first rolls of Provia F and I am pleased with the results and
a little concerned with the lack of support. The chromes are crisp and very
fine grained with a slightly warmer colour palette as compared to Kodachrome
64. I also pushed it two stops and was very pleased with the results as the
grain was still very fine and only slightly increased contrast! It
definitely will be my high speed chrome of choice. Unfortunately FugiFilm
seems more concerned with covering its butt legally than providing real
information. The info on the web is sparse and says the usual "colours will
fade over time" type of non-information that is so irritating. Kodak is much
more supportive and helpful with practical information about the stability
of its emulsions and other important topics.

Cheers,

John Collier