[Leica] 35mm normal vs. ASPH or Spherical...Some nonsense

[jbcollier at shaw.ca (John Collier)]

Hi Buzz,

My point is that the 35/2 fourth version is NOT famous for its wide 
open boke. People read that the 35/2(4th) is famous for its boke and 
automatically assume that means it is famous for its wide open boke. 
Far from it, in fact it is criticized for its wide open boke. BTW 
"aberration laden fuzz" is a quote from that famous article that 
started it all in NA.

John Collier

On Nov 19, 2004, at 7:25 AM, buzz.hausner@verizon.net wrote:

> I must demur.  To call the spherical 35mm Summicron "aberation laden 
> fuzz wide open" is utter nonsense.  No, this lens is not as sharp wide 
> open as the aspherical expression, but wide open it is still capable 
> of producing very fine images.  It's bokeh is justifiably famous and, 
> I believe, is a result of having twelve diaphragm blades as opposed to 
> the ten blades used (as an economy measure?) in the spherical 
> vaersion.
>
>
>> From John Collier:
>>
>> The most famous lens for boke, such that it is called the King of 
>> Boke,
>> is the Leitz/Leica pre-asph summicron 35 (fourth version, Mandler
>> design).  It is nothing but aberration laden fuzz wide open (though 
>> the
>> last produced not too bad).