[Leica] 19mm Elmarit-R current vs. Vario-Elmar 35-70/ f/3.5. Is the 19 so much better, as it would appear?

[krieger at usc.edu (Martin Krieger)]

This morning I went out and photographed people at bus-stops using the 
Vario-Elmar (35-70, f/3.5,German), mostly set at 70mm. Then later in the day 
I photographed some street scenes using the 19mmElmarit-R, current,  f/2.8. 
Looking at my transparencies, I find that the quality of the faces (all 
quite small, due to distance) is much better in the Elmarit images than in 
the Vario-Elmar's.  Maybe I did not focus well in the latter case, or 
perhaps the f stop was a bit wider (less light in morning). But the 
difference is noticeable. I realize this is not at all scientific or 
objective, but have people similar experiences, or is this just too messy a 
comparison to learn anything from it?
Martin
krieger@usc.edu