[Leica] PAW Film and Bokeh

[jbcollier at shaw.ca (John Collier)]

Hi Jim,

The fourth generation 35/2 is indeed justifiable famous for its boke.  
However, it is its wonderfully smooth transitions in the f8 to f4  
range, when focused in the mid-range, that has made its reputation.  
While your photo is a fine illustration of the lens's wide open boke,  
it is not what the lens is famous for. I must confess that I do not  
particularly care for the boke of the lens wide open. I prefer the  
close focused, wide open boke of Summilux-Asph. A bit of a mixed bag  
of a lens with the boke all over the map depending on aperture and  
focus distance. While the fourth gen 35/2 is more consistent through  
its range than the Summilux Asph, it tends to fall apart wide-open.  
Some claim the last of the production run were better wide open  
though that might be the German effect rather than fact.

All of which is completely immaterial if you are happy with its  
results. Boke likes and dislikes are completely subjective (as long  
as it isn't the nasty double line stuff -- gack, that makes me ill).

John Collier

On 7-Oct-06, at 3:39 PM, Jim Shulman wrote:

> Nothing like the incredible bokeh of a 4th generation Summicron 35  
> with good
> old Kodak film.
>
> Taken at the lunch area of Hershey Park.  Many thanks to my patient  
> model.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/ogp2s
>
> M2, Summicron 35 at full aperture, 1/60 second, Kodak Gold 200.