Which aperture of summicron 35 asph is very peak performance ?

[kamol_.]

With your experience for summicron 35 asph

 

Which Apertures you are most often use it, and to favor, to admire

F2, F2.8, F4, F5.6, F8, F11, F16.......:-)

 

and Which Aperture is excellent, High perfomance

and impression of 3-dimension of Leica lenses

when you select it.......

 

Pardon for always poor English......:-D

[grant_.]

i use whats necessary

[ray .]

Kamol,

 

It's based on what kind of depth of field you want vs. exposure time desired. Anything else is of practical insignificance.

 

You'll find much more difference in image quality based on lighting in the scene, exposure, development, printing skill, etc than anything relating to so-called optimum lens peformance.

 

Are you sure you're not obsessing over these things to excuse yourself from really going out and shooting?

[nesrani]

The one you need to get the shot.

[henry_ting2]

That's the advantage of the ASPH because it really doesn't matter provided you don't close down the aperture too much. I would say, the more important element is what you want in a picture.

[marco_guerra]

I agree with all the guys which have posted their answers - but, if you want to know what Erwin Puts says about it, I will tell you that, in his opinion, this lens is at its best at F 4. I haven't used it a lot yet, but, IMHO, I can't see so much difference in photos taken with one F stop or another, that wasn't different depth of field - I must say I try to avoid F 16 or more, so my experience is limited, in some way.

For what I experienced (I also made a comparison with 35 mm pre-asph, with a 35 F 2 AIS Nikon, and with a Zeiss distagon 50 F 4 for Hasselblad) it's an outstanding lens - under any aspect.

 

Marco

[ray_moth]

People seem to be unable to answer your question, Kamol! You will see from my answer below that I, too, don't know from personal experience but I'll have a stab at it, using common sense.

 

With most Leica lenses, optimum results are to be had at approx. 2 stops smaller than the lens's maximum aperture. So, in the case of the 35mm Summicron Asph, f/4 is probably the "sweet spot". However, because the quality of correction in Leica's aspherical element lenses is so high, it's probably difficult to see any difference in optical quality between f/2 and f/8. You may possibly see the onset of diffraction at apertures smaller than f/8, I've never tried.

 

I mainly use ISO 200-400 speed films. I tend to use this lens at apertures from f/2 to f/8, aiming for a reasonably fast shutter speed according to the brightness of the available light.

[matt_m__toronto_]

be careful with what you read kamol. you've posted a few questions recently about the performance of this lens. it sounds as if you are trying to convince or prove to yourself something...i don't know what though :-) i just don't want to see you shooting all your stuff at f4 now. to do that you may have to compromise your shutter speed which could ruin your opportunity. there are no rules. you have a fine lens (just like those with pre-asph versions) just go out and shoot.

 

fyi, unless i'm going for blur or minimal depth of field, my first choice is to shoot with the highest shutter speed possible. i'll set my fstop based on that.

[kamol_.]

Thanks for Advice ;-)

 

I will improve my vision and practice ;-)

 

Best Regard.............:D

[Rob F.]

f/4 is about the sharpest, but don't be afraid to shoot it wide open, because that's what it's really for. At f/4 it's really tough to see the difference between ASPH and pre-ASPH. I don't see it, even with the camera on a tripod. And who uses a Leica M on a tripod?

[m_.]

ALL OF THEM for what they are used for. Meaningless to compare performance at different aperture settings.

[joel_matherson]

Not true, most lenses even Leicas best have a sweet spot that stands out over others. Knowing this special aperture on some lenses can be of great importance, like the Voigtlander 15 for example which severely drops off in performance past 5.6.

[ray_moth]

Joel, you said it! And since you can't use an ND filter with the 15mm Heliar (it won't fit), it makes the choice of film speed important. You couldn't use 400 ISO film on a bright sunny day, for instance, even at 1/1000 sec, unless you're prepared either to sacrifice image quality by stopping down to f/11 or to over-expose by a couple of stops at f/5.6. Frankly, the 15mm Heliar might just as well have a fixed aperture of f/5.6 and be done with it.