Some Whole Lotta Leica Results - Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens on the Leica M9

I have been shooting quite a lot this month, but not particularly a lot with my monthly feature equipment. One reason is that I got a Leica M3 DS (film camera) that has my interest. Another is that both my WLL lens for this month, the Summaron, and my Skeletons From The Closet camera, the Autocord, are both f3.5 lenses. That's somewhat limiting for me, as I'm used to shooting at least f2 lenses.

 

(Click Here) to read about the Summaron.

 

I have posted a few results from the Summaron already this month - (Click Here) and (Click Here) to see them.

 

Here are some new ones:

 

Sibling Rivalry?, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 200, f6.7, 1/30 sec.

 

The shot above is probably my favorite from the Summaron this month.

 

I never did get into the city to do any street photography with the Summaron this month. I did spend some time in the countryside.

 

Barn, Harpers Ferry, WV, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 200, f13, 1/125 sec.

 

Meadow Sunrise, Manassas, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 160, f5.7, 1/60 sec.

 

Sunbeam, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 160, f4, 1/60 sec.

 

 

Here's a family snapshot to wrap things up.

 

Kitchen Fun, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 1250, f3.5, 1/25 sec.

My conclusions about this lens are: 1) it's tiny, 2) it is capable of very nice images, especially in the way it renders color, 3) the f3.5 aperture is limiting to me. I have always enjoyed the images I've made with this lens on film. I shared some of those in the lens introduction post (first link above).

 

I think the correct use for this lens is on a screwmount Leica (Barnack) camera. The size fits well with the screwmount cameras, the 35mm focal length and small maximum aperture lend it to use where shallow depth of field is not necessary (or to put it another way, where you need depth of field to allow quick focus setting). I think I'll mount it on my Leica IIIC and take it street shooting soon. I know it's great for that.

 

I don't want to give the wrong impression about this lens. If someone asked, I would recommend that they try it. It does some things very well. On the other hand, I I would not suggest that anyone select it as their only lens.

 

For June, I've selected the Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm f1.5 lens to mate up with my M9. There can be no excuses about a slow lens this month.

 

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