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Hurrah I have a 35mm f2

Dear Erik and William,

I use the first (8 element) and fourth (7 element) 1:2/35 Summicrons. IMHO the ASPH is a "better" lens, but for slides I do not like its pictorial qualities. With negative film, particularly black&white, the contrast is controllable, but I tried the ASPH and decided to stay with the 7 element for my type of general photography, and the 8 element for the "classic" look.

Have fun.

Justin
 
Erik,

Looks like your question has had an answer (thanks Justin).
I imagine you would need projected slides to see these differences as Justin does.

Regards, William
 
Hello Justin,
Can you explain a bit why you don't like the ASPH for slides? I heard from someone he did not like the lens for color-negative work because it caused easely block-ups in the darks and the lights. In b&w this is no problem: you can change the gradation easely, but in color you cannot!

Thank you for informing us all!

Erik.
 
Dear Erik,

For the same reason as your friend experienced with colour-negative. It blocks the highlights and the shadows. The reality is that the ASPH lens is better than the film. Why I suspect the problem did not occur for me with colour-negative is that I used Agfa Portrait, a very soft gradation colour-negative film. I suspect that with "punchy" film stock such as Superia one would have the same problem as colour-transparency.

I tend to match my film to the lens in use. For the old f=5cm 1:2,5 Hektor I use Velvia 50 or Superia 400, however with the Tri-Elmar-M I use Astia or NPH.

Best wishes,

Justin
 
Hello Justin,
Great that you use the old Hektor 2.5/50mm! I love that lens too! At full aperture it's beautiful for close-up portraits (1m), at f9 it is dead sharp all over the frame. I use it on another favorite: the Leica II, both are from 1932 and still going strong. For more modern looking pictures I use the new Voigtlander 2.5/50mm on it. A fine lens optically, alas the distance setting is now, after almost two years, rather sloppy. No such thing with the Hektor after 72 years.

Regards and thanks,

Erik.
 
Dear Erik,

With the 5 cm Hektor, it is easy to remove the helical focusing mount, clean with dry-cleaning fluid (as does Leica) and relubricate with the factory lubricant. This process removed the play in my Xenon.

The Hektor IMHO was/is a better lens than the 5 cm Elmar however I suspect marketing reasons at the time directed Leica to the Summar for speed and the Elmar for simplicity of manufacture. The optical design of the Hektor required very careful assembly and the grinding of the Merthe curves was expensive. I am presently having a Hektor coated to compare with the "red scale" Elmar and possibly prove my point.

Regards,

Justin
 
Hello Justin,
No, my Hektor is fine and lubricated with the heaviest grease Losimol Magunna type 1150-A. The Voigtlander Color-Skopar is a bit sloppy but cannot be fixed completely (I've sent it to Ring-photo in Fuerth in Germany), it is however perefectly usable, but lacks the feel of a Leica lens when focusing. My Hektor is not coated, but I assure you that even when it is it's not a match against the red-scale Elmar. But let me know if you not agree. At all the comparable apertures the Elmar is better, it is almost a modern lens. The Hektor has a charm all it's own, but never looks 'modern'. Beware however when you use the Elmar on a M-body: when retracted it touches the main light shield in front of your shutter and can damage it. The Summar gives a completely different kind of image: very sharp at the smaller f-stops and beautyfully rounded at the bigger holes, but unfortunately it is quite soft and the six blade diaphragm is definitely not my cup of tea.

Have you ever tried the Hektor 1.9/73mm?

best wishes,

Erik.
 
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