Thirty-Fives I Missed

Before we leave the subject of 35mm and 35mm-e lenses, I should mention one more thing. I claimed the other day to have used between 60 and 100 of them over the years. I have no idea if that's actually true. How would you count? There'd have to be rules. Do you count fixed-lens cameras? I'd want to count the fixed-lens Fuji X100S but not the the fixed-lens iPhone 4s. But that's rather arbitrary. Tough to know how many 35s I've used exactly. But if it's in the range of 60–100 I wouldn't be surprised. Exploring lenses used to be a bit of a compulsion with me.

However, there are a number I haven't tried. Apart from the Summilux-M Aspherical Type 1 (one roll—thanks to a friend) and Summilux-M ASPH (thanks to another friend), some of the ones I've missed include some high-dollar, cost-no-object optics. I've never tried the new Canon L II (although I have tried the Type I), or the Sony FE 35mm ƒ/1.4, or the older, now rare, but well-regarded Summilux-R, or the Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm ƒ/1.4 ZM. There are more.

Missed this one

Hey, what can I say? I was a single parent for quite a while (well, I still am, but Xander takes care of himself now). As a type, we aren't known for being loaded.

So maybe I was Mr. 35mm Lens, but there are still gaps in my education.

That's what the future's for, isn't it?

Mike

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Comments

[Fazal Majid]

There are two 35mm Summilux-M ASPH: the 1994 model, and the 2010 model with floating element. Both have concave front elements, the one portrayed is the 1990-1994 dual-surface Aspherical.

[Gordon Lewis]

You don't have to make any excuses or apologies for not having sampled every exotic, high-priced lenses on the market, Mike. I suspect most rabid auto enthusiasts have never driven a Maserati, Ferrari, Porsche, or Lamborghini either.

[Kodachromeguy]

I recently bought for all of $40 a 35mm f/3.5 Super-Takumar lens in M42 screw-mount. It's amazing - compact, gorgeous mechanical construction, and smooth rendering. Sure, it is inferior to one of the new cannon-like 800 gm super 35mm lenses, but I can live with the limitations of my $40 lens.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wmu2vFix5Fs/WK98Mb2-MYI/AAAAAAAAL7g/g8d9prw2aU0_vPZRLLm1NW0mLu1J17g-gCLcB/s1600/Tomato01-Vicksburg_20170128_resize.JPG

[John Masters]

If you've tried more than five or six of 'em, good OR bad 35mm or eq. lenses, you're waaay ahead of me.
As a teen in the seventies, having mowed untold numbers of lawns in ridiculously hot/humid Louisiana weather, I finally purchased my first "good" camera, wholly earned by my own toil, a Canon AE-1 with a Canon 50mm f1.8.
A strange thing happened though, every time I saw a scene I liked, and brought the camera/50mm to my eye, I would invariably have to take two or three steps back to get into the frame of that 50mm what I saw that stopped me in the first place.
Light bulb moment!
More saving and a 35mm Canon lens let me stop having to take three steps back to fit into it most scenes that arrested me.
Like many others, a 35mm, or eq. in the crop-frame era, has always been my normal lens.
Now, at 54, and a newly-minted Fujifilm camera owner (X-T20) I'm saving my pennies for my dream lens, that Fuji 23mm f/1.4 lens.
Knowing myself as I do, I'll probably actually buy the snub-nosed 23mm f/2, simply because I'll reach reach it's price on the way to the price of the 23mm f/1.4.
Heck, the super-mega-ultra-awesome lenses of Fuji, Leica are probably wasted on me, I find myself in awe of the images I get walking around with the XF 18-135mm Fuji lens.
Owning the 23mm f/2 Fuji will probably give me the vapors, whereas the 23mm f/1.4 might give me a heart attack to actually own it and see the resulting photos.
For now, I often go out with my X-T20 and a Nikon 24mm AI-s as my one lens when walking around in towns and street areas. That Nikon 24 is still a sweet ride, and I can pretend to be a real photographer out there.
Finally, thank God for the Fuji's focus peaking and the easy zone focus on the Nikon's scale; my fifty-something eyesight wouldn't result in pleasing photos otherwise.