Canon Ltm (m39) 35/2 Love And Hate

[Nathan Wright]

This is a short summary of my rather long review of the Canon 35/2 LTM lens.

I started rangefinder photography with a Canon P and a 50/1,4 LTM Canon lens. I'll be honest, the P immediately impressed me. The 50, though smooth rendering and easy to handle, didn't. It was a bit loose-goose and felt thrown together next to its Leica counterparts.

Not long after I picked up the 35/2 LTM on the basis of great reviews. It was made well. It was sharp. It was contrasty. Indeed it is… well, it is made even less well than the 50/1,4. More loose-goose, less tight tolerances. Lots of focus wiggle.

But I'll forgive it.

Why? Because it renders so bloody like heaven.

It's the multifarious bokeh: smooth in the middle, tubular up front, and tending to swirl at back. It is sharp, but not nasty sharp like the 50/2 Ai Nikkor. It does smooth but detailed skin and beautiful, if ruddy, tones. It brings health to a winter's day, but not outright warm like Zeiss lenses.

Today I use it mainly on an X-Pro 1. It looks great fastened onto the front. Great. Bit chubby. But you can't have it all. I didn't like the 1 metre minimum focus distance on the Canon P and Leica M9 so for mirror less use I bought a Hawk's Factory adapter and can now focus on subjects less than 30cm away.

As a 35mm lens, it sits amid a lot of good competition. Where it really sticks out, especially on mirrorless cameras, is as a 50mm substitute. Amazing. I have just spent several hours writing and correcting a long review of the Canon 35/2 LTM at ohm image. If you care to, please check it out. I'm not about to re-write it.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Nice read ... It's given me a big chunk of gas to contend with though!

I've been taking a lot of photos with an old 50mm 1.5 Summarit lately ... It takes acquired taste in bokeh to the extreme I think! And I love it for it!

Have you tried the cv 35mm Nokton classic? I have the MC version ... Whilst being very much a modern lens in its rendering for the most part, it has some, to my eye, lovely Bokeh ...

You write like a HiFi reviewer, do you know that?

 

[Nathan Wright]

Hey Hamish. It is such a welcome to be in another shared thread. I love the 1,5 Summarit, though I find it is a bit TOO much. The 35/2 LTM is just enough swirl to be interesting, but isn't there ALL.THE.TIME. But I love the Summarit you have. I have shot the Nokton Classic. It is a fine lens and almost as small.

It's funny that Fuji users think their lenses are small…

the problem I have with the CV is that its bokeh is a bit too much like the Zeiss Biogon 35/2. Both shoot very well and are comfortable. The CV isn't made quite as well, but it sure betters the Canon, but both are a bit too bubbly for me. The CV has that nice fall off of classic lenses, but its bokeh simply too active in a Biogon way for me.

I was actually shopping around for one though. And if I find a rental place I'll do a review as I've been asked by a number of people to get one out… for some reason. There are so many better reviewers out there. The askers are all hangers-on from, as you suggested, the HiFi world!

 

[Hamish Gill]

Hey, yeah, its nice to have another person on here to talk with about some of these old lenses ... I do use RFF, but I find it a little much most of the time ...

I think I know what you mean about active ... I suppose, like with the summarit, its about using it appropriately.

this for example, is probably not the best use for the summarit - I quite like it, but very few would I think really


Trip to the woods by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

This on the other hand, taken a moment earlier is a lot more easy to pallet


Trip to the woods by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

I think that is what I like about it, you have to learn to use it ... It is predictable once you get used to it, but there is a serendipity in its use! And when you get it just right, magic happens ... Now I appreciate these hold a little extra attraction for me for obvious reasons, but I just love the way they are 'drawn'


First roll of XP2 through the M7 by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

... look at the material of the sofa as it moves to out of focus ...


First roll of XP2 through the M7 by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

I was chatting to a work mate the other day, these lenses, to me have unique properties! not just to the make and model, but to the individual copy. A fingerprint if you like, ok they all share a look, but the fact that they would have been hand made ... I dunno, there is a magic to that for me somehow!


On the subject of the CV, it is that lens that started all this for me ... it has inescapable charm for me! Again, it is situation, but I find it a much easier lens to use! I suspect I might just like the bubbly bokeh look. I guess you might call some of the out of focus shapes "hard" and "tubular" maybe ... Im not so good with the adjectives when it coes to this sort of thing ... One way or another, in the right situation, this lens really shines for me!

This is one of my favorite photos!


Connie in Boston Tea Party by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

I have just realised, every single photo in this post is of my daughter ... ...


So! This canon, what might I pay for one, I cant see any on ebay...
Also, do you have any experience of the 28mm canon ltms ... I have a cv 28mm 1.9 ... which is very good, but a bit too ... normal ... I'm looking for a 28 with charm!

 

[Pete Askew]

What an interesting thread, and some fabulous shots to illustrate it.

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Quite right there Pete

 

[Nathan Wright]

Hamish: you really really know your lens. It really really sings in your hands. your daughter is most beautiful and the light you used to light her face… impeccable. Some of the best father-taking-daughter photos I've ever seen. Excellent.

I have no experienced the Canon 28 Serenars but after talking with another member I'm interested in trying them out. They are however expensive, at least in Japan. The Serenars are also much better constructed than the later lenses. The thing is, not a one has the same great look of the 35/2. I've seen 35/2's go for up to 800$ and beaters for as little as 400$ today, but they are very rare.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Thanks Nathan... Although, I would say I'm still getting to know it! I shot with digital for a long time with it. I dint find that quite as rewarding as I am now with shooting film tbh. It seems impact of the lens, specifically on the effect on the colours it causes (that warmth when wide I mentioned on flickr), is more prominent in its effect on film. The combination of trying it with different films is adding a whole extra level of exploration and, again, serendipity.

These for eg, taken with portra...


Connie around the house by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

are a lot cooler and more portra-like due to the lens being stopped down. Whereas those shots taken in the woods where shot wide, which, to repeat my self a little seems to add a mass of warmth even to portra ... It seems the summarit makes for a yellow tint, the portra is a little blue and cool ... together, you get that almost greeny light ... ? Maybe im talking crap, but this is my understanding of what is going on so far!

I have also just taken delivery of 4 rolls of cinestill t800 which is 3500k balanced film ... I am really intrigued to see how the warmth of the lens effects that!
I also have a mostly finished roll of adox colour implosion in my zorki ... god only know how that will come out ... I should finish it really (@Pete Askew bought it me too long ago now)


by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

Shame about the canon, out of my price range at the mo, and seemingly physical range too ... I am hovering over and ultra modern lens in the form of a brand new 50mm ZM Planar at the mo, something to be the antithesis of the summarit, but im yet to be 100% i need an alternative to it of any sort at the moment ... as I say, it still feel like it holds a lot more exploration!

So, tell me what you have heard about the 28 Serenars ... The other 28 of interest to me is the ms-optical 28/4 perar ... a tprilet of course

 

[Nathan Wright]

The Planar is also an old old design, it's just got the modern coatings. I think Planar designs are the oldest designs still in use, so don't worry about the 'modernity' of that lens. It draws a bit like a traditional Planar, which of course is sharp and contrasty. You know, I had quite forgotten about the Serenars. I was gung-ho about them early on in my rangefinder life, but I passed them up later. If I find any here in Japan for good prices, I will let you know. Sometimes I find junk dealers with decent lenses that just need a good clean.

 

[Hamish Gill]

... Junk that needs a clean sounds like a wonderful thing! I do envy you residing in tokyo ... I follow JCH on the various social media platforms, the stuff he finds ... ... most of it you wouldnt see in 100 years in the city i live in!

Ill tell you what I am looking for in a lens, and you might be able to help ... A lens that I love, belive it or not, is the vario sonnar on my Rx100 ... have a look at this shot, it demonstrates an attribute I like in it quite well


pepper by Hamish_Gill, on Flickr

Around the fork, you see how it is almost smokey?

I have been trying to determine if that is a sonnar trait?

 

[Hamish Gill]

I hope you dont mind the massive thread drift by the way ... ?

 

[Chris Dodkin]

I love the discussions, and demonstrations, or the 'feel' of various lenses

It's a mystery to me how some folk get all bet out of shaped by lens tests and edge sharpness - and completely miss the point about how an image taken with a certain lens makes you feel

I only realized this when I started buying all the analog film sh!t that Hamish made me buy by being on this forum - so it's all your fault H!

 

[Nathan Wright]

I'm sorry that I didn't reply sooner. Very sorry. Okay, I suppose you like the soft focus up close? Or is it the glow? Or is it the soft semi-onion OOF highlights? All of that is coupled with crazy contrast (I assume that is shot wide open). That's a smooth bokeh that is pretty typical of fast modern Japanese lenses. Japanese lenses used to be a bit less smooth, but after Japanese cameras became the norm, they found their own way. A bit of bubble, but it is attractive. I can't say that I know so much at all of what would serve your purpose.