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Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 [I]

Wide-angle prime lens • Digital era

Model history (9)

■Leitz Canada SUMMILUX 35mm F/1.4 [I]M7 - 51mE41 1960 ●
■Leitz Canada SUMMILUX 35mm F/1.4 [I] with OVUM7 - 50.65mE41 1960 ●
■Leitz Wetzlar / Leitz Canada SUMMILUX[-M] 35mm F/1.4 [II]M7 - 51mS.VII 1967 ●
Leitz Canada SUMMILUX 35mm F/1.4 “Leica 1913-1983” (200 units) 1983 ●
■Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 [II] TitaniumM7 - 51mS.VII 1992 ●
■Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPHERICALM9 - 50.7mE46 1990 ●
■Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. [II]M9 - 50.7mE46 1994 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. Gold “Sultan of Brunei” (125 units) 1996 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. Platinum “Sultan of Brunei” (125 units) 1996 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. Titanium 1996 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “Ein Stück Leica” (996 units) 1996 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “150 Jahre Optik” (30 units) 1999 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “Edition Hermès” (200 units) 2009 ●
■Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. [III]M9 - 50.7mE46 2010 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. Titanium (500 units) 2010 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “100 Years ROC” (100 units) 2012 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. for MP Oliv (100 units) 2014 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “Edition 100” (101 units) 2014 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “25th Anniversary Nordisk Foto Import” (25 units) 2014 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “Edition 60” (600 units) 2014 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “70th Anniversary ROK” (140 units) 2015 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. for M-P “Panda Edition” (30 units) 2016 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “Marina Bay Sands” (18 units) 2016 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. for M-P grip (79 units) 2016 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “India Edition” (70 units) 2017 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “Edition Zagato” (250 units) 2018 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. “Ghost Edition” (250 units) 2019 ●
Leitz Wetzlar SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. (500 units) 2020 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPHERICAL “10 Jahre SUMMILUX FLE” (110 units) 2021 ●
Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. Gold “King of Thailand” (10 units) 2022 ●
■Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 ASPH. [IV]M9 - 50.4mE46 2022 ●
■Leica SUMMILUX-M 35mm F/1.4 [I]M7 - 51mE46 2022 ●

Features highlight

•
Ultra fast
•
MF
•
Manual
•
10 blades
•
Compact
•
Lightweight
•
E46
filters

Specification

■ Production details
Announced:October 2022
Production status:● In production
Order No.:11301 - silver, chrome-plated
Original name:LEICA SUMMILUX-M 1:1.4/35
System:Leica M (1954)
■ Optical design
Focal length:35mm
Speed:F/1.4
Maximum format:35mm full frame
Mount and Flange focal distance:Leica M [27.8mm]
Diagonal angle of view:63.4°
Lens construction:7 elements in 5 groups
■ On Leica M8/M8.2 APS-H [1.33x] cameras
35mm equivalent focal length:46.6mm (in terms of field of view)
35mm equivalent speed:F/1.9 (in terms of depth of field)
Diagonal angle of view:49.8°
■ Focusing
Coupled to the rangefinder:Yes
Closest focusing distance:1m
Maximum magnification:1:26.3 at the closest focusing distance
Focusing modes:Manual focus only
Manual focus control:Focusing tab
■ Diaphragm mechanism
Diaphragm type:Manual
Aperture control:Aperture ring
Number of blades:10 (ten)
■ Physical characteristics
Weight:200g
Maximum diameter x Length:⌀66.5×35mm
■ Accessories
Filters:Screw-type 46mm
Lens hood:Screw-type (round, vented)
Slip-on (rectangular)
Lens caps:14231 (front)
14269 (rear)
14379 (rear)
■ Source of data
Manufacturer's technical data.

Manufacturer description #1

An individualist returns

Most products receive enhancements over the years. But some have a special character and an individuality that makes them last. Just like the classic Leica Summilux-M 35 f/1.4.

The true king of bokeh

As the world's fastest wide-angle lens, the Leica Summilux-M 35 f/1.4 set the photographic benchmark in 1961. Today it continues to inspire with its exceptional images. Especially shots at open aperture fascinate with their individual, almost fairy-tale look, which is really difficult to achieve through digital editing.

A distinctive bokeh and vignetting at maximum aperture, got the Summilux-M 35 f/1.4 its title as the "true king of bokeh". Photographing at open aperture in backlit conditions creates intended lens flares that can be used for specific creative effects. At smaller apertures it delivers very sharp and almost distortion-free pictures that easily meet all modern requirements on image quality.

Elegance in a compact form

Anyone picking up the Summilux-M 35 f/1.4 for the first time immediately gets why countless renowned photographers refused to take it off their camera. And why Leica is reviving it with a virtually unaltered 1961 vintage look and identical optical design.

Its stainless-steel front ring. Lockable focus ring. And the black clip-on lens hood. They’re all modelled on the original. New, on the other hand, is the second lens hood this classic comes with. This alternative, round version has an E46 thread for filters. Which — in addition to its compactness, extremely low 200g weight and its precise controls — make the Summilux-M f/1.4/35 a versatile prime lens for every M camera.

1961: The fastest wide-angle lens

When the Summilux-M 35 f/1.4 came on the market in 1961, Leica presented the fastest wide-angle lens the world had ever seen. For over 35 years it was produced in several versions. Today it's a rarity in high demand. With the renewed production in our Wetzlar factory, the classic is about to experience a notable revival.

A true Classic: In addition to the Summaron-M 28, the Thambar-M 90 and the Noctilux-M 50, the Summilux-M 35 is part of the Leica Classic Line — embodying quality and lasting value.

Manufacturer description #2

Leica looks back on more than 150 years of experience in optical design. Since then, numerous legendary lenses have been introduced, setting photographic standards and redefining what is technically possible.

One of these iconic lenses returns today: The Leica Summilux-M 35 f/1.4.

The Leica Summilux-M 35 f/1.4 was the world’s fastest wide-angle lens in 1961, distinguished by its compactness while also being extremely light, weighing only 7.05 ounces. Furthermore, this lens provided new creative opportunities with its unique image rendering.

Photographing with a wide-open aperture creates pictures with an especially soft, almost magical bokeh. Its extraordinary rendering earned the Summilux-M 35 f/1.4 the title of “True King of Bokeh”. Photographing at maximum aperture in backlit conditions creates intended lens flares that can be used for specific artistic effects. When stopping down past f/2.8, it produces very sharp and particularly distortion-free pictures which meet modern requirements for image quality.

The new edition is made in the original vintage design and with the identical optical calculation of the first Summilux-M 35 f/1.4. Additionally, the stainless-steel front ring known as “Steel Rim”, the lockable focus ring and the black attachable lens hood are also modelled after the original. What is new, however, is the second round lens hood with E46 thread which enables the use of filters,also included with this lens.

Typical application

Class:

Ultra-fast full-frame wide-angle prime lens

Genres or subjects of photography (7):

Landscapes • Cityscapes • Buildings • Interiors • Full to mid-body portraits • Street • Travel photography

Recommended slowest shutter speed when shooting static subjects handheld:

1/40th of a second

Alternatives in the Leica M system

Sorted by focal length and speed, in ascending order

Lenses with similar focal length

Sorted by manufacturer name

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35mm full frame

43.27 24 36
  • Dimensions: 36 × 24mm
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Diagonal: 43.27mm
  • Area: 864mm2

MF

Sorry, no additional information is available.

14231

Replacement lens cap, black finish, for Leica E46 lenses.

14269

Replacement rear cover for Leica M-mount lenses.

14379

Replacement rear cover, plastic, black finish, for Leica M-mount lenses.

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Image stabilizer

A technology used for reducing or even eliminating the effects of camera shake. Gyro sensors inside the lens detect camera shake and pass the data to a microcomputer. Then an image stabilization group of elements controlled by the microcomputer moves inside the lens and compensates camera shake in order to keep the image static on the imaging sensor or film.

The technology allows to increase the shutter speed by several stops and shoot handheld in such lighting conditions and at such focal lengths where without image stabilizer you have to use tripod, decrease the shutter speed and/or increase the ISO setting which can lead to blurry and noisy images.

Original name

Lens name as indicated on the lens barrel (usually on the front ring). With lenses from film era, may vary slightly from batch to batch.

Format

Format refers to the shape and size of film or image sensor.

35mm is the common name of the 36x24mm film format or image sensor format. It has an aspect ratio of 3:2, and a diagonal measurement of approximately 43mm. The name originates with the total width of the 135 film which was the primary medium of the format prior to the invention of the full frame digital SLR. Historically the 35mm format was sometimes called small format to distinguish it from the medium and large formats.

APS-C is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the film negatives of 25.1x16.7mm with an aspect ratio of 3:2.

Medium format is a film format or image sensor format larger than 36x24mm (35mm) but smaller than 4x5in (large format).

Angle of view

Angle of view describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view.

As the focal length changes, the angle of view also changes. The shorter the focal length (eg 18mm), the wider the angle of view. Conversely, the longer the focal length (eg 55mm), the smaller the angle of view.

A camera's angle of view depends not only on the lens, but also on the sensor. Imaging sensors are sometimes smaller than 35mm film frame, and this causes the lens to have a narrower angle of view than with 35mm film, by a certain factor for each sensor (called the crop factor).

This website does not use the angles of view provided by lens manufacturers, but calculates them automatically by the following formula: 114.6 * arctan (21.622 / CF * FL),

where:

CF – crop-factor of a sensor,
FL – focal length of a lens.

Mount

A lens mount is an interface — mechanical and often also electrical — between a camera body and a lens.

A lens mount may be a screw-threaded type, a bayonet-type, or a breech-lock type. Modern camera lens mounts are of the bayonet type, because the bayonet mechanism precisely aligns mechanical and electrical features between lens and body, unlike screw-threaded mounts.

Lens mounts of competing manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony etc.) are always incompatible. In addition to the mechanical and electrical interface variations, the flange focal distance can also be different.

The flange focal distance (FFD) is the distance from the mechanical rear end surface of the lens mount to the focal plane.

Lens construction

Lens construction – a specific arrangement of elements and groups that make up the optical design, including type and size of elements, type of used materials etc.

Element - an individual piece of glass which makes up one component of a photographic lens. Photographic lenses are nearly always built up of multiple such elements.

Group – a cemented together pieces of glass which form a single unit or an individual piece of glass. The advantage is that there is no glass-air surfaces between cemented together pieces of glass, which reduces reflections.

Focal length

The focal length is the factor that determines the size of the image reproduced on the focal plane, picture angle which covers the area of the subject to be photographed, depth of field, etc.

Speed

The largest opening or stop at which a lens can be used is referred to as the speed of the lens. The larger the maximum aperture is, the faster the lens is considered to be. Lenses that offer a large maximum aperture are commonly referred to as fast lenses, and lenses with smaller maximum aperture are regarded as slow.

In low-light situations, having a wider maximum aperture means that you can shoot at a faster shutter speed or work at a lower ISO, or both.

Closest focusing distance

The minimum distance from the focal plane (film or sensor) to the subject where the lens is still able to focus.

Closest working distance

The distance from the front edge of the lens to the subject at the maximum magnification.

Magnification ratio

Determines how large the subject will appear in the final image. For example, a magnification ratio of 1:1 means that the image of the subject formed on the film or sensor will be the same size as the subject in real life. For this reason, a 1:1 ratio is often called "life-size".

Manual diaphragm

The diaphragm must be stopped down manually by rotating the detent aperture ring.

Preset diaphragm

The lens has two rings, one is for pre-setting, while the other is for normal diaphragm adjustment. The first ring must be set at the desired aperture, the second ring then should be fully opened for focusing, and turned back for stop down to the pre-set value.

Semi-automatic diaphragm

The lens features spring mechanism in the diaphragm, triggered by the shutter release, which stops down the diaphragm to the pre-set value. The spring needs to be reset manually after each exposure to re-open diaphragm to its maximum value.

Automatic diaphragm

The camera automatically closes the diaphragm down during the shutter operation. On completion of the exposure, the diaphragm re-opens to its maximum value.

Fixed diaphragm

The aperture setting is fixed at F/1.4 on this lens, and cannot be adjusted.

Number of blades

As a general rule, the more blades that are used to create the aperture opening in the lens, the rounder the out-of-focus highlights will be.

Some lenses are designed with curved diaphragm blades, so the roundness of the aperture comes not from the number of blades, but from their shape. However, the fewer blades the diaphragm has, the more difficult it is to form a circle, regardless of rounded edges.

At maximum aperture, the opening will be circular regardless of the number of blades.

Weight

Excluding case or pouch, caps and other detachable accessories (lens hood, close-up adapter, tripod adapter etc.).

Maximum diameter x Length

Excluding case or pouch, caps and other detachable accessories (lens hood, close-up adapter, tripod adapter etc.).

For lenses with collapsible design, the length is indicated for the working (retracted) state.

Weather sealing

A rubber material which is inserted in between each externally exposed part (manual focus and zoom rings, buttons, switch panels etc.) to ensure it is properly sealed against dust and moisture.

Lenses that accept front mounted filters typically do not have gaskets behind the filter mount. It is recommended to use a filter for complete weather resistance when desired.

Fluorine coating

Helps keep lenses clean by reducing the possibility of dust and dirt adhering to the lens and by facilitating cleaning should the need arise. Applied to the outer surface of the front and/or rear lens elements over multi-coatings.

Filters

Lens filters are accessories that can protect lenses from dirt and damage, enhance colors, minimize glare and reflections, and add creative effects to images.

Lens hood

A lens hood or lens shade is a device used on the end of a lens to block the sun or other light source in order to prevent glare and lens flare. Flare occurs when stray light strikes the front element of a lens and then bounces around within the lens. This stray light often comes from very bright light sources, such as the sun, bright studio lights, or a bright white background.

The geometry of the lens hood can vary from a plain cylindrical or conical section to a more complex shape, sometimes called a petal, tulip, or flower hood. This allows the lens hood to block stray light with the higher portions of the lens hood, while allowing more light into the corners of the image through the lowered portions of the hood.

Lens hoods are more prominent in long focus lenses because they have a smaller viewing angle than that of wide-angle lenses. For wide angle lenses, the length of the hood cannot be as long as those for telephoto lenses, as a longer hood would enter the wider field of view of the lens.

Lens hoods are often designed to fit onto the matching lens facing either forward, for normal use, or backwards, so that the hood may be stored with the lens without occupying much additional space. In addition, lens hoods can offer some degree of physical protection for the lens due to the hood extending farther than the lens itself.

Teleconverters

Teleconverters increase the effective focal length of lenses. They also usually maintain the closest focusing distance of lenses, thus increasing the magnification significantly. A lens combined with a teleconverter is normally smaller, lighter and cheaper than a "direct" telephoto lens of the same focal length and speed.

Teleconverters are a convenient way of enhancing telephoto capability, but it comes at a cost − reduced maximum aperture. Also, since teleconverters magnify every detail in the image, they logically also magnify residual aberrations of the lens.

Lens caps

Scratched lens surfaces can spoil the definition and contrast of even the finest lenses. Lens covers are the best and most inexpensive protection available against dust, moisture and abrasion. Safeguard lens elements - both front and rear - whenever the lens is not in use.