Canon 35mm f/1.5 LTM

d30gaijin · 12-30-2004

I recently bought a Canon 35mm f/1.5 LTM lens as part of a Canon kit I came across. I was a bit leery about its performance based on the little I've read about this lens on the Internet, and my previous experience with an older pre-asph Leitz 35mm f/1.4 Summilux I had (the "King of Flare" should be the title of the pre-asph 35 Summilux). I figured I'd sell the 35/1.5 Canon if it wasn't any good. In fact, I actually put it up for sale before I even tried it. Well, only one person was interested but he wanted to see some shots made with the lens. Well, that certainly made sense, so I loaded a roll of Fuji 400 Extra print film and went off in pursuit of subjects.

The Porsche 914 was shot at f/1.5 with focus on the right front wheel, and is a little under exposed so not as good of a scan as it should be (I don't have a scanner so must rely on my photo processing place for scans, sometimes they do a good job, sometimes they don't). The Church was shot at f/8. I am impressed with this lens. These scans don't do the original prints justice, but the lens performs extremely well. I think I might keep it.

Don

d30gaijin · 12-30-2004

The Church (actually now the Idaho Black History Museum).

Todd.Hanz · 12-30-2004

Great results, If I were you I'd keep it, or give it to me

.

Todd

d30gaijin · 12-30-2004

Todd,

Thank you for the compliments. It is a nice compact little fast 35, but I also have the monster CV 35/1.2, which is big but I like it. And then there's my 35/2 pre-asph Summicron, a tough lens to beat.

Don

Leica M6 classic, 35/2 Summicron, 50/2 Summicron, 90/2 Summicron, and a leica M4-2 staying with me, each and every one of them.

Brian Sweeney · 12-30-2004

Don,
If you decide to sell the lens, please list it here. Just another great way to contribute...
Brian

back alley · 12-30-2004

hey that looks like a very nice lens.
i like it and that church shot is also very nice.

like brian, i hope you list here also should you decide to sell eventually.

joe

Doug · 12-30-2004

Looking good, Don! Pleasant bokeh out there beyond the Porsche. The church looks excellent, but I suppose that's not at f/1.5 as well?

David Kieltyka · 12-30-2004

I have this lens on loan from a friend. Like I need yet another lens in the 35–40mm range. (My CV 40mm f/1.4 arrived today from Stephen at CameraQuest. Yippee!) I also give it a thumbs-up based on what I've seen so far. Solid build, better performance than I expected based on prior reputation and my friend's comments. So I'm thinking of making an offer.

I've included an example shot taken at f/5.6 or f/8.

-Dave-

David Kieltyka · 12-30-2004

Here's another example, this time wide open. I took this in my lab at work, just goofing around with close focusing. Both photos taken with the Epson R-D1.

Just as an anecdote, the hard drive enclosure in this photo labeled dbs142 was recovered from the World Trade Center. Not only was it intact but the hard drive inside still worked! (The enclosure itself was fried electronically.) The drive is now inside one of my development servers, still going strong.

-Dave-

d30gaijin · 12-30-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by Doug
Looking good, Don! Pleasant bokeh out there beyond the Porsche. The church looks excellent, but I suppose that's not at f/1.5 as well?

Doug,

No, the church was shot at f/8, but to me it is still impressive, especially for a lens that seems to have such a poor reputation (perhaps by detractors who haven't actually used the lens).

Have a safe and Happy New year!

Don

back alley · 12-19-2005

hey, i'm bumping this up as it's been a topic of conversation of late.

joe