Leica Summilux-M 28mm f/1.4 ASPH M-mount objectief Zwart

I goofed in my previous review, saying the lens would not accept 49mm screw-in filters. The lens does -- but not as described in the instructions that come with the lens. It turns out there is -- unidentified in the manual -- a retaining ring which can be unscrewed and removed, which then exposes the 49mm female thread for screw-in filters.

A fast, manual-focus wide-angle prime lens for Leica M-mount rangefinder cameras, which is ideal for landscape, reportage and architectural photography.

f/1.4 means you can shoot indoors without flash on autoiso and get minimal noise. 28mm wide angle means you can shoot inside normal rooms or restaurants. That is why I paid a premium for this lens. If I shoot outdoors in daylight, I take the 35 mm/ summicron at f5.6 for optimal picture quality. Atf/1.4 there is considerable light fall of on the sides, which needs to be adjusted in lightroom. Also this 28 mm summilux lens is heavy and big by comparison to f/2.0 lenses. 35 mm and 55 mm give a very natural rendering of the subject. What you see in the view is what you get. 28 mm has a very, distinctive look because of the wide-angle nature of this lens. Environmental Portrait is the buzzword. I am starting to like it, but it is not as flattering on faces as a normal lens, and you have to be within 3 feet of the person to make this lens shine and enjoy the bokeh at f/1.4. That is very close.

I rented this lens for 10 days of shooting in Venice, Italy. I own a 28mm Elmarit-M f/2.8 ASPH, so I left it at home did the trip and finally returned the lens. Conclusion? The image quality of this lens is outstanding, which I actually expected from Leica, but this lens has a drawback. I love rangefinder photography. This lens is fairly big and as a rangefinder lens it uses the largest viewfinder frame of Leica M cameras. The lens actually covers the lower right 1/4 of that viewfinder area, which makes it pretty difficult, outright inconvenient to compose an image, which for me is the reason not to buy this lens. I'd rather choose the Summilux-M 24mm or even 21mm with the external viewfinder instead. When comparing image quality to my own 28mm Elmarit-M f/2.8 ASPH at f4 to f16, photos taken with a Leica M9 and a Leica M-P 240 I really can't see any difference in image quality.

Never used the Zeiss Otus, so cannot compare. Used for years the Zeiss 28mm 2.0 for Nikon, as well as the Leicas 28mm 2.0 and 2.8. This one is better by a very material and substantial margin, micro contrast, OOF with strong separation, very well built and with outstanding images over a large swath of images and field applications. Very heavy, very bulky and might not be adapted for all situations. Also extremely expensive.