Warning! This is not an Art Gallery. This blog post was created to give information, both in words and in images, about the Carl Zeiss 35mm f2.0 Biogon lens for the Leica M mount cameras. Nothing more. Wanna play art critic? Do it somewhere else.

 

As you are probably aware I sabotaged my resolution not to buy more gear in 2023 and went on a wild spending spree, buying several Carl  Zeiss lenses which were originally made to work on Zeiss's own M mount film camera (since discontinued) and also on any Leica or similar camera that uses the Leica M mount. These were in addition to my recent indiscretions in buying the 40mm and 58mm Voigtlander lenses in a Nikon F mount configuration. Woe is me. Will my checking account ever recover? 

After a couple of false starts concerning viable lens to camera adapters I've finally found one that gives me both correct infinity focusing (without going beyond infinity!) and also has a helicoid for extending the close up range of lenses mounted to it. It's a Hoage branded M to L Macro adapter and costs about $89. I used the adapter and the lens successfully on a Leica SL camera body this afternoon after a few quick tests yesterday evening. Everything tested out well. 

The lens I've been photographing with yesterday evening and today is the Carl Zeiss 35mm f2.0 Biogon lens ZM and I opted to buy it because it is known to be a good optical performer and it's also quite small and compact. Just the thing for long periods of handheld picture taking. When I realized that the new adapter was working perfectly I grabbed the rig and headed downtown. One priority was getting Macchiato from Mañana  Coffee but the over-riding priority was to give the new (to me) lens a trial run. To get a feel for how to focus a lens with a different touch and feel than others I am used to. To see how it renders details. To see if there is distortion and, after the fact, to see how hard (or easy) the distortion was to correct. And...would a smaller, lighter lens work well for me in the field?

I've tossed some captions under some of the images below but my overall assessment, after shooting color DNG's and black and white (oops! Monochrome) Jpegs is that the lens is very sharp and contrasty, overall, and has no major faults anywhere in the chain. The small size is fun and different from the lenses I have been using and would be nice for all day touring, on foot, in major cities. 

A note for people who might have mistaken this BLOG for a virtual fine art gallery: The pix are here to illustrate the copy. The copy is about my subjective appraisal of the lens. It's not a photo essay about street photography. It's not "Sleeping Beside the Colorado River." The photos are definitely not intended to be nor presented as fine art. You'll have to look elsewhere for that. Tough nuts. 

We're starting with a close up of this industrial handle. It's at the close

focusing distance of the lens, combined with the closest setting on the 

lens to camera adapter. If you click in to 100% you can see sharp detail on the 

part of the handle that's in focus. It's really good.  See the 100% crop just below...

Here is the same object at the close focus limit of the lens without the added

magnificiation of the macro adapter. 

And a wider shot just to show off the context of the three images above.

I didn't have a test target at hand so I stopped down to f8.0 and shot

the sidewalk adjacent to the pedestrian bridge. As you can see, it's sharp everywhere. 

That's nice. The sun is just above the frame but there isn't a hint of flare!!

I like the sun stars starting to come out from the highlight area already at f5.6.

Again, filling the frame. At f2.8 and the closest lens (alone) focus.

Wow! blood and urine! Tempting...

Now really enjoying the sun star off the Google "Sail" building. 

And no hint of veiling flare to be seen. Nor flare artifacts in the frame.

Color and detail are crispy but not overly "digital" in appearance.

Don't know whether to credit the camera or the lens or the combination.

But I like what I see. 

B was back for a few days and last night we had dinner with close friends.

Their backyard is beautifully and comfortably landscaped and their outdoor 

dining area table can comfortably seat ten. Our host was just back from 

restaurant hopping in Tokyo and Kyoto and whipped up some incredible 

dishes for us. I brought some wine from our favorite wine merchant.

Hard to beat a good St. Emilion Grand Cru. Even the 2019s are yummy.

Same thing in color. Lens wide open. Camera? SL.

I bought the lens on a lark and now I'm happy I did. It's just want I wanted in a small and lightweight travel companion and, if I ever decide to get back into "M" photography, I now have three lenses tested and ready to go. Might be looking at an M 262. Seems like my speed. But I'll have to wait for my birthday.... And that's a ways off. 

Dinner with B & B tonight. Everyone is doing well and it was great to get back into the tradition of the Sunday Family dinner. Tomorrow is a swim AND strength training day so it's off to bed for me. Fun fact: Ice cream has a lower glycemic index than brown rice. And it's tastier too.