The COVID-19 global pandemic has left millions of people at home, living their work and school lives behind the computer. With all this extra time behind the screen, my GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) has only gotten worse! Noticing a 28mm-shaped gap in my M-lens collection, I decided to purchase a Leica 28mm f/2 Summicron ASPH V2 from a fellow FredMiranda member to soothe my GAS symptoms.
I had previously owned a couple of 28mm M-lenses, the 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M ASPH V1, and the 28mm f/2.0 Summicron-M ASPH V1, both with their respective ugly, bulky, plastic hoods, but gorgeous image rendering and vibrant colors. Images from the Elmarit can be seen here.
The older Leica 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit-ASPH: Just a terrible hood design…but a beautiful lens.
What drew me to the 2nd version of the Leica 28mm f/2 Summicron ASPH was its beautiful metal hood design, similar to its other modern M-lens brethren, and its improved optics for higher resolution sensors. Now, I’m perfectly comfortable shooting 24MP digital cameras (M240, SL, Q, etc.), but it’s reassuring to know that if I were to upgrade to an SL2 or M10-R (supposedly in the works), that my favorite manual focus M-lenses can support the higher resolution sensors.
As soon as the 28mm Summicron arrived in my driveway (had to maintain 6ft away from my mailman, even having him sign for my package), I took the lens out for a quick walk around my neighborhood, with the lens mounted on my oldest digital camera: the Leica M9-P.
The modern 2016 optics combined with the 2009 CCD sensor was beautiful. The 28mm Summicron made the M9-P’s sensor shine, allowing for sharp, punchy details, with warm, vibrant colors reminiscent of my previous Leica 28mm M lenses. Take a look at more shots here:
