Review 2 of 5
Summary:
An excellent all round lens in my opinion. I purchased this lens plus an R body for the times when the convenience of using a zoom would be handy (my normal equipment is Leica M with prime lenses).
I tried this (used of course, it is disc'd) as well as a new Leica 35-70 F4 and found that there wasn't enough sharpness difference to justify the cost of a new lens. The F4 is slightly sharper wide open because it is a newer design (the F3.5 is a Minolta design dating back to the mid 80's), but I could not see anything appreciable up to 11X14" prints.
Leica also has a 28-70 version, but it is made by Sigma and is not up to the other two lenses, according to most test.
One thing you want to watch out for. Used there is a huge price difference at times for these lenses. There is a reason. There were two versions of this lens. It was first produced by Minolta when they and Leica were allied in the 1980's. About 1987 Leica changed production to Solms in Germany, using exactly the same design optically. Supposedly there is no difference in optical perfomance....but the Solms version is supposedly much better mechanically. I have the German version, and after 15 years it is still rock solid. I'd say that if you were going to use this lens on a day to day basis it would probably be wise to spend the extra $$. A good used Japanese version will go for $600 US, the German version will be double that. Strengths:
Convenience
Central sharpness good even wide open.
Quality constuction (with a caveat - see below) Weaknesses:
Non that I've found so far that any other zoom in this range doesn't have. Similar Products Used:
Leica 35-70 F4 R
Olympus 35-70
Nikon 35-70 F2.8
Customer Service:
Have always had excellent service and advice from Kindermann Canada.
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