Leica Summaron-M 28mm f/5.6 Lens review
by Tomer Vaknin – His Instagram is HERE
Hello to Steve and all the readers!
Some of you may know me but for those of you that don’t, My name is Tomer Vaknin and I’m a street photographer from Israel.
In December 2017 days before Christmas I took two weeks pause from life I flew to NYC with my Leica M10 and my new Leica 28mm Summaron f/5.6 Lens. I have this beautiful lens since October, but I never have a chance to fully use it exclusive and get the feel of it. what a better place to do so other than Street photography in New York City?
It’s not going to be a technical review but more of “see for yourself from the pictures in the article” kind of review with pros and cons at the end.
CLICK IMAGES FOR MUCH LARGER VERSIONS
Pros:
– Very small very compact lens
– Amazing picture quality (at the result, not for “brick of wall photography”)
– The look of the lens attached to M body really drives you go out and shoot.
Cons:
– The focus is too long, and it get all the way up to the rangefinder window and the combination of the small lens and the long focus make me personally lose pictures when my cigarette or of Red Bull enter to the frame when i try to focus with one or the other 🙂
– You can’t close the lens when the hood is attached. Every time I want to put the camera away in my bag or my pocket (yes it that small to get inside my pocket) I had to get the hood out and put the lens cover.
More:
– The lens have a strong vignette in some lighting condition.
– The lens is very sharp at the centre and become less and less sharp as you look closer to the sides and edges of the frame.
I add this as “More” because I think is a personal taste. For my taste it’s just perfect it’s have a look and color signature that I really like, and I never get from any other Leica lenses that I used before.
The decision of shooting exclusively with a 28mm was a hard decision to take and when you add that this 28mm is f/5.6 and so small lens that I real never work with before it was to take a chance and I really glad I take that chance and get out from my comfort zone.
For me this lens is a must own.
Side note: Leica M10 and the 28mm Summaron f/5.6 survived the extreme December 2017 weather 😉
For more pictures from NYC and much more you can follow me on Instagram: @itomervaknin
Thank you
More…
Cool. Ive been thinking about getting this lens. Can you shoot it without the hood? And is it as easy to focus as 35mm summicron? Thanks.
I really like the photos. Colours are awesome. What aperture did you use?
Wide open, as it’s not a fast lens. f/3.5-f/5.6. Just kept it wide open the whole time. Thank you.
Absolutely beautiful
Great work, excellent photos! Many thanks for sharing 🙂
I enjoyed these very much..Love the woman in balaclava and faux fur photo.
Thank you very much
Gorgeous, lovely pics, Tomer. You captured NY spirit ! I have the old LTM version of this lens (on my IIIc) but I don’t use it very much because I felt 28 mm is too much or too little : I prefer the Lux 35 aspher or the Super-Elmar 21. Your pics are so good I could change my mind and give a try to this new version…
Thank you:)
Great photos and some crazy good dynamic range it seems to me.
Thank you
Excellent photos! I have enjoyed them a lot, thanks for sharing!
Thank you very much
User wise I have a strong compact proposition to everyone dreaming about 28/5,6 . Russian Orion 28/6 LTM lens, much easier to use, no need for shade, distortion free ( Topogon formula) one third of price.
Great. Enjoy it
I do
Good for you!
Excellent shots! Tried this lens-too small for me. New York and Tel- Aviv are the best cities for stree photography.
Thank you
Very nice shots
I too tried this lens and found it too small for my hands.
Nice to see the frozen weather had no affect on the M10
I always find is somewhat nauseating to see a person with 10K of gear exploit a wretched person in a photo. Did you at least pay her $20?
What do you want? I don’t understand
Why do photographers continue to promote cigarettes in their photos?
Because we love to smoke
Let me get this straight this 28mm f5.6 lens is $2500. ♂️♂️
Welcome to Leica ; )
lol:)
Your black and white images are beautiful thanks for posting .
Thank you very much
Great work and the pictures speak for themselves.
Thank you
Impressive!!
Thank you
That lens hood could definitely inspire some photo walks. Hope it survives 2018 weather, too!
lol it did survive
Good shots! I had this lens briefly when it was released for sale about 1 year ago. I sold this lens shortly thereafter. I found it was too small for my hands and fingers. Each time I reached for the little focus knob, my fingers would reach a little further and frequently touch the front lens element. I’m glad you seem to have mastered the ergonomics of this lens.
Thank you very much.
It’s too small for me also but over time i start to get used to it
OH yes ! You have a few real winners in there ! Some people have got it – – and some have not ! – – but YOU have ! Wish i was there !
Thank you very much 🙂