Zeiss ZM 35mm f/1.4 Distagon: I rate it the best M Lens Available
Get Zeiss ZM 35mm f/1.4 Distagon lens at B&H Photo.
Over the past five years I’ve shot nearly all the Leica M lenses, and I own all of the best ones, including the 50/2 APO and the Noctilux and the best M wides.
With further review of the images from my 2 weeks of intensive field use, it is now my view that the Zeiss ZM 35mm f/1.4 Distagon is the best lens available today for the Leica M platform, because it offers a magical combination of sharpness and contrast, f/1.4 speed, gorgeous bokeh, superb control of aberrations, minimal field curvature and no focus shift. In my hands, its ergonomics are also far preferable: I hugely dislike the Leica “tab” focusing, and the Zeiss 1/3 click stops stay firm and distinct with use versus sloppy and loose all too often with Leica M. My comments ignore cost but that the ZM 35/1.4 costs 1/2 or 1/3 or 1/4 as much as the best Leica M designs is hardly a point to ignore.
Certainly “best” incorporates one’s own preferences and so there is room for some reasoned disagreement here. But if I could shoot only one lens on Leica M, my choice is the ZM 35/1.4 Distagon.
Zeiss offers the 35/1.4 in black or silver. I think it looks terrific in silver, based on firsthand usage, and that’s the finish I’ll likely be buying when it ships in December.
Zeiss ZM 35mm f/1.4 Distagon, available in black or silver finish
