Leica Summilux-M 28mm f/1.4 ASPH review – Introduction
Leica has five of its super-fast Summilux lenses for the M system now that this 28mm has joined the f/1.4 club, alongside a 21mm; a 24mm; a 35mm; and a 50mm. Unless you’re prepared to step in to the £7,000+ category of the Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95 Asph, f/1.4 is as fast an aperture as you can expect from modern M lenses.
This new lens is the fastest 28mm that Leica has ever had for the M system, and as well as being proposed as an ideal lens for low-light work – documentary particularly – the company says its edge to edge sharpness and excellent drawing (curvilinear distortion) make it just as useful for architecture and landscapes.
It’s quite surprising that Leica has left this focal length until last for the Summilux treatment – 28mm makes a very popular wideangle for M users, as the cameras suit street photography and documentary so well. That the new Q compact has a fixed 28mm lens is, perhaps, testament to that fact.
No one buys into the Leica system expecting purchases to come cheaply. This lens is reassuringly expensive then. At £3,975 you’ll be paying a premium of about £1,200 for the extra speed over the 28mm f/2 Summicron-M lens.
