A feast of choices
There’s been a lot of lens news this year, especially for us Leica M-mount users. When I bought my M9 back in 2011 the only lenses available were from Leica, Voigtländer and Zeiss. The higher quality Leica lenses were expensive and the cheaper lenses were, with some rare exceptions, not very good.
These days there are more choices from more manufacturers. It seems that new M-mount lenses are being announced every week. A lot of the new stuff is gimmicky but some of the cheaper lenses out there today are actually pretty good.
The latest is from a company called Mandler, an homage to the famous Leica lens designer, Walter Mandler. It’s a 35mm f2, modeled on the classic Leica 7-element Summicron.
There’s some hype around this lens and it’s often sold out. It’s part of the trend among Chinese lens-makers to reproduce a classic vintage lens, but adding modern touches, such as better coatings and optics to provide a ‘best of both worlds’ design.
And the Mandler costs under $400 (a tenth of what the original would cost, if you could find one). Sounds like a good deal.
I picked one up to see what all the hype was about. I’ve been shooting it for a couple of weeks and I have some thoughts.
First of all, I’m not a huge fan of the ‘vintage look’ that everyone seems to be seeking. I actually like clinical sharpness and clarity in a lens. A fast lens that provides a super sharp subject and nice bokeh falloff is my Holy Grail. For landscapes, I like it sharp corner to corner.
The Mandler does seem to be pretty sharp in the center. But what about overall performance?
I took some shots to compare it to my 35 Leica Summilux (the latest version) which for this purpose I shot at f2 and f8. It might seem like an unfair test but my goal was not to do an scientific comparison but just to see which I should take when I go out to shoot.
Center-frame Crop @f8 - Distant Subject
Leica @ f8.
Mandler @ f8
The Mandler does pretty well here, but the Leica is a bit sharper, with more micro-contrast.
Mid-frame Crop @ f8 - Mid-ground Subject
Leica @ f8
Mandler @ f8
Mid-frame, the gap widens. The Mandler is not very sharp.
Edge of Frame Crop @ f8 - Distant Subject
Leica @ f8
Mandler @ f8
At the edge of the frame the Mandler is quite blurry, while the Leica is razor sharp.
Center-frame Crop @ f2 - Close Subject
Leica @ f2
Mandler @ f2
At f2 and at close distance, I was surprised to see how sharp the Mandler was. My manual focusing skills might be off (I did reproduce this result) but the $400 Mandler is clearly sharper than the $4000 Leica here.
Conclusion:
The Mandler is Ok. Not a great lens, but Ok. What it has going for it is that center sharpness wide open. But outside of that it’s not so great. Not a good choice for landscapes or street work, even stopped down.
Another thing it has going for it is aesthetics. It’s a small and good-looking lens on the camera, which is important—but not more important than performance.
So, again, not an idealized comparison of the two lenses, but just a way to decide which lens to take out shooting. And the answer in most cases will be: take the Leica, leave the Mandler.