The Leica 35mm F2 v4 Bokeh King review – the accidental King

A bit of history

The Leica Summicron-M 35mm ƒ2 version 4, commonly known as the ‘King of Bokeh’ or fondly referred to as the 7 elements or “ 七枚/七妹” in mandarin, was released from 1979 to 1999 with at least 52,993 copies in its production run. This version remains relevant in many Leica users’ hearts even today, some 44 years later.

In fact, amongst all the 35mm Summicron variants, this version still commands a healthy premium among collectors. A chrome copy will easily fetch USD7000 upwards due to the rarity of some versions and the fact that not all 52,993 copies survived the decades.

I recently got lucky at eBay and managed to snag a close-to-mint copy made in 1980 with the Tiger Paw focusing tab for a price that I could never turn down and hence, thought to do a write-up on it.

*The Tiger Paw version was only produced for 2 years, from 1979 to 1980, before Leica changed the focusing tab to the more standard version we see nowadays, hence the reason for some seeing it as a collectible among the King of Bokehs.

Leica themselves probably fumbled when they decided to declare the re-issue of the Summilux-M 35mm steel rim as the ‘True King of Bokeh’ given how cemented the lore of the Summicron “King of Bokeh” had become.

you know, ‘marketing’ ..

What’s in a name?

What is seldom mentioned is the name ‘Bokeh King’ was actually given by a SINGLE reviewer, and probably because resellers were eager to boost their sales numbers, the name simply stuck. If I recall right, that reviewer was Mike Johnston, who used the term ‘bokeh king’ in the caption of a magazine picture of the lens, and the rest, as we know, is history.

That is not to say the 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4 is without its merits; especially to the many who swear by it and me inclusive, there are many lovely characteristics it possesses.

There are many reasons why the Leica 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4 holds a unique place in the hearts of many even when it was likely never designed to be ‘special’ or ‘unique’.

The 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4 lens

Instantly recognizable with its petite size and aperture ring design, the 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4 is as small as they come for a full-frame Summicron lens. Markings are, as expected, reminiscent of Leica’s design DNA, and depending on whether it is a black or chrome version, we have yellow/white and red/white scale markings.

The 7 elements in 5 group optical design gave the lens its mandarin nickname of 七枚/七妹, a piece of Leica optics with its following even among collectors in China. The build, in my opinion, is decently good, never as good as, say, top-end Leica lenses like the M60 Summilux-M 35mm but robust enough to last decades easily.

Moreover, the consistently good performance across the full aperture range helped to cement its popularity among street photographers, who were more than happy to have the petite lens as part of their repertoire.

In fact, given Leica’s long and eventful history, the 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4 ended up being in production in Canada and later Germany, with the made-in-Germany versions deemed more premium by some collectors because ‘Germany‘.

My own opinion would be I prefer a version made in the earlier years, as Walter Mandler was known to personally oversee the first few productions when based in Midland, Ontario, Canada.

*refer here for a list of lenses Walter Mandler designed.

The character of the Bokeh King

Colors from the 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4 render slightly warm but not as saturated as modern versions of the 35mm lenses from Leica. Actually after looking at the more-towards-saturated rendering of modern lenses, the 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4 comes as pleasant to me and will perform well either on film or digital.

The Leica 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4 has a ‘fish-scale’ type of bokeh, slightly paintedly in nature. When choosing backgrounds while photographing wide open and close-up, I am sure some photographers may deliberately attempt to choose a background that might not be potentially distracting.

Unlike the ‘True King of Bokeh’, the Leica 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4 renders sharp at the center even at wide open apertures, making this a truly everyday versatile lens. Though it will be good to note that corners aren’t hardly as great and this is to be expected.

Conclusion

Whether accidental or an over-zealous marketing move, the Leica 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4 is a king in its own right. However, I reckon Leica, with newer releases along the never-ending slope of buy-buy-buy, will not be content to name it King. After all, they just crowned the 2022 re-issue of the Summilux-M 35mm Steel rim, the ‘True King of Bokeh.’

One can argue that the modern versions of the Leica Summicron-M 35mm are of better build and more corrected, and I wholeheartedly agree. However, as photographers or collectors, our mindsets do differ on a few different factors, for example, are we going to focus on the clinical perfection or the character of the lens?

At least for me, the Leica 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4 is going to stay as the ‘King of Bokeh’ in the hearts of many Leica users, and this is one piece of optics that I will be glad to use along my digital or film Leica M bodies.

Thank you for reading.

Disclaimers:

1. All product photos and samples here were photographed by me. I believe any reviewer with pride should produce their own product photos.

2. All images were shot with the Leica M10-R and my personal copy of the Leica 35mm Summicron ƒ2 v4

3. This review is not sponsored. There’s nothing to return this round as everything here is bought and paid for by me.

4. I do not do affiliate purchase links to keep myself neutral. I write as a passion and a hobby, and I appreciate that photography brands are kind enough to respect and work with me.

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