Light Lens Lab 35mm F1.4 Aspherical “11873” review – a modern tribute to a legendary lens.

Introduction

There are lenses we buy with our heads, and there are lenses we chase with our hearts.
The Leica Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 “11873” double aspherical sits firmly in the second camp, especially with a very short production run of three years that has since drifted into myth and five-digit price territory.

The collectible Leica Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 “11873” Double Aspherical is easily distinguished from the more common single-aspherical version by the word “ASPHERICAL” printed on the lens front, an inscription the latter lacks.

For a limited time, use code KEITHWEE for a 5% discount on all Light Lens Lab lenses at their official shop here.

As a reference, currently there is a mint unit asking for USD23,000 in Singapore. To preface this review, I am going to be honest that I have not photographed using the original and thus not right to give a comparison and this review will focus on the Light Lens Lab’s 35mm ƒ1.4 “11873” double aspherical.

Top: with the Titanium Leica 12466 inspired hood; Bottom: with the Aluminium Leica 12587 inspired hood.

From brevity’s sake, I will refer to the Leica Leica Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 “11873” double aspherical as Leica Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 AA and Light Lens Lab’s 35mm ƒ1.4 “11873” double aspherical as Light Lens Lab 35mm ƒ1.4 AA from this point onwards.

Almost three years after announcement and an aspiration held by Light Lens Lab since 2019, the much awaited Light Lens Lab’s new 35mm ƒ1.4 “11873” Double Aspherical is their answer to this myth of a lens: a modern re-creation that aims not only to recreate the original’s famous “Leica glow” and rounded 3D rendering, but also to adapt its optical performance to today’s high-resolution digital sensors.

MD: REINON (IG)

The Light Lens Lab 35mm AA is not meant to be a 1:1 recreation of the Leica 35mm ƒ1.4 AA, but a ‘re-creation’ keeping what is unique and yet improving on the original for today’s digital sensors.

Like the Light Lens Lab Z21, Light Lens Lab 28mm ƒ2.8 and Light Lens Lab 50mm Rigid (my reviews are linked on the lens) before it, this lens is positioned as a love letter to a classic rather than a sterile clone. And according to Mr Zhou, while the Light Lens Lab 50mm ƒ1.2 1966 sits at the apex as Light Lens Lab’s high performance 50mm lens, the position for the apex 35mm focal length lens was reserved for this Light Lens Lab 35mm ƒ1.4 “11873” Double Aspherical.

Let’s take a deeper look.

Technicalities

The Light Lens Lab optical design while a faithful homage to the original double-aspherical optical concept, includes advancements in rendering performance, distortion control, and chromatic aberration suppression through the integration of newly developed Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) and Achromatic elements alongside a new aspherical component.

• Focal length: 35 mm, full frame
• Leica M Mount, rangefinder coupled.
• Optical formula: 9 elements in 5 groups
  • Double aspherical surfaces in groups 2 and 5
  • New Extra-low Dispersion (ED) and achromatic element to reduce distortion, diffraction and chromatic aberration
  • Lanthanide-infused glass to retain the classic glow and tonal depth
• Aperture range: ƒ1.4 to ƒ16 (half-stop detents)
• Diaphragm: 10 blades for circular out-of-focus highlights
• Materials:
  • Black Paint / Chrome: 7075 aircraft-grade aluminium alloy
  • Titanium Grey Limited Edition: titanium alloy barrel and accessories
• Minimum focus distance: 0.7 m
• Filter thread: E46
• Dimensions:
  • Length on camera: 43 mm
  • Actual barrel length: 56.19 mm
  • Width: 52.94 mm
• Weight:
  • Aluminium: ~278 g
  • Titanium: ~300 g
• The Titanium Grey Limited Edition includes an extra Leica 12466 inspired Titanium hood and an Titanium E46 UV filter.

Handling and Performance

Build and ergonomics

If you have handled any releases from Light Lens Lab, the Light Lens Lab 35mm ƒ1.4 AA will feel immediately familiar: dense, tightly assembled, and finished more like a modern Leica lens than a budget third-party experiment.

Out of the box, the lens felt impressive but if I want to be compulsively fussy (which I am not 99% of the time), the only 1 thing I can pick is probably that the focus ring was a tad ‘tight’, making it difficult for finer focus; and not a big issue as it self-resolved with use.

While the Chrome and Black Paint in aluminium versions strike a nice balance between solidity and day-long carry; the Titanium adds a touch more heft and a cooler, more tool-like feel in the hand, and the difference is insignificant – around 20 g (or the weight of a single key) and I will be concerned if this is a concern for you.

The aperture ring is very well made, with clear half-stop clicks, ensuring no accidental “jumps” with the solid detents. Above all, both the hoods provided with the Titanium version fit well, and which to use really depends on the individual though I much prefer the 12466 inspired Titanium hood as it is more compact.

On the M camera, the combination feels “right”: not front-heavy, not overly long, and visually very much at home on a classic black paint body.

Lastly, as the lens is not 6-bit coded, for what it is worth, I use the 11873 lens profile within the Leica M firmware.

Performance

This lens puts character front and centre, but never uses it as an excuse for sloppy work like some third party makers. Wide open, it delivers that familiar/famed Leica Summilux 35mm ƒ1.4 AA glow and gentle fall-off around subjects, yet with noticeably better control of purple fringing and veiling flare than both the original and LLL’s earlier prototypes.

Under the vintage-inspired exterior sits a genuinely modern optical design, a 9-element in 5-group design with moulded aspherics, lanthanide-infused glass, and a high-refractive achromat. The result is clean, line-to-line rendering on modern sensors while keeping the micro-contrast and tonal smoothness that make images feel ‘present’ rather than ‘flat’.

Wide open (ƒ1.4): “glow with discipline”

I really like that Light Lens Lab 35mm ƒ1.4 AA’s centre performance is excellent, with a luminous, classic look and flattering transitions, which does very well for portraits and close-to-mid distance subjects. The drawing of the lens is attuned towards a ‘just-sharp-enough’ look at the centre at ƒ1.4.

The out of focus transitions and character (or what some call ‘Bokeh’) is pleasant, gentle without turning to mush: there’s still texture and separation through the transition zone.

Some field curvature and edge softnessis expected for this lens which is a homage to the original rather than an optical flaw and great for drawing attention inward but less ideal for flat, technical subjects.

Mid apertures (ƒ2.8–ƒ5.6): the switch to “modern”

By ƒ2.8–ƒ4, the glow largely steps back and the lens tightens up dramatically, giving you crisp detail, strong presence and sharpness across most of the frame, much like a modern lens.

At ƒ4–ƒ5.6, the Light Lens Lab 35mm ƒ1.4 AA lands in a sweet spot for street and travel: punchy micro-contrast, clean edges (with only a gentle fall-off in the far corners), and files that grade beautifully for either classic monochrome or a more modern ‘saturated’ colour look.

Flare, backlight, focus-shift and CA

The Light Lens Lab 35mm ƒ1.4 AA has clearly improved in flare control from the prototypes, holding contrast better when shooting into strong light, however it is of course still possible to tease flare by shooting straight at the sun/light-source methods, and whether one sees this as character or imperfections is really personal.

Chromatic aberrations are still present, though they can be easily fixed in post-processing. The Light Lens Lab 35mm ƒ1.4 AA is clearly not an APO lens and does not try to be one either.

Some amounts of chromatic aberration were expected given the intent here to reproduce a piece of optics from decades ago, but as the above and below samples of the same shot show, this can be easily cleaned up in post-processing.

I did not experience any focus shift issues and nor heard of any after checking with a few other users. Unlike some reviewers, I did not receive the Light Lens Lab 35mm ƒ1.4 AA any earlier than the general users who ordered the Titanium edition.

Conclusions

Light Lens Lab has been steadily moving beyond “novelty replicas” into genuinely serious optical engineering, and the 35mm ƒ1.4 “11873” Double Aspherical feels like a real milestone in that journey. It isn’t cheap, but in the context of original Leica double aspherical asking for USD$20,0000 upwards, a USD1400 to USD1699 homage that meaningfully approaches and in some areas arguably improves on the original’s behaviour becomes a very different value proposition.

What sells the lens is the rendering: wide open, it delivers that elusive luminous centre, gentle fall-off, and smooth, expressive bokeh that gives portraits and night scenes genuine emotional weight. Then it steps down into a highly competent, almost modern 35mm around ƒ4 to ƒ5.6. The use of moulded aspherical elements, carefully tuned spacing, and lanthanide/ED elements shows in the way chromatic aberration and flare are kept in check without sterilising the output. Even the physical execution, the design of the lens feels coherent and intentional, not just for the sake of vanity or cosmetic purposes.

If you’ve always wanted an Leica “11873” and your wallet has always said “absolutely not,” this may be the most convincing compromise you’ll see for a long time.

For a limited time, use code KEITHWEE for a 5% discount on all Light Lens Lab lenses at their official shop here.

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 my personal set of the Light Lens Lab 35mm ƒ1.4 “11873” Double Aspherical on the Leica M10-R .

3. This review is not sponsored.

4. I write as a passion and a hobby, and I appreciate that photography brands are kind enough to respect and work with me.

5. The best way to support me is to share the review, or you can always help support me by contributing to my fees to WordPress for the domain using the Paypal button at the bottom of the page.