That version had one aspherical surface and was in production until recently and has now been superseded by the new SX35 FLE. The production process was quite complicated and therefore expensive and a new somewhat simplified version was introduced in 1994. The Summilux 1:1.4/35mm stayed in the catalogue till 1995, but in 1989 a new version with two aspherical surfaces was added to the range of Leica lenses. A wide aperture gave the opportunity to take pictures in low ambient light where claire-obscure pictorial composition was needed.

The 35mm focal length is eminently suited for this visual frame because you can have a format-filling main subject encapsulated by a meaningful environmental statement. The 35mm focal length changed guard with the 50mm lens as the primary lens for Leica M users in the period from 1955 to 1965 when the style of documentary and human interest photography asked for a close encounter with the subject matter. The f/1.4 aperture was married to the 35mm focal length in 1961, a first in those days when all other designs had a maximum aperture of f/1.5 or smaller. adds the floating element feature to the basic optical design of the 1994-edition of this very classical and popular lens.

Zeiss modified siemens star chart