When it comes to a compact combo, this is the way to go. The small leica lens feels great on the Nex, it feels much better than any other lens I’ve tried on that camera.

Even though you have to manually focus, it’s a joy – given the smooth operation of the lens and the great Nex LCD. The only problem you have is sunlight and fingerprints. The Nex’s LCD is so prone for fingerprints that you have to clean it constantly. And as soon as the sun goes up, the LCD darkens to an unusable level – that’s where you desperately wish for an EVF.

But the big thing about bying a lens for 1.350,– Euros – I guess – is image quality. And that’s where I liked the lens, but wasn’t all that impressed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great lens, but I expected more from a new Leica M-lens.
I might remind you that we speak of very high quality standards here, so take all this with a grain of salt – you might be quite happy with that lens!

Here’s a comparison of the Leica and the Zeiss 35mm lenses. I didn’t have the two lenses at hand at the same time, that’s why the colors and light are different.

Important note: The comparison here isn’t fair, since the test shots were taken on different days. You might still draw some conclusion form looking at the Leica 35 images alone.

BTW the Leica lens is a f2.5 and not f2 as noted on the images.

First the center of the frame (click to enlarge to 100%):

And now the corner performance (click to enlarge to 100%):

If having to choose between the two lenses, I would still take the Leica, because it’s so small, light and handy. But honestly I’m still looking for the perfect 35mm lens for the Nex.

But as always, it might be more important to look at realworld pictures to make your choice. So here are a couple of shot’s I have taken with the Leica lens – all at f2.5 and 2.8 (click to enlarge):