Updated April 2025

Introduction

The Zeiss 35/1.4 Distagon is a pretty straightforward lens. It’s essentially perfect in terms of optics, but at the cost of size and handling. I bought the Zeiss 35/1.4 after I had spent a year using the 35 Summilux Pre-FLE. I had become frustrated with focus shift and other optical imperfections with that lens, and I was excited to finally use a 35/1.4 lens that delivered sharp images, every time. The Zeiss 35/1.4 does exactly that.

Build quality

Fantastic. Construction is all metal and my copy felt solid in every way. The focus ring moves smoothly but with a little more resistance than a typical Leica lens.

Size and feel

I dislike this lens’s size and handling. It’s large, heavy, and oddly long for a 35mm rangefinder lens. It doesn’t balance well on an M camera. 35mm is my most-used focal length but I did not like keeping this lens mounted because of how contrary it looked and felt to the idea of a rangefinder camera.

The ergonomics are only OK. The focus ring lacks a true focus tab and I wish it had lighter resistance. I have a much better time focusing my Leica 35/1.4 Summilux FLE. The aperture ring is also placed at the very front of this long lens, which makes it awkward to use. In contrast, Leica always designs their lenses such that the aperture ring is optimally placed (take a look at the Leica 90 Summicron for example).

Image quality

Distortion:
None.

Vignetting:
Without in-camera correction, vignetting at f/1.4 is somewhat strong. I would recommend using Lightroom’s lens profile to correct for vignetting as needed.

Bokeh:
The Zeiss 35/1.4 produces smooth, modern-looking bokeh, especially within the realm of rangefinder lenses. There is noticeably less “soap-bubble bokeh” than the Leica 35 Summilux, which may appeal to some people.

One obvious question when choosing a 35mm lens is whether you really need an f/1.4 aperture. If not, several other 35mm lenses offer superb image quality while saving both size and cost.

I am not a bokeh addict and when choosing lenses in other focal lengths, I rarely go for the widest aperture available. But there’s something about the combination of 35mm and f/1.4 that makes a big difference in my photos. A 35mm f/1.4 lens gives lots of context to the subject while still separating out the background in a beautiful way. The following sample photos were taken at f/1.4 and illustrate the unique look I’m talking about:

Longitudinal chromatic aberration:
As far as I know this is not an apochromatic lens, but spherochromatism is very well controlled. The following sample has the most I’ve ever noticed with this lens:

The following image is a torture test for longitudinal CA, but the Zeiss 35/1.4 hardly shows any:

This is a significantly better performance than the Leica 35 Summilux, and approaches the performance of the 35 APOs.

Purple fringing:
I rarely notice purple fringing with this lens, but it can show up in the periphery at f/1.4:

Lateral chromatic aberration:
This is already a non-issue on digital since Lightroom automatically corrects for lateral CA, but I see absolutely none even with correction turned off.

Sharpness:
The Zeiss 35/1.4 is sharp corner-to-corner even at f/1.4. I no longer own this lens and never did controlled sharpness tests, but here’s a sample at f/1.4 with a corner crop:

Fine details are rendered with extreme sharpness even in the corner of the frame at f/1.4. This is an impressive performance, although it’s hard for me to say if it’s significantly better than the Leica 35 Summilux FLE without testing them side-by-side.

Focus shift:
None. For comparison, there’s an annoying amount of focus shift on the 35 Summilux FLE.

Summary and recommendations

The Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 Distagon is an optically excellent lens, at less than half the price of its Leica equivalent. But its worse handling and large size prevented me from bonding with it. I was finally happy when I switched to the Leica 35 Summilux FLE, which feels a lot better as a standard lens.

So who should buy the Zeiss 35/1.4? It’s a fantastic choice for those who, unlike me, care less about size and weight and are looking for a fast 35. And it’s especially good for those who want perfectly smooth, modern bokeh.

I think most people will opt for smaller lenses than the Zeiss 35/1.4. For those who still want f/1.4 and are not willing to compromise on image quality, the Leica 35 Summilux FLE (review) is my top recommendation despite its very high price. Its optical performance is very similar to the Zeiss’s but in a significantly smaller package with better ergonomics. It’s my personal favorite 35mm lens and my most-used rangefinder lens of all time.

Voigtlander has released a direct competitor to the 35 FLE, the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.5 Nokton (review). It does many things well, but the lack of sharpness in the mid-frame ended up being a deal breaker for me. It’s definitely worth looking into this lens if you can live without sharpness as consistent as the Zeiss or Leica.

For those who don’t need f/1.4, my top recommendation is the Voigtlander 35mm f/2 Ultron (review). That lens is delightfully compact, has great image quality, focuses down to 0.58m, and retails for just $749. There’s also the Voigtlander 35/2 APO (review) and Leica 35/2 Summicron APO. Both of these lenses deliver absolutely incredible image quality and pair especially well with a high-resolution camera such as the M11. The downside to the Voigtlander 35 APO is its larger size, and the downside to the Leica 35 APO is its price tag of over $8000.

Good
Image quality
Build quality
Price

Bad
Size and handling

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Other alternatives

Voigtlander 35mm f/1.4 Nokton Classic
This is a very popular lens since it’s f/1.4, tiny, and cheap. It uses a vintage optical design from the 1960s. I only recommend it for those who intentionally want soft, dreamy images with lots of aberrations, and really messy bokeh. It also has strong focus shift, which is a pain to deal with on a rangefinder camera.

Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2 versions I-II
The version III of this lens is so much better that I don’t recommend anyone bother with versions I-II.

Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux Pre-FLE
I owned this lens before switching to the FLE version, and I don’t recommend it because the focus shift is actually pretty bad.

Leica 35 Summicron ASPH (review)
Zeiss 35mm f/2 Biogon
Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 Biogon
Voigtlander 35mm f/2.5
These lenses are okay but I haven’t found a compelling reason to choose them over the Voigtlander 35/2 Ultron.

TTArtisans 35mm f/1.4
7Artisans 35mm f/1.4
Phillipreeve.net has detailed reviews of both of these lenses. They’re both as large as the Zeiss, but with worse image quality, mechanical quality, and quality control. They are very affordable, but I would recommend saving up and buying a lens with fewer compromises.

Additional reading

Detailed comparison vs Leica 35 Summilux FLE by Andrew Brestansky
Review by KJ Vogelius
Review by PC Mag
Review by Silas Chu
Video review by Benj Haisch

More sample images