Mandler 35mm f/2 Review: The Leica Summicron Copy I Took to Vietnam
Mandler 35mm f/2 Review: The Leica Summicron Copy I Took to Vietnam
Who wouldn’t want a Leica Summicron 35mm f/2? The Type IV, the "King of Bokeh", is one of the most beloved lenses ever made for the M mount. It's also going for well north of £1,500 used, and in good condition closer to £2,000. So after an extensive search to find one in good condition that was in my budget, I did what any sensible person would do, and bought the Chinese copy instead.
The Mandler 35mm f/2 is, without pretence, a replica of the Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 Type IV, the seven element design originally created by Leica optical engineer Walter Mandler in 1979 (hence the name). I paid about £260 so it's one of the more affordable fast 35mm options for Leica M mount. The question is whether it's any good. I took it to Vietnam on the Leica M6 with a stack of Kodak Gold 200 and Portra 400 to find out.
What is the Mandler 35mm f/2?
For anyone new to the world of Chinese Leica mount lenses, and there are more of them every year, the Mandler sits alongside brands like 7Artisans, TTArtisan, Thypoch, and Light Lens Lab as an affordable M mount alternative. Unlike some of those, the Mandler is quite specifically a copy of one lens: the Summicron 35mm Type IV, its also a lot cheaper than some of the light lens lab copies. The look, the dimensions, the aperture ring, the typeface, it's all very deliberate. The patents expired long ago, so this is above board, even if it does make you feel slightly complicated the first time you pick it up.
Build quality is solid. There's some plasticky quality in the focus ring if you're hunting for it, the paint on some of the numbers isn’t perfect, but the aperture clicks are firm and the overall feel on the M6 is convincing enough that nobody on the busy streets of Hanoi was going to look twice.
Shooting it on film in Vietnam
The 35mm focal length on a rangefinder is about as close to "point it at the world" as you can get, wide enough to pull in the chaos of a Vietnamese street scene. The Mandler handled the pace of that well. Focus throw is smooth, this is my first time shooting a lens with a proper focus tab which is such a nice experience compared to some of the other manual lenses I have shot with.
Stopped down to f/8 or f/11, where I spent most of my time in Vietnam's bright daylight, it's genuinely sharp. No caveats. The kind of sharp where you're looking at your scans and second guessing whether you're imagining things.
Wide open at f/2, it's not clinical. There's some edge softness and a slight glow to the rendering that, honestly, works beautifully, the shot below is wide open at f2 and taken on my nikon Zf to give you an idea.
My dog Skye, shot on the Nikon Zf and Mandler 35mm at F2
Kodak Gold 200 vs Portra 400
I shot both stocks and the difference in how they handled Vietnam was interesting. Gold 200 leaned into the heat, the oranges and yellows of market stalls, the warm light bouncing off painted walls. It felt made for the place. Portra 400 gave me more latitude in shaded alleys and as the evenings came in, with skin tones on portraits coming out beautifully. If I were doing it again, I'd take two rolls of Gold for every one of Portra. But I'm glad I had both.
Is the Mandler 35mm f/2 worth it?
Here's the honest answer: it's not a Leica Summicron, and it doesn't need to be. As a cheap Leica M mount 35mm lens that shoots and feels like a proper piece of glass, it delivers well above what the price suggests. For M shooters who want a fast 35mm without spending Summicron money, and there are plenty of us, the Mandler is a genuinely strong option.
Could I justify spending five times the price on the real thing? No. Do I feel like I missed out by not spending it? Looking at the frames from Vietnam, absolutely not.
Sometimes the copy is good enough…
