Thypoch Simera 28mm f/1.4 (Leica M, Black)

After getting used to the somewhat-controversial ergonomics of this lens, I can say for sure that the image quality produced by this lens keeps me coming back to it. The balance between bokeh and sharpness is perfect, and it has that pop. The only weakness of this lens (in my opinion) is the size and weight. It seems that 28/1.4 is not going to make for a small lens, unless compromises, and this is as good as it's going to get. But the only smaller lens with similarly enviable image quality is probably the Leica 28/2 Asph, which costs about 7x as much at the time of writing, and is just a different character of rendering altogether. I think the Thypoch 28/1.4 a no-brainer for M-mount users.

The Simera 28mm is a very well-built and lovely lens with beautifully designed metal lens hoods -- yes, you get two! The floating lens elements (FLE) and better CA of the 28mm is why I ordered it instead of the 35mm. There are many things to love: the 'retro' design, the square lens hood, and the de-clickable aperture ring. Also, I was looking for a wide angle for my Leica, seeing I already have a VC 40mm f1.2. I ordered a black lens to match my black Leica M11-P. After using it on a spring day and some cherry blossoms, I am reporting what I noticed: 1) While nice, the red dots are not easy to see in shadow or at night, particularly on the black copy. (If you have a silver lens, YMMV as I think the red dots may show up better.) While 'cool', the dot design can be difficult to interpret (as compared with lines) for zone focusing. 2) I did not see any sunstar (unlike my VC lenses, I love sunstars on the VC lenses, so this is a disappointment but not a deal breaker). 3) BIGGEST NEGATIVE! The Simera 28mm overfocuses on infinity!! This one really irks me! 1 review on YouTube specifically mentioned that but the reviewer was using a Sony, and later claimed he found a better (€€€) adapter that resolved the problem. On the Leica M, I discovered the Simera 28mm was at its sharpest at the point just before the lens lock-up at Infinity: i.e., just before the infinity lock kicks in. So here's the problem: because the lens was designed with an infinity lock pin, if you push too hard, the lens will focus past infinity and become locked up. To 'refocus', I will have to unlock the Infinity pin, to 'dial back'. This quickly became an annoyance, as I could no longer confidently rotate the lens to the infinity end but must be careful to not 'push it over the cliff/lock'. The over-focusing is not severe, after comparing several photos, I noticed a very slight blur if I shot the photo with the pin engaged (locked). The distant tree branches were sharper if I stopped at the right place (focus with the rangefinder).. which is right before the pin engaged. Compared with the new VC 28mm f1.5 (I found a used copy here at for only €100 more than the Simera!), the VC 28mmf1.5 had such heavy CA that it is impossible to correct in LR (the last lingering 5% is not fixable, IMO). In conclusion, IF you don't mind a slight blur at the infinity hard stop, or are the kinds patient enough to slowly focus to avoid the infinity lock, then this is an excellent lens to have!