King of Bokeh Archives

Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 7-Element Review: The Sunlight Whisperer —— King of Bokeh

Prologue: A Sip of Liquid Gold

Imagine if Monet’s Impression, Sunrise were distilled into glass. The 1980–1998 Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 7-Element (aka Seven Sisters) is photography’s answer to a perfectly aged Bordeaux—complex, warm, and steeped in nostalgia. Priced between 3,500–3,500–7,000 (2025 USD), this 255g brass-and-glass marvel doesn’t just capture light; it bottles sunlight itself.

Design: Swiss Watchmaker’s Muse

Tactile Alchemy
- Focus Tab: Slides like a Rolls-Royce gearshift—smooth, weighted, addictive.
- Aperture Clicks: Each click echoes a grandfather clock’s heartbeat, a relic of pre-digital craftsmanship.
Two Flavors
- Black (Aluminum): Light as a Hemingway novella, stealthy on chrome M bodies.
- Silver (Brass): Dense as Tolstoy’s War and Peace, aging like a Stradivarius.

Optical Poetry: Painting with Sunbeams

Aspect	7-Element	Modern ASPH
Sharpness	Hemingway’s prose—direct yet soulful	GPT-4 precision
Contrast	Morning fog over the Seine	High noon in Death Valley
Bokeh	Van Gogh’s Starry Night	IKEA lamp shade
Magic	☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️	🤖

f/2 Wide Open: A soft-focus dreamscape—sharp as a tiger’s gaze at the center, gentle as rose petals at the edges. (虎嗅蔷薇—“A tiger sniffing roses”, symbolizing power tempered by grace*)
f/5.6–f/8: Reveals Ansel Adams-level microcontrast. Dust on your M11’s sensor? Call it “free film grain.”

Street Photography: The Silent Dancer

Blind Shooting Zen
- Zone focus at 2 meters, f/2—capture fleeting moments like a jazz drummer catching the beat.
Black & White Sorcery
- Tri-X film + 7-Element = Cartier-Bresson’s ghost high-fiving Daido Moriyama. Shadows dissolve like ink wash paintings (水墨画), highlights glow like rice paper.
Color Alchemy
- Renders sunlight as buttery as a Vermeer portrait. Skin tones? Think honey drizzled on marble.

The “Bokeh King” Paradox

Modern lenses serve bokeh like fast food—predictable, uniform. The 7-Element? It’s a Michelin-starred tasting menu:

Progressive Bokeh: Backgrounds melt from crisp to creamy, creating 3D pop.
Flaws as Virtues: Slight swirls and “imperfections” add je ne sais quoi—like vinyl crackle in a Spotify world.

Film vs Digital: Two Lovers

Film Romance
- On Kodak Portra, it’s 1960s Vogue meets Parisian café—grain caressed by lanthanum glass.
Digital Affair
- On a Leica M11, dial down clarity +10 to mimic its film-era soul. Disable profiles—let its golden flaws sing.

Generational Wars: 7-Element vs ASPH

ASPH Lenses: Technical perfectionists—the overachieving valedictorians.
7-Element: The jazz saxophonist—improvisational, emotional, unforgettable.

VIII. Who Needs This Lens?

✓ Poets with Light Meters: Who see grain as texture, not noise
✓ Nostalgia Alchemists: Turning sunlight into gold
✓ Contrarians: Who’d choose a vintage Leica over AI-generated “perfection”

Avoid If: You shoot sports, need autofocus, or think “vintage” means “obsolete.”

IX. Final Verdict: The Eternal Flame

The 7-Element isn’t a lens—it’s a time machine. For the price of a Rolex Datejust, you gain:

A masterclass in pre-CGI optical artistry
Proof that “flaws” can outshine clinical perfection
Bragging rights at any camera club (“Yes, mine glows in UV light”)

Rating:
🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️ (film romantics) | 📸📸📸🤍🤍 (digital realists)

“A lens that whispers: ‘Photography is not about light—it’s about how light dances with memory.’”

Pro Tips:

Flare Hack: Shoot into the sun—its 1980s coatings paint halos like Renaissance angels.
Film Pairing: Kodak Double-X @800—Citizen Kane vibes on a budget.
Zen Footnote:“爱而知其恶，憎而知其善”
(“Love something but know its flaws; hate something but know its merits”)

Epilogue: The Myth Lives On
Leica keeps chasing sharper, faster, newer. But the 7-Element remains stubbornly 1980—a brass-clad rebel whispering: “True beauty isn’t engineered—it’s felt.” As Winogrand might say, “Photography is about finding out what something will look like photographed.” With the 7-Element, you’re not just shooting—you’re composing sunlight into sonnets. Now go make some imperfect magic.

Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 V4 King of Bokeh (7-element)

Street Photography and Portraits

People often think that street photography is an infringement of portrait rights, but they don’t understand the nature and purpose of street photography as an art form. Street photography is a form of art that captures the essence of urban life in a way that tells the story of the city through the language of the camera. It also records people’s emotions and styles. It’s about paying attention, feeling things, and sharing your vision, not about being secretive or invasive. So, it’s clear that linking street photography with violating portrait rights is a big misunderstanding and a devaluation of this art form.

On the other hand, painters who work on the streets, whether they’re painting landscapes or people, work in a way that’s different from street photography but is still an artistic reproduction of the real world. Painters often choose to work on the street because it’s a great source of inspiration. They find the reality and diversity of life there really inspiring, and their paintings are a direct expression of what they see and feel, which is similar to street photography.

They were twins

The street photographer is a skilled artist with a quick hand. The poet is more of a critic behind the photographer. Language can also be a part of photography. It can make a photo more readable. They were twins, and it was clear they didn’t walk at the same pace or have the same expression at the moment.

Leica M8 with Summicron 35mm f2 v4 King of Bokeh (7-element)

A good habit

I’ve developed a good habit: when I’m on my phone, I always stop and stand, and I’ve firmly given up the bad habit of walking and looking. This change came from a big wake-up call. I tripped over an iron screw on the road, fell on all fours, and the phone flew out several meters away, which was quite a mess. Luckily, there was no one around at the time, which prevented the situation from becoming a bigger deal. I was lucky that I didn’t bring my camera that day, or it would have been a disaster. I was also lucky that there were no street photographers around, or it would have become another “accidental scenery” photo. It turns out that those missing warning stakes of the barricade screws are hidden in the daily invisible traps, always reminding us to walk when we need to be more vigilant.

Time itself is an artist

Vivian Maier captured a lot of portraits of people with a sense of the times, which made me realize that street photography doesn’t require a lot of compositional skills. Just take a picture of what you see and keep taking pictures of it. That approach will definitely be right. Because over time, even the most ordinary things can become unusual, and every person without expression can become meaningful. Time itself is an artist.

Capture the real face

In many cases, when the subject is aware that you’re taking pictures of him, he’ll often appear less relaxed. Only photographers who can blend in can capture the real face. Clearly, I’ve got this down pat. Haha.

Handshakes

I’ve been paying a lot of attention to handshakes lately, photographing them as I come across them, after all, they are one of the most obvious human interactions. You are limited by what you have.

Street Photography: Capturing the Extraordinary in Everyday Life

As I’m taking the photo, I suddenly realize that I’m about to bump into a group of people on the other side of the street. There’s a moment of tension in the air as we both move towards each other. In the blink of an eye, I took the photo, capturing the moment when we were about to meet but had never really touched each other.

This photo isn’t just a clever blend of light and color. It’s also a subtle capture of emotions and stories. It goes beyond the everyday look of things and captures the subtle sense of distance between people and the unknown stories that are about to happen. In the picture, the pedestrian’s expression might be with a hint of surprise, a hint of a smile, or immersed in their own world of calm. These real and natural moments are the essence of the “street feeling.”

These photos can make you forget the photographer is even there. It’s as if these moments were already in the world, waiting to be discovered and recorded. There’s no posing or fancy sets—just the raw, unfiltered reality of life and the simplest ways people interact.

When people enjoy these photos, they often find themselves entering into the scene, imagining they’re the one walking on the road or the photographer who pressed the shutter. They can feel the sudden surprise and warmth of a chance encounter in a busy city. Sharing this “street feeling” isn’t just about looking at pictures. It’s about connecting with people on a deeper level. It’s a way to find a little bit of peace and comfort in the midst of a fast-paced modern life.

This kind of photography can often transcend time and space, creating a bridge between the photographer and the audience. It allows people to find beauty in the everyday.

Street photography: Capturing timeless moments

Strolling at my own pace, my mind is free to dance with the wind as my worries lightly encircle my brow, and the dust of my old photo albums flickers in a leisurely manner. Back then, the sun was so long and warm, and I used the streets and alleys as a canvas, my feet as a brush, and wandered happily through the veins of the city. This isn’t just a monologue of self-abandonment. It’s actually a tender capture of the eternal moment in the depths of the soul. It’s a profound dialogue about life, loneliness, and freedom.

In this free-spirited journey, every image holds a hidden tale, and each click of the shutter is a gentle nod to the passing of time. I’m not lost, but in this strange world, I’m using my camera as a boat to travel through the junction of the ordinary and the extraordinary. I’m looking for those fleeting moments that hit the heart!

Oh, self-abandonment! Oh, no! This is the most sincere embrace of life, a profound excavation of the immortal beauty in the daily minutiae. In the busy streets, I learned to listen to the wind’s soft whispers, capture the light sound of falling rain, so that my mind and the city resonate with the same frequency, and together weave a beautiful tapestry of time, space, and human nature.

As a result, those once seemingly meaningless scurrying turned into the courage to explore the unknown, which was really exciting! And the thick sorrow between my eyebrows was quietly transformed into the infinite yearning for beautiful things, which was a big step forward. Looking at old photos, I felt the warmth and emotion of the past, and it gave me strength and inspiration to keep going. Street photography is more than just a skill; it’s a way of life. It’s about embracing life’s endless possibilities with passion. On this journey of self-discovery, I’ve learned to find peace with myself and the world. And finally, between chaos and tranquility, I’ve found my own artistic home.