Lately, my photography has revolved around the 50mm focal length. However, I recently felt a sudden urge to reacquaint myself with the 35mm Summilux, a lens I’ve always been fond of. I wondered how I might capture her amidst the sprawling cityscape.

And one more thing. I wanted to take “The Lady”—a lens that truly shows its worth in the stillness of the night—out into the broad daylight of Tokyo. I was curious to see what kind of images she would produce under the overflowing brilliance of the sun.

Driven by this curiosity, I set out with Hinata, carrying the SL2-S and two Summilux lenses.

The first lens I mounted was the 35mm, in which I place my absolute trust. What this lens renders is a thorough sense of “reality.”

The inorganic bricks of the city, the texture of a coat, and Hinata’s intense gaze. The resolution at the point of focus is sharp enough to send a shiver down one’s spine. Yet, the “poison” of this lens is that it isn’t merely harsh.

When you look at the shadows, they don’t simply drop into black; they tenaciously retain their texture. Particularly in the shots of Hinata standing against a brick wall, her presence popped out from the background with an overwhelming three-dimensionality. It carries a persuasiveness that seems to say, “This is the fact.” The density of information is so rich that it possesses a luxurious resolving power, making one tempted at times to slightly soften the “structure.”

The moment I swapped the lens for “The Lady,” the world visible through the viewfinder transcended time.

The sharp light from moments ago began to melt—sweetly and softly—as if encapsulated within amber. Bathed in backlight, Hinata’s hair glowed white, draped in particles of light, and the entire frame was enveloped in a veil that felt almost like a blessing.

For this lens, flare and ghosting are no longer defects. They are like magical dust used to sublimate the subject, Hinata, into a “fragment of memory.”

What is truly remarkable is the bottomless tonality that supports this melting depiction. The subtle “bleeding” and “ambience” rendered by The Lady are recorded with absolute purity, without any muddiness. There was no need to add grain later. The lens itself had already cast a spell called “depth” upon this world.

The 35mm ASPH. captures Hinata’s “now” sharply and vividly as a contemporary portrait. The 50mm 1st encapsulates Hinata’s “existence” softly and warmly as an eternal memory.

Being able to switch between these two polar opposite lenses on a single camera body is the ultimate luxury afforded to Leica users.