Been shooting M mount for ages and honestly, the Voigtlander 35mm f/2 Ultron Vintage Line Aspherical VM Type II is the king of value right now. Im super satisfied with mine... no complaints about the rendering, and its way sharper than a hazy old Summaron. Youll save like 400 bucks off your budget too. Get the Ultron and spend the extra cash on film for the trip.

Totally with you on skipping the hazy old stuff! I took a Zeiss to Osaka last summer and the 3D pop was just insane... literally made my street shots look professional. If you want that punchy look, these are fantastic:

• Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 C Biogon T* ZM - its tiny and super sharp for under 800 bucks.
• Zeiss 35mm f/2 Biogon T* ZM - amazing for those neon Tokyo nights!

honestly, for a trip like tokyo you really want reliability above everything else. i learned this the hard way years ago when i took some older glass to a humid climate for a big shoot. it looked fine at home, but once i got out there, the internal elements started showing their age and my shots were all soft. it was a total mess and i really regretted not just getting something modern. my current setup for travel is a newer f2. it just works. the build is solid, the clicks are snappy, and i dont have to worry about whether a fifty-year-old part is gonna fail me in a different country. the older stuff has character, but for a serious project, having that peace of mind is worth way more than the vintage look. you'll probably be way happier with something brand new that has some support behind it. good luck with the project.

Safety and reliability are my main concerns when traveling. I once took a vintage lens to Tokyo and the focus ring seized up on day two. It was a total disaster because I had no backup.

• Always check the mount screws
• Bring a tiny screwdriver kit I actually spent more time looking for a repair shop in Ginza than taking photos. Their train system is incredible tho, way better than what we have here. Anyway. But yeah.