New user here, 1st post.

I don't know if this has been covered before but I am choosing between these two. Is the $200 price difference worth it for the 35mm?

From what I've seen, the differences in bokeh and sharpness can only be seen when you put the same shots taken by each lens side by side (very minimal... it is there, don't get me wrong, but you need to compare the shot with something else)... the 35mm still has the very harsh/edgy bokeh (or some people call it "characteristic") as the 40mm lens at wide f-stops...

The 35mm is harder to find (and more expensive) because most of the Leica M users prefer to have the right framing for 35mm viewfinder lines. (If you look through Leica M viewfinder you'd see framing lines for 35mm and 50mm, but not 40mm) The 40mm lens' framing lies in between their 35mm and 50mm viewfinder and a lot of people just wanted to be able to frame their shots more precisely...

I'm in the market for the lens as well; but for us E-P1 users, we need to spend even more money for the adapter. I was going to go for the 35mm (because when I buy something, I want to spend money for the best I can get--"better bokeh", right?) but now I'm leaning toward the 40mm, because I really need to save up and not spend it all on one lens... I'm just waiting for a good deal for a used lens somewhere... (anyone here wanna sell theirs? )

You do also have to consider that 40mm means 80, and 35 only means 70. That can be a very large difference.

i briefly tried all the lenses on my camera at photovillage, in the end i bought the voigtlander 28 1.9in black and the 50 1.5 nokton in silver
2 weeks apart

i did love the size of the 40 1.4 its a sweet lens
the 35 1.2 though larger, seemed very sharp wide open in the few test shots i made, incredible manual focusing experence with the 35 1.2
its expensive though .
the 35 1.4 is a beautiful lens too ,but i dont know how pleasingly it renders out of focus highlights

the 28 stays on the camera as my 'normal  fast "prime"    [ 56mm equiv,]   but i  really like the performance of the 50 more , its a sharp optic, and with the speed and 100 mm equiv it a fine portrait lens for the ep-1

heres some out of focus hightlight crops for the lenses wide open
[1.9 for the 28 and 1.5 for the 50]   and stopped down to  f 4

the  retro barreled  nokton 50 1.5 looks stunning on the silver bodied EP-1
everyone who sees it falls instantly in love with it .  

 did not try the new 28 f2 voigtlander i hear its sharper and m mount to boot[no  $55 LTM to m mount adpt needed] if its a lot better i may get the new 28

heres a crop of the out of focus highlights of the voigtlander 28  at 1.9

I think we are thread-jacking a little bit here... but feel free to answer my question in a new post.

Can you post a picture of your silver 1.5/50 on silver EP-1? The lens has 2 colors (black and silver) and I can't seem to make up my mind what looks better on the E-P1.

Also, I think the 1.5/50 is LTM, right? Do you need 2 adapters for the EP-1 (LTM>M>m43)? Are there any differences in the LTM adapters on eBay? (or is there a better place to buy?)

That's an old 50/1.5 Nokton...not the current one.

the silver 50 1.5 nokton looks incredible mounted on the ep-1
ill post a picture  or two in 'other pics' in the gallery
i honestly cant say which i think looks better on the silver ep-1

the 'chrome" nokton 50 is stunning , a classy retro looking bit of synergy on the silver ep-1
the black ultron 28 1.9 , has more of a "street smart" feel to it it bit more 'i mean business",serious  feel to it,and also looks damn good as well, not as a good performer wide open as the 50 nokton.

both are ltm which means you need a a ltm to m adapter which is tiny and when mounted dosent look like an adapter , it just looks like a m mount lens

i was told by the guy at photovillage , a store i like alot that its best just to leave the ltm to m on each lens [ the second demo i purchace which was the nokton 50 he thru in the ltm to m adapter gratis. shhhh]

the m4\3 to m voigtlander adapter is what costly at $150.

i paid $340 with the ltm to m adapter included demo \used but mint

look for some shots in "other pics"

the ultron 28 1.9 is sold out in black everywhere i was told for, the last 2 yrs, but new silvers are still for sale,

mine was a used near mint black paint, i chose it over the new
version , in silver ,which was priced the same at photovillage at $444 as the used one i bought [without a cap]
the salesman said if i ever wanted to resell the lens the demand for the black would get me a better price,faster sale.

the performance of the 28 1.9 wide open is just ok ,it is much better stopped down a bit to 4. Even manual focus shows this at 10 x with the apeture at 1.9, there is a crispness that you cant achieve even in good light, but you can see better sharpness manually focusing at f 4.   prints show this as well

the focus wheel  action is smoother and nicer  on the 28 than on the 50,[a subtle difference ,but there]
both manual lenses focusing rings and their action blow away any AF lens ive ever handeled

theres a newer verson of the 28 voigtlander its f2 not 1.9 M mount lens [no $55 ltm/m adapter needed] but it only comes in black  , the pictures ive seen shows a very different front element on the new lens, it is said to be a better performer
only cameraquest and photovillage are official dealers in the usa, [usa warrantys]