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Dear friends at the Leica forum. I wonder, does someone have any thoughts on this one ... The other day I bought an 'new in the box' SEM 24mm 2.8 asph, according to the dealer right off an 'insolvency' problem of the former owner/store. The lens number exceeded 407XXXX, so probably one of the last lenses of the production. Since my M240 is at Wetzlar, I started taking some photo's with my M9. All literature, including Leica's own and others, state this lens would be one of Leica's bests. The renowed Mr. Puts says: [...] No Leica M user should be without this lens. The M style of photography demands intimate close range photography and the 24 is one of the best lenses to explore this area. It delivers unsurpassable quality in the 24 focal length. I would say that at f4.0 this lens is at its best. [...] Much to my surprise I noticed some unsharpness in the corners of the landscapes I took at f5.6-f8 ... So I took some other shots at several apertures and again noticed some fuzziness at the corners. All images were taken with sufficient shutter speed of 125 so there was no unsharpness by movement of the camera. I decided to do the old 'test with the newspaper'. I know some people will say, what the f**k is he doing, Leica has equipment of millions of dollars to check their cameras and lenses. But that is besides the point. Take my word for it that the camera was aligned properly towards the wall with newspapers. No newspaper is totally flat unless glued. So, some of the paper does 'wave' a little but that would not have interfered with the sharpness in the corners. So. I taped several sheets of newspapers, flat on the wall. There is diffuse light coming from left to right that, of course, would not influence the sharpness of the letters of the newspaper. Camera on tripod, 24mm lens chosen in as well AUTO as Manual. That did not make a difference in the quality of sharpness. As we can see - it is a pity I can not upload bigger files - at f4 (remember what Mr. Puts concluded?) it is extremely unsharp in the corners. Also at f 5.6. At f8 it starts to get better but at f11 the corners are crisp and sharp. I could not believe what I saw. Therefore I consulted my friend Paulus. He borrowed me his M240 and his older SEM 24mm. His lens was absolutely better, sharp and crisp at f 5.6. All apertures below that ... rubbish. (remember what Mr. Puts concluded? By the way, I do think highly of his studies and of his knowledge!) There was no difference between the images of my M9 and Paulus' M240 in respect to the quality of my SEM 24. Sofar for my conducted test. Any thoughts on this one? Thanks and greetings from the Netherlands, Bert 1st image: full frame wall with newspaper