Elmarit-M 24/2.8 ASPH discontinued

[cbretteville]

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LeicaRumors quotes B&H where the lens is listed as discontinued.

 

One of my absolute favorite M lenses and I'm sorry to see them stop production of it.

 

Carl

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[hoppyman]

Absolutely Carl and I was a little sad to read this too. I think I understand the rationale in their product line but think this one will be missed. The Summilux wides are just too bulky for my personal preferences since I don't need that much speed in wides. I got the Elmar instead when locally the pricing actually favoured the Elmarit. That is a fine lens too though and has some properties in handling that I valued. However the Elmarit has long held a reputation as providing simply superb results.

[adan]

Could be true, but I'll wait for more reliable sources than a site with "rumors" in the name, and B&H, which has notably put the wrong label on lenses in the past when explaining why they don't have any for sale.

 

Not that I'd be surprised - I suspect Leica is doing a "slow-motion" conversion of their wide lens line to more digitally-friendly designs (24 f/1.4 and 3.8) as well as trying to extend the "reasonable cost" line beyond the Summarits.

 

Intriguing that Leica took the opposite course with the 135s a decade ago - eliminating two lenses (fast f/2.8 or compact f/4) and replacing them with one (Telyt APO f/3.4).

[holgerf]

Could be true, but I'll wait for more reliable sources …

 

The Elmarit is no longer listed in the official German pricelist, still on their website though.

 

Best

Holger

[ho_co]

Could be true, but I'll wait for more reliable sources...

 

The discontinuation was already mentioned at http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/154970-90mm-asph-apo-summicron-no-more.html#post1542237: not in price list, not available.

 

Pity. I don't have one, but I know Erwin really waxed rhapsodic when he first reviewed it.

[adan]

Howard - it's the journalist in me -"If your mother tells you she loves you, get a second source."

 

I'd rather see the pricelist for myself than read a post about the pricelist - even though I have no reason to doubt Uli or Holger.

[ho_co]

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Understood.

 

Unfortunately, the US branch no longer publishes retail price lists; our nearest proxy has become the big retailers.

[Guest cwcheung]

I just got the price list brochure from Leica Store, Solms. Only 2 24mm lens is listed in the brochure.

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[adan]

Noted - also Kurland is no longer listing the 24 f/2.8 at all (while listing other lenses as "out of stock") - I'm persuaded.

[UliWer]

You can see the error on cwcheung's copy: they list an "Elmarit" with f/3.8 and the price for the Elmar. So at first I thought it was an error in the list.

 

I asked the Leica representative at the "Leice Erlebnistage" last month in Wetzlar about this. He laughed about the misprint in the list but conformed that the 2.8/24 elmarit was discontinued. So unfortunately it's no rumour.

 

I don't understand the reason for this decision. Usually Leica discontinues a lens, if it rivals a new one in the same class. Therefore the 2.8/90 Elmarit and the 2.8/50 Elmar were discontinued when the new Summarits came. I don't see a (non-aspherical???) 2.5 Summarit for 24mm at all. With wide angle lenses the Summarit class is represented by the 3.8 Elmars. I never used the 2.8/24 Elmarit , but from what I read here and elsewhere the lens was flawless, so I don't see a reason to bring out a new one - though Leica is not very rational in following their aim to better present lenses., so we might be surprised by something in the near future.

 

Obviously the demand for the Elmarit was low with the Elmar, the Summilux and several other lenses by Zeiss and Voigländer besides it. Though Leica produces lenses in low numbered batches, so it should be possible to uphold a good concept even if it doesn't sell like the 50 or 35mm lenses.

 

Perhaps there is even a severe problem, if the lens needs special glass which isn't supplied any longer. This was the official explanation for discontinuing the Mate. If this were true, it could mean a danger for Leica: unability of glass producers to fulfill their demands could hit them in the core of their catalogue.

 

However, it is a strange decision.

[01af]

However, it is a strange decision.

Not strange at all. For a small manufacturer like Leica it's just overkill to have three 24 mm lenses in their catalog—especially when so many are waiting for their 35 mm or 50 mm lenses—so they simply dropped one. Two 24 mm lenses definitely is enough.

[erlingmm]

..and the Elmar 3,8 is really a great lens, bought it a month ago and used it on a trip to China. Read Erwin Puts' evaluation here: 24mm comparison

[hoppyman]

I agree with Uliwer. It is a strange decision. With this lenses stellar reputation it could have remained in the catalog for occasional production. That would not affect availbility of the most in demand lenses right now at all..

 

Still looking at the wides range (apart from the WATE) that means two 21's, two 24's, two 28's and then a whole lot of 35's.. I guess that we can't complain about the number of options.

[ho_co]

... Usually Leica discontinues a lens, if it rivals a new one in the same class....

 

Perhaps there's a new 24/2.8 coming.

[peter_n]

Sad. I loved my 24/2.8 so much I bought two of them, but sold one last year as I was using the FL a bit less. Now I think I'm going to have to buy another just in case I need a backup.

[adan]

I note that Erwin Puts mentions the "phase-out" of the 24 Elmarit-M in his blog, and in passing says that the thick central element (not the ASPH element, BTW) by itself costs more than a medium-range DSLR - presumably therefore about $1800. Blog

 

I would guess that as the Elmar nibbles away at the bottom end of sales (why pay an extra $1,500 for slightly lower IQ if you mostly shoot @ f/5.6 anyway?) and the Summilux nibbles away at sales to those for whom f/2.8 is a rather "slow" aperture - the sales are shrinking to the point that the costs can't be spread across enough units to make (enough) money.

[peter_n]

To be honest, it seems the Zeiss 25/2.8 has chomped rather than nibbled at the 24 Elmarit. An awful lot of people like the ZM over both the Elmarit and the Elmar.

[adan]

Probably true - but I'm not sure that would affect Leica's internal decision-making as to which lenses to offer in their own line. Otherwise, the existence of the 25mm Skopars would have precluded the introduction of the 8x-more expensive 24mm Elmar in the first place.

 

Sales lost to the ZM might set up the overall problem - "We can sell X-many 24mm lenses a year." But within that context Leica then has to ask "Does it make sense to divide those sales over 3 different designs - and if not, which designs will be most profitable at the price we can charge for the specs?"

 

I expect the 24 Elmarit was about to fall into the same trap as the original 35 Summilux Aspherical, the 35-70 f/2.8 R, and the Leicaflex 2, (and ultimately the whole R system). "At the price where it is profitable, we can't sell any, and at the price where we can sell them, we lose money."

 

Leica has been revamping their whole approach to mechanical design - note the new metal screw-on lens hood paradigm, and the fact that the pretty (but no doubt expensive) visible brass threads on the RF cams have been eliminated. I suppose they could come out with a "cheaper" 24 f/2.8 using the new design approach, but I suspect it wouldn't be worth the investment so long as the f/3.8 and f/1.4 sell well enough.

 

Next up - what happens to the 21 Elmarit, which shared accesories (shade, caps) and some parts with the 24? And faces some of the same digital headaches (red-edge)?

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[robert-gregory]

With the introduction of the Elmar I was wondering when the shoe would fall. Three 24mm lenses just seemed a bit over marketing in what could be viewed as a niche focal length. The Elmar's slightly slower speed isn't as much a factor as in the film days, and if you need speed and that f1.4 look, the Summilux takes care of that.

 

Its obvious Leica is optimizing their lens line for digital. The Elmarit was designed before digital with film in mind. It is/was good enough for digital, but it probably came down more to manufacturing economics. As Puts mentioned in the blog, the one middle element alone cost around $1,800, and along with the well built mechanical housing may have just made it too much for todays price point.

 

The chrome version I have I conceder one of the best made modern Leica lenses, heavy solid brass, beautiful chrome finish, very very smooth in operation, and [of course] really amazing optically.

[freusen]

The chrome version I have I conceder one of the best made modern Leica lenses, heavy solid brass, beautiful chrome finish,

very very smooth in operation, and [of course] really amazing optically.

 

+1

 

FrankR