Why no 28mm Summilux?

[lcrl]

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28mm has always been my favorite wide length. (I bought my first digital camera, the Kodak Dc-4800, because it was the only reasonably priced one at the time that went as wide as 28)

 

Is it just that most people prefer either 35 or 24?

[SJP]

Good question, I see no technical reason why not. Depends a bit on whether it is a retrofocus design or "straight" more or less like the current 28/2

[adan]

1. Leica always has to think about viewfinder blockage with 28mms. It is not an issue with a 24mm f/1.4, since Leica assumes anyone using a 24 is using an accessory finder. I imagine Leica has "designed" a 28 f/1.4 on their computers (probably more than once), taken a look at how big it has to be to perform at "Leica" levels optically, and said "Ain't gonna do it."

 

When Leica designed the 28 Summicron, one of the design parameters was that it could not be any larger than the 28 Elmarit of the same era (v.4). That took them 18 years from the first prototypes.

 

2. There is a practical limit to how many versions Leica can support for focal lengths outside the "normal" range (35-50mm). Leica probably sells 3-4x as many 35s and 50s as they do any other particular focal length, so sales can "support" three or four of each.

 

With the 21 and 24 lenses, Leica fairly quickly dropped the "middle"-aperture lenses (f/2.8) once they had a slow, cheap(ish) version and a Summilux. They'd likely have to kill the 28 Summicron (one of the best optics they've ever designed) in order to sell enough f/2.8s and f/1.4s to make money on them.

 

(oops - gotta run - so two last quick points)

 

3. Canon and Nikon, with huge market shares, produce the same selection or even more limited than Leica. Nikon only has a 24 f/1.4 in the current line (no 21, 28, or 35); Canon, like Leica, does a 24 and 35 at f/1.4, and a 28 at f/1.9.

 

4. 28 has been something of a step-child focal length historically for the M. For the first 10 years of the M's existence, the only 28 was an f/8 Hektor or f/5.6 Summaron. Until the 2006 chrome Summicron version, Leica had never bothered with a chrome 28, while producing many chrome 21s and 24s.

[kemal_mumcu]

I agree with the above I just thought of one more:

 

Right now 28mm is Leica's widest f2 lens in the line-up. I would doubt that Leica would market a 21/24 f2 lens given what they have currently. So basically the 28 Summicron is a beautiful balance between size and speed. The 24 elmar is not much smaller but two whole stops slower. The 24 lux is huge in comparison and more expensive to boot. As you go wider in Leica's line-up the 28 cron is the last of the compact/small lenses - and indispensible because of this.

 

I think had the Leica digital stayed with the crop-factor of the M8s indefinately, Leica probably would have produced a summilux version. Remember how popular 28mm lenses were when the M8 was king? Now without the crop the "standard" lens for the Leica is back to 35 or 50.