24 ASPH Elmarit availability & value.

[delander †]

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And dont forget that as every current Leica 24mm goes up in price, so will the 24 'old' elmarit.

 

Jeff

[ho_co]

I'm surprised to see how many people think there'll be a replacement for the 24 Elmarit. Seems having both the Summilux and the Elmar in the lineup is enough.

 

IOW, it seems to me that the 24/3.8 is the replacement for the 24/2.8: only a half-stop slower, optically improved and at a lower price.

 

As others have pointed out, the 24 focal length has the downside that it requires an external finder. And the Summarit line hasn't set the world on fire AFAIK. So I wouldn't expect to see another 24 entering the lineup very soon.

 

Just my opinion.

[Studio58]

I doubt they would replace it. Well really they already have with the Elmar which will in turn make the 2.8 sought after.

[ezc203]

Howard -

 

The 24 Elmar is essentially a full stop slower. The 3.8 (as opposed to f/4) marking on the lens is really just for the "we're better than you" effect. For all practically purposes, the Elmar is an f/4 lens, which makes it a FULL stop slower than the Elmarit.

 

I think the Summarit HAS been a HUGE "game changer" at Leica, whether sales indicate that or not. First of all, the optical quality of the Summarit line is SUPERB - very much under appreciated in my opinion because it's Leica's "budget" line. And seeing as a lot of Leica owners buy it for the "I'm so cool" factor, buying a "budget" lens is definitely "not cool".

 

Also the Summarit lens is also a "new" way for Leica to do business. By reducing the cosmetic costs of the lens (rubber rings, shared parts, etc), Leica can now make lenses faster and cheaper than before. This is be important in the future when they look to more adequately meet the market demand for their products.

 

So what I'm saying I guess is that I wouldn't be surprised if Leica came out with 21mm / 24mm Summarit lenses together with a shared barrel design.

[Lord Fluff]

So what I'm saying I guess is that I wouldn't be surprised if Leica came out with 21mm / 24mm Summarit lenses together with a shared barrel design.

 

This would be interesting, as in recent usage 'Summarit' has come to mean "f2.5" not just "cheaper" (notice that the majority of S series lenses are also designated Summarit, and they too are f2.5). So this would mean that a 24mm/2.5 could, possibly, be on the horizon, at a comparatively cheap price, and presumably an improved optical performance over the retired and slightly slower Elmarit Asph......