Next Leica-M lens to be introduced ?

[MarkP]

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I'm having a pre-GAS attack.

 

I might just go and take some photographs with what I have......

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[gabriel]

A 35-75 BiElmar

[Guest MarcRF]

i dont think there will be long lenses with huge apertures to compliment the 85 1.2 L canon offering. the rangefinder accuracy would not be precise enough and 90/2 is already superthin depth of field wise.

 

what people suggest here are monster lenses, similar to the 180/2 R lens. the M system is made to be small and so are the lenses (for their specifications).

 

leica will continue to build lenses for the purists (small, great performance, lightweight) like the summarits, elmarits and summicrons. besides this they will produce lenses for special occasions like the wide angle summiluxes, noctilux, macro elmar or just with extreme performance like the apo summicrons.

 

going with these 2 lines of lenses is the best approach. you will always have to pay for leica. the summarit line approach was one of the best decisions leica made in the past. they have a huge lens lineup that leaves out very little. I can see why people miss the MATE as it was a great design. also the 75 summilux.

 

but I do not expect a 90 summilux or a 35 noctilux. the 28 summilux would just close a gap.

 

leica has always tried to improve older designs. but how to improve designs like 50/75/90 apo f/2, the current summiluxes with floating elements, the new noctilux, the 21/24 elmars?

 

how should they improve small lenses with already stunning performance like the 28 elmarit asph?

 

they could improve the performance of the summarits of course, but would eliminate their whole point: price.

 

we have such a huge amount of gems and benchmarks of lens design to choose from. but yet some just want what they cant have.

 

and I'm a little afraid of some of the lenses people suggest. especially zoom lenses together with a zoom finder.

 

the leica has always been about a fixed focal length viewfinder for fixed focal lengths. I'd see it as a betrayal of their heritage to change this. if you want it then go for a dslr. there are enough with zoom lenses and zoom finders (or the fuji X10 or similar)

 

after the M9 and the success of it leica feels quite comfortable in their rangefinder niche I guess. I dont see the point of changing the whole viewfinder more than it already changed.

[sdk]

How about a 16/3.8 Super Elmar ASPH?

[marknorton]

If you have a WATE, it's interesting to see just how little real difference there is in coverage between 16mm and 21mm. There's already 4 lenses covering that restricted range of focal lengths and while a new 16mm ultra-wide would be interesting, it would inevitably canabalise sales of the 18mm and 21mm lenses.

 

Leica can certainly continue to fill in all the gaps at every one of the standard focal lengths but as someone who is rather ho-hum about the AA 50, I'd like to see Leica break out of the existing lens mould and come out with something really innovative.

[earleygallery]

I think the most likely lens will be something to take advantage of the features of the M, a new tele, a faster 135mm or perhaps something longer?

 

Alternatively maybe a new Macro lens.

[marknorton]

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A new macro lens would certainly be a candidate. The existing macro lens set (lens, adapter, angle finder) is ludicrously expensive. > £2500 for basically a 90/4 4 element lens?

[lct]

But what a lens! Macro R lenses can be had for a fraction of the price but they are more bulky by far.

[skinnfell]

With more and more megapixels and better and better ISO performance, I would rather see higher resolution, but lower speed (and lighter and cheaper) lenses.

 

Many users, like me, consider the Leica to be a mini medium format camera, rather than a direct competitor to DSLRS. The M is for many a magnificent landscape/travel camera, with the highest possible quality in the smallest possible package. With the M240, macro and longer lenses also become a viable option.

 

Hence, corner-to-corner resolution, lack of aberrations and distortions is highly appreciated, much more so than the ability to throw backgrounds into a unrecognizable blur. But, nine thousand dollars and a year of waiting for AA50 is too much for me to swallow. (Actually, 8988 dollars in my country at the current exchange rate. That leaves 12 dollars for a filter.)

 

How about a Apo-50mm 2.8? with the same performance as AA50/2 but at a fraction of the price. Not collapsible please.

 

Also, I would buy a Tilt/Shift or Perspective Control lens in a heartbeat too.

PC-Elmar-M 35mm?

[Tonki-M]

But what a lens! Macro R lenses can be had for a fraction of the price but they are more bulky by far.

 

but then you have to add the price of an R adapter to it...but yes, the Macro R is awesome!

[lct]

... are awesome Mine is the 60/2.8 but the 100/2.8 apo is no slouch either.

LeicaR_6028_11347_specs.pdf

LeicaR_10028m_specs.pdf

[Paul J]

90 summilux or a 35 noctilux. the 28 summilux would just close a gap

 

Yes please.

[HiredArm]

I'd like an ultra wide Summicron in the 16-24 range that's reasonably sized. The 21/24 Lux are larger and more expensive than I'd want to pay for a specialty lens and while I have a 24 Elmar and the new 21 Ultron if I could get one all around lens to do both that would be great. Yes I know that there are Elmarits around but a Summicron works much better for my uses - Oh and I hate 28 focal length. The rendering is amazing on the 28 Cron but yeah it's not for me.

[ynp]

A 35-50/2.8 Bi-Elmarit would be intriguing for the undecided crowd (me being one of them)... But maybe a 35-75/2.8 would be more useful as a one lens kit.

a 35-75/2.8 or Dual 35-50 will be perfect. My Konica Dual 21-35, if imperfect and slow, is the most used travel lens.

[rramesh]

My real worry with the impending 21 Summilux is that Leica will possibly drop the 21 Elmarit-M (it's the only Elmarit still in production) raising the entry price to the 21 focal length.

 

The 21 Summilux will be expensive, maybe even to the traditional reportage photographers.

[FrozenInTime]

My real worry with the impending 21 Summilux is that Leica will possibly drop the 21 Elmarit-M (it's the only Elmarit still in production) raising the entry price to the 21 focal length.

 

The 21 Summilux will be expensive, maybe even to the traditional reportage photographers.

 

By 21 you mean 28 ?

I think there is room for three 28mm lenses - not so happy about the cost if it doubles per stop.

[Tonki-M]

My real worry with the impending 21 Summilux is that Leica will possibly drop the 21 Elmarit-M (it's the only Elmarit still in production)

 

i may be wrong here, but wasn't 21 Elmarit-M replaced by 21 super-elmar? the 21 elmarit-m is no longer in production.

[rramesh]

i may be wrong here, but wasn't 21 Elmarit-M replaced by 21 super-elmar? the 21 elmarit-m is no longer in production.

Sorry guys. I was referring to the 28. I was preoccupied with the 21 as its on my shopping list.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[firstlight]

My real worry with the impending 21 Summilux is that Leica will possibly drop the 21 Elmarit-M (it's the only Elmarit still in production) raising the entry price to the 21 focal length.

 

The 21 Summilux will be expensive, maybe even to the traditional reportage photographers.

 

Thats why my 21 is comming from Zeiss .

I don't see the real advantage of a super fast 21, neither of a superfast 28..

 

If summilux, then a 35mm FLE - oh boy that's already available !

 

(humanity is never happy with what they have)

 

 

Edit: Is the 21mm Summilux not already available ??

[40mm f/2]

I am more interested in compact lenses with high resolution. The 90mm ME is a very good lens in the range it is designed for (up to 0.3x) but closer (Visoflex) it looses its performance. A real macro lens with excellent performance also at 0.5 -1x at longer focal length (120 -150mm) would be great. f/4 is an acceptable compromise for lighter and smaller. Tilt would be nice but that would have too much of a weight penalty.

Of course a new version of a 40mm lens is quite necessary.

I also would like a 21-28mm shift lens. Tilt would increase bulk and I find not necessary for wide angle. 35mm and up I understand the advantage of tilt.