Future of the "R" series

[mgcd]

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Occasionally, dealers have made such purchases available. I would not read too much into this, it would be unwise for anyone to dismiss the R line at this stage.

 

Cheers,

[rosuna]

I wouldn't worry too much about my R lenses even if Leica completely scrapped the whole R line because I can always adapt them to the EOS mount with more advanced features even unavailable in Leica's own cameras.

 

Leica cannot make lenses for EOS mount just because Canon doesn't allow to do it. Zeiss asked Canon, and they received a "no" (their Z range needs an adapter for EOS mount). Leica asked several years ago and they get the same response. Moreover, Canon L lenses are superb. There is a very limited market for Leica lenses on EOS mount.

 

The Zeiss N lenses are great, and Panasonic lenses for the 4/3 mount, with apertures ring, are very similar, but they are "plastic" lenses. Very good, but different to the actual R lenses. And it is true, manual focus isn't as precise in autofocus lenses, with servo transmissions etc. Maybe Leica is thinking in two series of R lenses: manual focus (a few super high quality lenses) and autofocus (for typical applications, think on bigger Lumix lenses). This is a good idea, but I don't know if it will work in the market.

[mwilliamsphotography]

Yes, I meant IF Leica were to launch a new DSLR, and the mount would not take my existing R lenses, THAT would be the last straw. This is not without precedence, Canon's EOS mount eliminated the use of FD lenses, Contax N mount eliminated the use of C/Y lenses, etc.

 

Canon's move was done at the right time, the Contax one was not.

 

If the new R 10 added AF lenses using the same mount, and provided AF confirmation for existing manual R lenses ... Like with Nikons, that would be great.

[thrid]

I was in London two weeks ago and was going to look at RG Lewis. Howvere their shop in Holborn was boarded up as the block was being renovated and done up. Maybe they're closing down or moving?

 

Charlie

 

 

RG Lewis moved down the street to Sicilian Road (ave? street?). I visited the store on Sunday and bought and R8 and winder from them. Nice people.

[thrid]

Moreover, Canon L lenses are superb.

 

 

Yes, when you can find one that doesn't suffer from sample variation. My 1.4/35L is great but I cherry picked it from 5 lenses in the store. Had to send the 1.4/50 back once for a new sample, because the first one was soft at any stop.

 

From what I hear many pros buy their lens and the next day send it off to Canon to be calibrated. This is a real shame, because they ARE good lenses.

 

>There is a very limited market for Leica lenses on EOS mount.

 

 

I would love to shoot some Leica-R glass on my 1-V or a D series without adapters etc. There are a lot of people out there buying Leica and Zeiss wideangle lenses for their Canon cameras... Even sales in the 1000's would boost Leica's bottom line nicely.

 

[sdai]

Leica cannot make lenses for EOS mount just because Canon doesn't allow to do it. Zeiss asked Canon, and they received a "no" (their Z range needs an adapter for EOS mount). Leica asked several years ago and they get the same response.

 

Where did you get this from, Ruben? Sigma, Tamron, Tokina never asked Canon for a permission.

 

I do agree with Marc ... there're great chances that Leica will cripple the backward compatibility with R lenses due to a mount change to accomodate added electronics and ultrasonic motors etc, if that happens, it's undoubtedly going to piss off a lot of people. And historically, the R lenses never had a decent tracking record on retaining their resale value.

[thrid]

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Didn't both Nikon and Pentax go AF (and digital) without killing backwards compatibility?

 

I don't see why Leica shouldn't be able to do the same with the current R mount. The ROM contacts provide a lot of information and I would be shocked if Leica had designed that feature without an eye to the future.

[gravastar]

The half price R item promotion of Leica's has hit me very hard. I have several items on commission sale with London dealers (to offset my M8 excesses ) and I've been told there's very little chance of them being sold until the promotional items are exhausted. At the moment dealers will not take items in part exchange if they are on the half price list.

 

Bob.

[rosuna]

Where did you get this from, Ruben? Sigma, Tamron, Tokina never asked Canon for a permission.

 

If my memory serves me well, it comes from two interviews, to a Leica representative (was he Conen? Maybe LFI?) and to a Zeiss representative (I think yet in their web page). If you want it, I can do a search.

 

Sigma, Tamron and Tokina are doing some reverse-engineering.

[rafael_macia]

I was in London two weeks ago and was going to look at RG Lewis. Howvere their shop in Holborn was boarded up as the block was being renovated and done up. Maybe they're closing down or moving?

 

Charlie

 

Their website notes that they have moved.

look....

 

http://www.rglewis.co.uk/index.htm

 

Rafael

[rsolomon]

considering today ends late April and tomorrow begins early May any news on the firmware update.... i am very interested to know what will be deleivered ..

 

thanks

 

rich

[bono0272]

considering today ends late April and tomorrow begins early May any news on the firmware update.... i am very interested to know what will be deleivered ..

 

thanks

 

rich

 

I also want to know the latest news on this firmware issue.

[leicamr]

If Leica R lenses can currently be used on a Digilux 3 and Canon bodies with an adapter then I am convinced that the R10, autofocus or not will support existing manual focus lenses.

I too bought an ex demo 180mm f2.8 APO for about half price today. It is brand new with passport warranty.

 

Mark

[zapp]

Check out Erwin Puts apge Erwins Photosite he reports on a new lens on the Leica drawing board. After the M8 hype at the Photokina newtings will arrive soon (Leica soon +- 6 months). If they change the R mount completely, bye bye

[zapp]

Yes, I meant IF Leica were to launch a new DSLR, and the mount would not take my existing R lenses, THAT would be the last straw. This is not without precedence, Canon's EOS mount eliminated the use of FD lenses, Contax N mount eliminated the use of C/Y lenses, etc.

 

Canon's move was done at the right time, the Contax one was not.

 

If the new R 10 added AF lenses using the same mount, and provided AF confirmation for existing manual R lenses ... Like with Nikons, that would be great.

Contax N mount killed Contax :-) and funny enough Zeiss did only add AF capability to existing lens designs. Only with the new ZF line they re-engineered their lenses. Check out the data sheets of the 85 and 50 mm for instance - probably Kyocera did not want to pay for an improved lens line.

Canon and Minolta changed the mount in times where electronic coupling was a new thing Leica ROM and Nikon AF-D lenses, etc., have shown that you can stick to a lens mount although a 1.2/85 like the Canon one does not fit on any mount - but it is huge anyways who cares.

[leicar7]

Check out Erwin Puts apge Erwins Photosite he reports on a new lens on the Leica drawing board. After the M8 hype at the Photokina newtings will arrive soon (Leica soon +- 6 months). If they change the R mount completely, bye bye

 

Could you be specific about which article and/or lens to which you are referring?

 

Thanks.

[hektor]

Could you be specific about which article and/or lens to which you are referring?

Thanks.

 

http://www.imx.nl/photosite/comments/c034.html

 

Rules

 

To be designated as an optical masterpiece, the lens should as a minimum requirement constitute a leap of imagination beyond what the standard of the day provides, at least in design and possibly too in specifications (aperture and focal length). A brilliant design is no good when not accompanied by a mechanical mount that is smooth to operate and that is sturdy and accurate enough to preserve the optical capabilities over a long period of time. And last but not least the lens must be ergonomically sound, beautifully shaped and invite the photographer to use its properties and qualities to the limit.

 

The Summilux-M 1.4/50mm ASPH. easily passes these tests, especially in the silver-chromed MP 3 version, which has a superbly elegant design. So does the new Trri-Elmar 16-18-21.

 

A lens that could become the masterpiece of the digital age is a proposed eight element Summicron lens, that exists on the drawing table only and should deliver stunning performance.

[hektor]

I am reliably informed the R10 will not be an autofocus camera. One will still focus manually, but lights will flash and the camera will beep when the lens is in focus. Lets hope we can download "ring-tones" to select the beep!

[S. Wong]

How would focus confirmation work?

would it devide the viewfinder into 9 sections and have a little light for each section that is in focus?

Would it take an overall look and say "60% is in focus" or something like that?

Would it perhaps just work from the light-meter setting what should be in focus (spot, center-weight, full-frame)?

I have never used a camera with focus confirmation, and am really curious how/where it has been implemented.

Thank you for your time

-Steven Wong

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[sdai]

It has nothing to do with metering ... traditional Leica M cameras use a conincident-type optical rangefinder, if the R10 is going to have focus confirmation I suppose it's going to use an electronic rangefinder which beams infrared light toward the object your focus point is pointing at, then it determines the object's distance from your camera by clocking the time the infrared beam reflects back. Quite simple and accurate, more reliable ... machines tend to make less mistakes than human eyes.