Rumor - Three new Leica M lenses tomorrow?

[maralatho]

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Pretty sure the new silver 35 is anodized aluminum, so chrome and black chrome will retain some bragging rights, especially combined with the round vented hood.

[jpattison]

What happens with the lens profiles and the six bit encoding when they change the optical recipe for a lens?

It seems that Lightroom uses the lens identification picked up by the camera using the six bit encoding to pick the lens profile. With a new lens optical design wouldn't the lens profile be different?

 

I wonder if Leica will ever replace the six bit encoding with something more advanced like a smart chip on the lens mount to identify the lenses more precisely than 6 bits. I guess alternatively they could turn 6 bits into 12 bits or more by adding a couple shade of grey. 

The coding will be to show it as 11673, whereas the current one is 11879. Adobe will issue an update to keep up with the new lenses, hopefully, in camera raw and Lightroom.

 

6 bit coding is binary, from 1 to 63. So max of 63 lenses coded.

 

John

Edited January 15, 2016 by jpattison

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[rosuna]

I would like to see detailed technical information (those loved PDF Leica used to link at their website)... 

And Erwin Puts' comment... 

[Hannes Lummes]

I took a look at the technical documents (can be found from Leica's website)

None of the lenses has changed a lot, and improvements in MTF:s are so marginal that I wonder if anyone will ever notice a difference. All the signs of field curvature are there just as before, perhaps slightly better in 28/2.8, but 35/2 is still bad in that regard.

 

Boring. Cosmetics.

[Hannes Lummes]

-> no need to change the coding. Nodal points have remained the same.

[Steve Ash]

I would like to see detailed technical information (those loved PDF Leica used to link at their website)... 

And Erwin Puts' comment... 

 

There you go..

 

http://uk.leica-camera.com/Service-Support/Support/Downloads

[pgk]

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On page 420 of E.Puts's Leica Compendium, he describes the 28/2.8 ASPH 11606 as "This may be one of the first 28mm lenses for CRF cameras that display no distortions at all" then "an excellent flatness of field".  So, outside of a laboratory, is anyone going to be able to appreciate the claimed "significantly reduced image field curvature" ?

 

You have a point. The existing (now previous) 28/2.8 Aspheric has a good enough reputation as it is.

[mmx_2]

Can it be that the hood of the new Summicron 28 the same as Summilux 35 FLE?. I guess that the Elmarit 28 and Summicron 28 uses the same hood and that this hood is a new design.

[wattsy]

bought black chrome 35 summicron last month, same here 

 

 

I bought this lens last spring knowing full well that it was on it's way out. That it was included in so many special editions (Safari, Kravitz and the black chrome version) during 2015 was a bit of a giveaway and, with it's bayonet hood and 25 year old design, it was inevitable it would receive some kind of upgrade sooner rather than later. The only surprise for me is that it is such a relatively modest upgrade.

 

Now that I no longer shoot my M lenses digitally, I can't get excited about any of the announced optical improvements but, if I was still a heavy digital user, I'd probably upgrade my 28 Summicron. Other than on the M8, I haven't found the 28 Summicron particularly impressive on the digital bodies (on film it is terrific) so the announced optical improvements combined with the more compact hood make the upgrade worthwhile IMO.

Edited January 15, 2016 by wattsy

[EdwardM]

i have 28 Lux, so i am ok with that lens. The 28 elmarit is sharpest lens i have ever used. if the metal hood will match the current version it would be great. thats it:)

[Erik Gunst Lund]

Did they cut the back the lens on the pictures ?

 

It seems that the optical group of the 35/2 doesn't stick out of the mount anymore.

 

The images are cropped, in the drawings of the optical formula you can see they 'stick' out into the lens mount just like the old versions.

[wattsy]

The images are cropped, in the drawings of the optical formula you can see they 'stick' out into the lens mount just like the old versions.

 

 

Yes, I think they also used to crop the product images for the previous version of the 35 Summicron.

 

Interesting that the new version appears (at least it does in the product photos) to have a traditional brass helical. A lot (or all) of the lenses designed during the last ~10 years seem to adopted a construction using black (aluminium?) helicals.

[jpattison]

The use of a "cover" ring to screw onto the lenshood thread when not in use is an annoyance to me; how many second hand lenses in the future will have these missing? Lenshoods are missing all the time on s/h sales!

 

John

[wlaidlaw]

Grub screws are not high tech. Why not just have them drilled out a bit bigger at a shop and use bigger screws? It would only need to be fractionally larger; probably wouldn't even notice the difference. I would imagine the gents at e.g., Luton could do it.

 

Good luck (or, 'enjoy your new Summicron!'),

s-a

 

Peter at CRR in Luton says I will probably need a new collar as the screws are impossible to drill out. Supposedly Leica are the only people who can do this but I may give Malcolm Taylor a ring.

 

I have had problems in the past, removing the small slotted grub screws in the Lucas Racing fuel injection rotary distributor body. This is to replace them with decent hex socket grub screws. I was shown a trick by an old F1 mechanic. you grind the end of a short length of electric welding rod to slightly smaller than the grub screw. You then earth the body of the distributor and push the rod onto the grub screw, while attached to the other terminal of the welder, which is set to quite low current. It instantly welds itself to the grub screw and you take your foot off the power/strike switch of the welder immediately. You then use a Mole grip or similar on the welding rod to unscrew the grub screw. The heating effect of the welding current, also releases any locking fluid that has been put on the screw. However I don't know if I would be brave enough to do this on my Summicron. 

 

Wilson

[jaapv]

The coding will be to show it as 11673, whereas the current one is 11879. Adobe will issue an update to keep up with the new lenses, hopefully, in camera raw and Lightroom.

 

6 bit coding is binary, from 1 to 63. So max of 63 lenses coded.

 

John

But the frame position is used, so multiply by 3 (minus the Tri-Elmar)

[rosuna]

There you go..

 

http://uk.leica-camera.com/Service-Support/Support/Downloads

 

 

Thank you very much Steve!!!

[Mantice]

On page 420 of E.Puts's Leica Compendium, he describes the 28/2.8 ASPH 11606 as "This may be one of the first 28mm lenses for CRF cameras that display no distortions at all" then "an excellent flatness of field".  So, outside of a laboratory, is anyone going to be able to appreciate the claimed "significantly reduced image field curvature" ?

This is not even funny... just look at how close the optical drawings and the MTF graph.  I'm not optical expert but for f/5.6 MTF did they just tweak saghittal and tangental structure?  On average they're about the same...

 

I do wish I'm wrong - I want a upgraded 28/2.8A, with stop-down crispness on par with 50AA.

[flyalf]

i have 28 Lux, so i am ok with that lens. The 28 elmarit is sharpest lens i have ever used. if the metal hood will match the current version it would be great. thats it:)

A great lens. Some small "Italien flag" problems on M9. Only seen on winterscapes. Havent tried on M240.

[NB23]

 

Bought my Summicron 35mm f2 ASPH new in October, 'great' to see a chunk of money soon to be knocked off it's value.[/quote

 

Don't worry. The Leica community will work hard to elevate the now old cron to cult status. It was a very sterile clinical lens but it will now become a very atmospheric lens.

"Legendary finger print", "amazing footprint", "awe inspiring drawing" are the terms that will soon describe the now-old crons.

 

All will be well.

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[Belle123]

I see zero reason to buy these new lenses if you already have their older versions.  Not crying about devaluation.  They already devaluate as soon as used anyway. whaaaaaa whaaaaaaaa.   I still use my over 20 year old 35 Summicron Normal and would never sell it.  Have the now 'old' version 35 Summicron Asph bought last year new and it's a keeper too.  If I had to give up either, would be the ASPH.