50mm Summilux has some real competitors

[FlashGordonPhotography]

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It seems that what Leica *need* to do to make the SL a *professional* system really comes down to what lens you want them to make next. If you're a zoom shooter you'll bemoan the lack of a wide AF zoom. If you've just put a deposit on that African safari then the system isn't complete without a 600mm and a teleconverter. So it's obvious that regardless of whether Leica make large Otus quality lenses or smaller Summicron lenses that half of us will be sure Leica made the wrong decision. It seems Leica is going down the larger but optically excellent route and if you want the smaller stuff you'll need to be patient or find something else to shoot for a while.

 

Sony did the opposite. And of course they were widely panned for it. Apart from the stunning 55mm 1.8 every lens was too slow and was rubbish. Neither of those claims is true. It's just a reflection of the disappointment of the buyers that Sony didn't make the particular lens they want. Now they're making optically stunning faster glass, the lenses are too big and too expensive. Leica will probably get the same, just in reverse order.

 

Personally, an Otus quality AF 50mm is exactly the lens I'd have asked for next. If the following lens is an 85-90mm Summilux I might wet myself in the excitement of the whole thing. Again, personally, if I wanted a small system I'll use the XPro2. So the whole Summicron thing on the SL system doesn't do it for me at all but I most certainly hope that a range of f2 lenses comes sooner than later. It'll make for a healthier system an wider adoption which means more development of the lenses I want as well.

 

The SL system is less than a year old. And while I'd like there to be a full range of lenses available now I'll just have to get by if I want to play here. Mind you the Novoflex adaptor helped a lot in that department. Although no IS and not ideal you can get a 600mm AF lens for the SL today.

 

Gordon

[FlashGordonPhotography]

 

 

I think that AF speed (motor electronics) should be of lesser importance than general lens size. The way we use the camera today (up to 11 frames per second, but only one or two focusing actions per second at the maximum) should indicate that the AF does not need to be at the same level for all lenses (not all lenses have to be of the same AF speed as the 90-280).

 

 

 

 

I'm the complete opposite. If I have AF I want it to be fast, accurate and work well when the lights get turned down. If I can manually focus a lens faster then why have AF. If there's AF it needs to provide me, as a working photographer, with an advantage. When I'm shooting a wedding I can't have AF that takes its time. With MF I can pre focus and zone focus. With a rangefinder I can see a clear image regardless of focus position. AF doesn't have these so it needs to respond decisively and promptly so I can see the subject and get the shot.

 

A tiny lens that misses shots in a working environment is useless.

 

Gordon

[Joshua Lowe]

The 50 1.4 already has a high bar set in the form of its 24-90 brother.  I was pretty impressed by the quality of the 24-90 at 50mm when directly comparing it with the APO 50.  There was very little between them.  

[Guest VVJ]

It seems Leica is going down the larger but optically excellent route and if you want the smaller stuff you'll need to be patient or find something else to shoot for a while.

 

Isn't that the same route they went down with the S system...?  I am not sure how commercially successful that route was...

[Guest VVJ]

The 50 1.4 already has a high bar set in the form of its 24-90 brother.  I was pretty impressed by the quality of the 24-90 at 50mm when directly comparing it with the APO 50.  There was very little between them.  

 

 

I agree and because the zoom is so optically excellent I would probably rather be interested in a lighter weight 28mm 2.8  (kind of Elmarit-M) lens than in very fast primes.

[HeinzX]

The zoom is excellent and fast enoug for most purposes.If a faster lens is required, there are alternatives - even with an autofocus. OK, shame on me  - they are not lenses of Leica. The Novoflex adapter works very well with lenses in the range of focal length we are speaking of. And there are some excellent fast lenses for Canons at modest prices - even together with the adapter. I.e. from Sigma (Art line). An interesting lens would be the Canon 50 / 1.2 too. Not extremly sharp for general use, but with a fabolous bokeh - similiar to that of the Noctilux 1:1.