New to the T-system - lenses

[Ivar B]

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I just bought a Leica-T as a supplement to the SL. The SL is superb but can hardly be described as compact, and my idea was that the T could be a compact alternative at times. There has been a campaign regarding the T in Norway and the dealers would almost give you a  lens (23, 11-23 or 18-56) and the Visoflex viewfinder for free if you bought the T (about €1 500 for the set). I have just tried it out a bit With the 23mm and results are truly outstanding. It may have been discussed before in the forum, but does anyone know who makes the lenses for the T-system? I believe that Leica has firmly stated that they are not made by Panasonic, but then who?

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[Jkulin]

HI Ivar,

 

I am new to the T as well having owned one for just over 3 months and love it.

 

As far as I am aware the lenses are made by Leica with the glass provided by Zeiss, but I am open to being proved wrong.

 

I was in a dilemma like you and as the lenses are not cheap I needed to get the correct ones, I settled on a standard 18/56 F3.5 that I am very pleased with it and have just bought an 11/23 F3.5 second-hand off here, apart from needing a fast lens and a Macro (which I have in my Nikon collection then this should cover everything I need for now, I may buy a faster prime lens later on if I can justify the need, I might need it for my Astronomy Photography but otherwise I can't see the point if I leave the camera on Auto ISO and just change when I need a specific ISO. I have bought from fleabay a Nikon to Leica Lens adaptor which I could then use some of my Nikon Lenses

 

I fairly quickly discovered that I needed the Visoflex Viewfinder and I also needed a better flash with a higher guide number if I wanted to get creative and that's about it.

 

I carry the whole lot around in a Manfrotto messenger bag that sits in my office with me and is always ready and charged to accompany me.

 

Oh BTW it is worthwhile getting a spare battery as mine went without any warning whilst at a photography weekend and I am glad that I had a spare.

 

Hope that helps?

[earleygallery]

HI Ivar,

 

I am new to the T as well having owned one for just over 3 months and love it.

 

As far as I am aware the lenses are made by Leica with the glass provided by Zeiss, but I am open to being proved wrong.

 

 

Leica are tight lipped over who makes the lenses but it's not them. They're made by a third party in Asia.

 

My guess is either Kyocera or possibly Fuji, both of whom Leica have collaborated with previously (and Leica now use the Fuji instax for their Sofort).

[Belle123]

I just bought a Leica-T as a supplement to the SL. The SL is superb but can hardly be described as compact, and my idea was that the T could be a compact alternative at times. There has been a campaign regarding the T in Norway and the dealers would almost give you a  lens (23, 11-23 or 18-56) and the Visoflex viewfinder for free if you bought the T (about €1 500 for the set). I have just tried it out a bit With the 23mm and results are truly outstanding. It may have been discussed before in the forum, but does anyone know who makes the lenses for the T-system? I believe that Leica has firmly stated that they are not made by Panasonic, but then who?

What lenses are you using on the SL? If you have any M lenses, those will work great on the T.

[Ivar B]

What lenses are you using on the SL? If you have any M lenses, those will work great on the T.

 

For the SL I have bought the zooms (24-90 and the 90-280) and I have also kept a couple of M lenses (0.95/50, 1.4/35 and 4/90 Macro). I hope to be able to take up som bird photography again (I was active some years back) and 280mm may be a little on the short side, but the T should be very usable and an effective focal length of about 420 mm.

[Ivar B]

Leica are tight lipped over who makes the lenses but it's not them. They're made by a third party in Asia.

 

My guess is either Kyocera or possibly Fuji, both of whom Leica have collaborated with previously (and Leica now use the Fuji instax for their Sofort).

 

That would be my guess as well. I also heard that Marumi in Japan makes the filters for Leica, but it is hard to verify.

[Einst_Stein]

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SL with the two SL zooms indeed look awfully big to me. 

But SL with M prime lens is only slightly bigger than M-240 system. 

For my eye-sight and the drifted M range finder, I can live with SL body + M primes.

Portability wise, it is not that much from a pure M system, except I still miss the feeling of true optical finder.

I find T + zooms is a perfect complement to a M+primes or SL + Primes.

 

 

 

[Guest VVJ]

Leica are tight lipped over who makes the lenses but it's not them. They're made by a third party in Asia.

 

My guess is either Kyocera or possibly Fuji, both of whom Leica have collaborated with previously (and Leica now use the Fuji instax for their Sofort).

 

Does that also apply to the 35mm and the 60mm.  I thought those were made in Germany...?

[edliu97]

I thought Leica T lenses are made by Japan Konica Minolta

http://egami.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2013-12-27

http://egami.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2015-04-15

http://egami.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2015-03-13

[Ivar B]

I thought Leica T lenses are made by Japan Konica Minolta

http://egami.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2013-12-27

http://egami.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2015-04-15

http://egami.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2015-03-13

 

Very interesting - the specification of these lenses appear similar to Leica (2/23, 3.5-4.5/11-23) but the Leica 18-56 is 3.5-5.6, while it seems that the Konica Minolta lens is 3.5-4.5. Also, the 2/23 seems to be an 8-element lens, while Leica is a 9 element lens as far as I recall. That being said, I would not be surprised if there is a relationship here.