Leica Lens Compendium by Erwin Puts

[Tragg]

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There are two editions of the 'Leica Lens Compendium' by Erwin Puts, one I believe from 2001 and one from 2011. There is also the book 'Leica Lens Saga' from 2016 by the same author. If anyone here is familiar - or better still owns - these books, I would like to know whether they are substantially different or cover much the same ground. Comments please.

 

 

 

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[01af]

I don't know the 2001 Lens Compendium. The 2011 Lens Compendium is exactly that—a compendium of all Leica M and R lenses including lens cross-section diagrams, MTF curves, production data, tech specs, etc. It also includes overviews about Leitz history, Leica M and R cameras, and lens aberrations in general. Very recommended.

 

The 2016 Lens Saga is an extremely detailed technical rundown of the development of the 50 mm lens, from the Anastigmat 5 cm 1:3.5 to the Apo-Summicron-M 50 mm 1:2 Asph, as seen from the lens designer's point of view (as opposed to the user's). For nerds only.

[jaapv]

In fact, the 2001 Lens Compendium is a more limited edition of the new one, which is clearly based on it. Personally I find the old one less intimidating but still very recommendable.

[pedaes]

The 2011 "Leica Compendium" covers Leitz/Leica history, manufacturing, both cameras and lenses in detail and is excellent. The Lens Saga is very technical, as said by 01af. 

[wda]

The 2011 version includes newer lenses introduced in the digital age.

[Overgaard]

I personally find that when I need to know about a particular lens (often when I want to find out which model to buy, I need to find all the details I can. Erwin's articles, books and lists are helpful, so I have the books, the PDF's and all handy for whenever I want to do research. 

 

 

 

There are two editions of the 'Leica Lens Compendium' by Erwin Puts, one I believe from 2001 and one from 2011. There is also the book 'Leica Lens Saga' from 2016 by the same author. If anyone here is familiar - or better still owns - these books, I would like to know whether they are substantially different or cover much the same ground. Comments please.

[Jeff S]

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There's also The Leica Chronicle, which includes short narratives on the evolution of Leica cameras and lenses.

 

Jeff

[farnz]

I am fortunate to own all three; in actual fact there is the Leica Lens Compendium 2001, the Leica Compendium 2011, and the Leica Lens Saga 2015.  (Note that there is no Leica Lens Compendium II so far.)

 

The Leica Compendium is naturally a much larger book (600 pages) than the Leica Lens Compendium (240 pages) and covers Leica's history, Leica cameras, and optical aberrations and engineering in greater depth, as well as screw mount, M (rangefinder), Reflex, and Viso lenses.  The Leica Compendium also includes information and reviews of Leica lenses released between 2001 and 2011 and for each and all lenses includes photographs of the lens, lens computation diagrams showing the elements and ray-tracing, Modular Transfer Function charts, and expanded descriptions and notes on each one.

 

The Leica Lens Saga is different as detailed by 01af earlier.

 

Pete.