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Requests to Leica for new M lenses


jplomley

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In case they are monitoring these forums (which I suspect they are), lets throw out our requests for new M glass.

 

I'll get it started:

 

15/2.8 or SEM

updated 28-35-50 MATE

90/2 APO with improved close focussing performance

 

Did I miss anything :-)

 

 

 

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Even if they do ... they probably would want more detailed information than "update X". What exactly is wrong with MATE ?

 

And I remember an interview with a Leica employee some years back in which he specifically stated that there will be no Leica optics below 16mm (which you can get to with WATE).

 

Considering you can go up to (or, well, down to) 10mm with Voigtländer, at excellent image quality and build quality and low pricing, thats IMHO not really much of an issue.

 

Leica probably thinks thats a too small market for them and they rather leave that one to Cosina (Voigtländer).

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I doubt that Leica monitors the forum. Can you imagine how much time an employee would waste ploughing through all this in two languages?

Oh yes, they do. It would not be very wise to disregard a free source of insight into the thought processes of (part of) their customer base.

There are one or two Leica employees who are active members here too. And when a thread gets very important to them, they will be tipped by members with contacts inside Leica.

Whether this type of thread influences their product planning is open to some doubt, however.

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Even if they do ... they probably would want more detailed information than "update X". What exactly is wrong with MATE ?

 

And I remember an interview with a Leica employee some years back in which he specifically stated that there will be no Leica optics below 16mm (which you can get to with WATE).

 

Considering you can go up to (or, well, down to) 10mm with Voigtländer, at excellent image quality and build quality and low pricing, thats IMHO not really much of an issue.

 

Leica probably thinks thats a too small market for them and they rather leave that one to Cosina (Voigtländer).

I don't recall that interview, but surely such a statement is subject to  technical /marketing changes of view over time?

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2.0/28-50 Bi-Summicron-M ASPH

Even better, imho, the rumored (prototyped ?) 28-75...

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

.. but rumors haven't resurged, apparently…

Edited by luigi bertolotti
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+1

I would even mind if it was f2.8 or 4....as long as it was smaller / less ‘fragile’ than the MATE

 

And more importantly without the bad flare at 50mm (even in the 49mm version) and the barrel distortion.

 

f2.8 would be a reasonable compromise. 

Edited by MarkP
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What exactly is wrong with Tri-Elmar-M 28-35-50 mm Asph?

It's discontinued.

 

 

 

And I remember an interview with a Leica employee some years back in which he specifically stated that there will be no Leica optics below 16mm (which you can get to with Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21 mm Asph).

... surely such a statement is subject to technical/marketing changes of view over time?

 

I think it has to do with the way the automatic 6-bit-coded lens recognition system (which actually is 8 bit) is designed. There's only room for three focal lengths below 28 mm (the shortest which has its own framelines in the viewfinder): 24 mm, 21 mm, and 18 mm. Each of them is associated with one of the three frameline pairs: 24 mm with 35/135, 21 mm with 28/90, and 18 mm with 50/75. The Tri-Elmar is an exception; it works because the 16 mm comes along with two more focal lengths which don't include 24 mm. But I guess we will never see a prime 16 mm M lens, or anything shorter than that.

 

In theory, there might be three wide-angle Tri-Elmars: 18-21-24 mm, 16-18-21 mm (which we currently have), and 14-16-18 mm. But I doubt that any of these (besides the existing one) will ever materialise.

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The only new lens that could even remotely interest me right now is whatever comes next in the "classic range".

 

The Summaron is just fantastic (that is really what I think, oh and by the way which one's Pink?) and is always on either my M9 or MP.

And although the Thambar may not be for everyone and I've got the old screw mount one rather than the re-release model and it too is a very good lens even without the special Thambar effect, it's a pretty decent standard 90mm lens.

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The only new lens that could even remotely interest me right now is whatever comes next in the "classic range".

 

 

The legacy lenses that render soft wide-open and sharp at 5.6-8 are some of my favorites.  Certain older lenses either didn't have the build quality or are worn, others had soff glass that scratched easily, a re-release of the old Summarit 50mm f1.5 also called the Xenon, a lens that can't resolve much at f1.5 and would flare taking pictures of a black hole, yet at 5.6 it could render decently in the center.

 

Second would be a 50-75-90 MATE style, small, f4-5.6 and sharp.  This should be possible, Nikon had a similar lens in the 60's with the 43-86mm.  

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My perfect wide-angle Tri-Elmar would be 21-24-28 ...

Won't happen because 21 mm's associated frameline pair would interfere with 28 mm.

 

unless they implement a MATE type switching.

 

That would be pointless and wouldn't help in any way.

 

 

Second would be a 50-75-90 MATE style, small, f/4-5.6, and sharp. This should be possible ...

No, it's not possible because 50 mm and 75 mm mm frameline settings can't be distinguished from each other. A 35-50-90 mm, however, would be possible—and useful (yet unlikely).

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