No new TL lenses annouced at Photokina

[Keith_W]

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 You seem to be ignoring the recent formation of the L-Mount Alliance which should lead to a greater diversity of lenses in the future though not all manufactured by Leica.

 

Not really. Those are full frame lenses. Yes they can be mounted on a TL2 / CL but why would I want to do that? They are massive! 

[ayewing]

I agree that Panasonic will make FF lenses for their new FF mirror-less cameras. Sigma make APS-C lenses as well as FF so they might well make smaller ones than FF.

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[ramarren]

Ramarren, and any others with interest:

Regarding doing a continuing search for TL lenses (in my case, the 11-23mm in particular): I just got off the phone with a very reputable authorized dealer, who of course does not have stock. In my behalf, he called his Leica contact (who he says is very high up) for an update and was told that no 11-23mm has come into the US since December.

 

So that's 10 months. And the rep had no idea when there will be any (no reason given, but the dealer speculates production problem of some kind). Whatever the reason, I think it's inexcusable that Leica is marketing a line of cameras that can't be had with anything but one of the two kit lenses. That just isn't a way to build loyalty, and it can't be good for profitability. I don't know who actually builds the TL lenses for them (I suspect Panasonic because of design similarity to some of the Pana-Leica MFT lenses), but whoever it is they are not doing Leica any favors.

 

I think I've done a pretty thorough search coast-to-coast of Leica dealers, so if I've missed a dealer that has an 11-23, I would appreciate hearing about it so I can contact them and buy it.

 

 

One shop I do business with in the USA lists the T11-23 as available on their website. Since I'm interested in one of these lenses too, I've sent an email to find out if the lens is actually in stock and how many they have in their inventory. 

[dkCambridgeshire]

Any new TL lenses will likely require at least 2 years development time to produce a working prototype … and then require more time to arrange production. So unless the 'wished for' TL lens 'exotica' has already been in the pipeline for months it's unlikely that it will be available 'in the not too distant future' … even with Sigma's help.  And it's unlikely that Sigma can simply 'bung' an 'L mount' and 'AF motor' on/in their existing APS-C mirrorless lens designs … there's more to it … especially with modern telecentric wide and ultra-wide angle lenses.  Furthermore, there are not that many Sigma APS-C mirrorless lenses currently in production which might adapt to L mount … and of those currently available, some are 'budget' price' models which might not 'appeal' to Leica enthusiasts seeking optics of higher quality. 

 

dunk 

Edited October 8, 2018 by dkCambridgeshire

[ayewing]

dunk,

I am sure that you are right. As a fairly early adopter of the CL I managed to acquire the three zooms with some difficulty as well as the TL 23mm Summicron and I have a variety of M lenses that I can use with the Leica M-Adapter-L so I am not really looking to buy any more TL lenses at present. More recent buyers of the CL are in rather a difficult position so I hope that Leica's Japanese supplier of TL lenses will press on with making some more batches of TL lenses now that there is a clear demand.

Edited October 8, 2018 by ayewing

[ramarren]

Given that I'm using R and M lenses designed up to sixty years ago on my CL and getting absolutely stunning image quality out of it, the notion that a good performing modern lens is so freekin' difficult to design that it will take two to three years to do it is just absurd to me. 

[jaapv]

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Well, the Apo-Summicron M 50 took eight years to develop...

[dkCambridgeshire]

Given that I'm using R and M lenses designed up to sixty years ago on my CL and getting absolutely stunning image quality out of it, the notion that a good performing modern lens is so freekin' difficult to design that it will take two to three years to do it is just absurd to me. 

 

 

There's a world of difference between the design of a manual focus lens with relatively simple electronics (or no electronics at all) , and that of a modern AF mirrorless telecentric design with its more complex electronics . And there's also the production methodology to consider. It is not so 'freekin'' easy. 

 

dunk 

[jaapv]

For instance . aspheric and floating elements. No such things in old lenses (except one or two exotic ones, like for instance the Noctilux 1.2)

[ramarren]

All granted ... but it's still not two to three years work to produce a lens design. Not at all. Testing and production ramp might take a lot more time than for simpler mechanical lenses; modern computer driven design and manufacturing systems cut that time down enormously.