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Jonathan Slack: Leica APO M lenses


jonoslack

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I like the article.

In the meantime I’ve sold my 75 APO, not because it is an APO; I simply could never become friends with 75mm.

I own the 135 as well. In my view it is a brilliant lens if you understand it.

I am still considering to trade in my Lux 50 for a 2nd APO 50.

 

Question

the glass of the first APO’s in the eighties was more than regular lenses vulnerable for moisture. Is that still the case?

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2 hours ago, Shu_downunder said:

Can I criticize that this article is too shot and sample images are too less?🤪

 

Can I ask a question - Does APO mean anything to a monochrome body?

Of course. The APO performs brilliantly on the monochrom if you are looking for resolution.

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Very interesting @jonoslack, thank you. It has stirred up some very old memories. For a while I used the 90mm AA for live music in dingy pubs and had a vague but unspecific feeling that it was not so good at greater distances, but never got around to quantifying it. Your article has brought a lot of clarity, I shall have another look at it.

John

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Great reading Jonathan!
 

I feel the urge sitting here with my rather new 50 Lux asph bc, to ask if you think your descriptions/profiles overall also count for this lens? I ask since I do believe that Mr Karbe once suggested that this Lux is also designed according to ¨apo principles¨… Or is there even more to the lenses that actually carry APO in their names?

Edited by Stein K S
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Thanks for this article Jono, I had been thinking about just this issue as of late.

I have all these lenses except for the 90 APO-Summicron simply because it’s a rarely used focal length for me. So the 90 Macro-Elmar-M is an adequate compromise (actually an excellent lens) for when I need a 90. For years  I’ve successfully resisted my OCD GAS to buy the 90 simply for the sake of ownership and what would be very rare use.

I recently acquired the 35 APO-Summicron so went back and compared all the lenses for consistency of imaging.  I completely agree with you. Regarding focusing the 135 APO-Telyt (mine has been off to service previously to confirm calibration when I had it 6-bit coded), it does require more disciplined technique to get reliable focus accuracy and avoid blurring due to camera-shake, especially without an EVF. I tend to avoid going faster that f4.0 simply to give me a whiff more room for focus error and find this makes a big difference. 
 
Interestingly, I threw in the 24 Elmar-M & 21 SEM and found they also imaged sympathetically.

Regarding the ‘character’ of the newer vs older lenses, I too have a large number of the older Mandler lenses. They may not have the same optical ‘perfection’ of the current range (APO and non-APO), but the final photographs are neither ‘better’ or ‘worse’, just different and used accordingly to serve the purpose of getting the final image I want. 
 

ps.  I’d love to see a 28 APO-Summicron in production.

Edited by MarkP
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When I got out of the M system a couple of years ago, I felt a real wrench selling my Apo-Summicron-M 75 and a bit of one selling the 90 - I knew how much they had served me as I learned portrait photography. And the 75 was also an excellent walk-around lens for travel - I usually paired it with the Elmarit 28mm Asph.

I now have the 75 & 90 counterparts for the SL system (and the 35), and I still sense astonishment at the clarity and contrast when looking through the EVF - it's the same with the 90-280 zoom. Your explanations about why I get that feeling, Jono, make complete sense - thank you!

I miss equivalents for the CL for travel (no 50TL), though perhaps that is as much because of the smaller sensor than because the lenses are lesser quality. My most common practice is either the Summilux-TL 35 Asph on its own or the combination of Apo-Macro-Elmarit-TL 60 and SVE-TL 11-23 Asph - I certainly have nothing to complain about there.

 

Edit. I did find the Summicron-M 90 was imperfectly calibrated and sent it off to be fixed, which it was - I never explored whether it was related to focus distance. It's the only M lens I ever sent for calibration.

Edited by LocalHero1953
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Thanks for the clear explanation of apo and how Leica designs it’s apo lenses to incorporate oof contrast fall off. It clears up many of the comments I’ve seen on this site. Perhaps in the future I’ll try one of these lenses.

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On 10/8/2021 at 1:55 PM, Shu_downunder said:

Can I criticize that this article is too shot and sample images are too less?🤪

 

Can I ask a question - Does APO mean anything to a monochrome body?

Hah - I'll take that as a compliment, and yes, it does mean something on a monochrome body (just the same thing)

all the best

Jono

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On 10/8/2021 at 2:06 PM, jplomley said:

Fantastic article Jono! Any predictions regarding a 28 mm APO M lens? Or is APO correction at wider focal lengths more of a challenge for the M lens size? 

Thank you so much - definitely a labour of love!

It was 8 years between the 50 and the 35 APO . . . I guess we might have to wait a similar amount of time for the 28 (but I think the principles are the same - look at the 28 APO SL). 

All the best

Jono

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On 10/8/2021 at 4:34 PM, Gobert said:

I like the article.

In the meantime I’ve sold my 75 APO, not because it is an APO; I simply could never become friends with 75mm.

I own the 135 as well. In my view it is a brilliant lens if you understand it.

I am still considering to trade in my Lux 50 for a 2nd APO 50.

 

Question

the glass of the first APO’s in the eighties was more than regular lenses vulnerable for moisture. Is that still the case?

I didn't know about moisture problems with APO lenses, so I guess it isn't still the case.

I have both the 50 Lux and the 50 APO, and use them both

best

Jono

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6 hours ago, Stein K S said:

Great reading Jonathan!
 

I feel the urge sitting here with my rather new 50 Lux asph bc, to ask if you think your descriptions/profiles overall also count for this lens? I ask since I do believe that Mr Karbe once suggested that this Lux is also designed according to ¨apo principles¨… Or is there even more to the lenses that actually carry APO in their names?

Hah!

Well, the reason I left it out was that Leica don't call it APO, but of course I'm very well aware of Peter Karbe's comments, and as the 50 'lux is definitely the little sister of the 75 APO, I would think it's part of the team. But I do think there is a thing about making a lens f2 and being able to make it either a)smaller or b) better.

Whatever, the 50 'lux is a lovely lens, I have one and use it often.

best

 

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