Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hello there,

 

i might have a bit of an obvious question for all the die-hard Leica fans out there (which would make the answering quite easy and simple), but i'm curious about the difference between Leica and Leitz lenses.

 

You can see see some difference by looking at the pictures online (made in canada, different shapes), but what are the differences in quality of the lens, the value and the quality of the images, if there are any?

 

I searched the internet and this forum for previous articles about this sort of question, but couldn't find any...

 

Thanks for responding,

 

Hans!

Link to post
Share on other sites

No differences due to the name, if the same lens is branded Leitz or Leica.

 

They just changed their branding - Leica is made up of 'Leitz Camera'.

 

Obviously the earlier lenses (Leitz) may differ from later designs which will be branded Leica. The names such as Elmar, Elmarit, Summilux, Summicron, Summarit etc refer to lens design, specifically the maximum aperture.

Link to post
Share on other sites

The changing from Leitz to Leica brand was related only to the changes in the shareolders' structure of the Company, that dates to the '80s, when Leitz family sold the control stakes to the first of a series of new investors (for the record, the first buyers were the Schmiedheiny family, a rather reclusive swiss financial powerhouse whose main asset is the cement company Holcim, one of the 2 or 3 biggest worldwide). The changover didn't reflect at all to the products .... the typical example is the Leica M6: first production batches had the name "Leitz", then it was simply changed to "Leica", and the same, in due course, happened to lenses, enlargers, binoculars and so.

 

The history of the changovers of the Company after the Leitz family give-up is interesting in itself, and can be found easily in books and articles: for what is concerning the "photo and binoculars" sector, the main event was in the first years of '90s, when the divisions in the microscope sector and in geo surveying systems were completely separated from the camera company, retaining the Leica name (and both still existing today)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...