APO SL rumours?

[LBJ2]

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13 hours ago, Sohail said:

Rumours aside, they had a roadmap some years back, which they abandoned. 

I think that initial SL road map was completed for all but the SL APO 24? 

[Sohail]

9 minutes ago, LBJ2 said:

I think that initial SL road map was completed for all but the SL APO 24? 

That roadmap came out I think in 2019. The 21 APO was released only a few months back. 4 years on, it would be reasonable to expect some kind of update. Personally, I'd love to see a 14/16mm APO. An 85mm Summilux would be great too.

[Olaf_ZG]

A 85 summilux… that would be something 

[LocalHero1953]

If the S4 is a genuine prospect for next year, Leica is unlikely to launch it without at least some new mirrorless S lenses. Which leads to the possibilities

1. that Leica's lens development team is working flat out on S lenses and has no capacity for new SL lenses and
2. that those new S lenses will also be usable on the SL, filling in some gaps at the the longer end (perhaps a bit larger than we might like) or, alternatively
3. that those new designs and some of the lens components, with a bit shaved off the diameter, could be adapted to new SL lenses (smaller than the S equivalents).

Quite a lot of 'ifs' and 'perhapses', but I guess I'm a glass half-full sort of person. And I'm not desperate for a new lens anyway. Or a S4.

[LBJ2]

37 minutes ago, Sohail said:

That roadmap came out I think in 2019. The 21 APO was released only a few months back. 4 years on, it would be reasonable to expect some kind of update. Personally, I'd love to see a 14/16mm APO. An 85mm Summilux would be great too.

I'm expecting the new and compact Panasonic 100/2.8 macro will have a red dot on it soon. I also think we may see more SL ASPH lenses before any new SL APO lenses, unless Leica can figure out a way to maintain the standard SL APO barrel/filter size for a SL APO 135/2. But not so sure about that one. 

[robb]

14 minutes ago, LBJ2 said:

I'm expecting the new and compact Panasonic 100/2.8 macro will have a red dot on it soon. I also think we may see more SL ASPH lenses before any new SL APO lenses, unless Leica can figure out a way to maintain the standard SL APO barrel/filter size for a SL APO 135/2. But not so sure about that one. 

I would guess an SL 135 f2 apo would use the same barrels and parts from the 50 1.4 or 24-90 (82mm) size but hopefully still use the newer focusing motor tech from the smaller newer summicrons…

Robb

[LBJ2]

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1 minute ago, robb said:

I would guess an SL 135 f2 apo would use the same barrels and parts from the 50 1.4 or 24-90 (82mm) size but hopefully still use the newer focusing motor tech from the smaller newer summicrons…

Robb

Personally, I wouldn't mind if the 135/2 APO doesn't match the other APO Prime's form factor if that's what it takes to roll out SL 135/2 APO. I have a much larger high-end Sony system and the Emount lens barrel, filter and form factor is all over the place so I am used to accommodating ...to get the shot ha ha. 

[Dr. G]

The 24 APO is still on my list.  I don't love the 28 or 35 focal lengths, and I'm still not sure about a 21.  I'd gladly sell my 35 APO for a 24 and cary a 24/50/75 APO bag.  

Edited February 25, 2024 by Dr. G

[LBJ2]

8 minutes ago, Dr. G said:

The 24 APO is still on my list.  I don't love the 28 or 35 focal lengths, and I'm still not sure about a 21.  I'd gladly sell my 35 APO for a 24 and cary a 24/50/75 APO bag.  

The 21 is an outlier IMO. But to be willing to sell your 35/2 APO...Blasphemy 😜

[Planetwide]

Personally, I am not a fan of the 28mm focal length either. I much prefer 24mm, so If Leica released the 24 APO, I would probably buy one. 

I agree with Simone_DF with regards to rebadges. The only exception might be the 14-24mm, because it is very good. But, I have always felt that the Leica SL system was the high ground for the SL mount, equivalent to Canon L or Nikon's S series. To me, rebadging gets away from this. Since Leica only has limited development resources, committing them to these rebadged lenses defeats the purpose of owning a Leica body. I can shoot Panasonic, and Sigma and save a bunch, or Canon, Nikon etc... On my S1r, quite a few lenses performed better than on my SL2. Panasonic lenses were certainly better. I also feel that the SL Mount system needs better integration between manufacturers, it needs to function as one system, not three loosely associated brands. The development of multiple lenses at the same focal length is kind of redundant.

Caveat: I do understand the benefit of the SL system, is that, you can use M lenses. But that is again, a stop gap, witness the difference between the the SEM21mm vs the SL APO 21mm...

Leica is now in a chicken and egg scenario - which came first. The lack of lens development over the last four years has slowed SL sales (I assume), and slowing sales contributed to a lack of development (I hope that I am wrong on this BTW). Releasing the 21mm was a good step forward, but we do need to see more in-house lens development, and much better communication about it. Its kind of a hard sell, when a system as incomplete as the current Leica SL line. Where are the SL 35mm & 75mm Summilux's, Tilt Shift, or F/2.8 zooms?

Lenses do need to made lighter, and that is very possible. Four years is a long time, and the optical advantage that Leica had four years ago is slowly disappearing. The combination of lens development plus in camera computational corrections is moving forward at a pretty good pace.

[Dr. G]

45 minutes ago, LBJ2 said:

The 21 is an outlier IMO. But to be willing to sell your 35/2 APO...Blasphemy 😜

I almost never use it, but haven't been able to bring myself to sell "the best lens Leica has ever made."  🤦‍♂️

Edited February 25, 2024 by Dr. G

[Simone_DF]

1 hour ago, Dr. G said:

The 24 APO is still on my list.  I don't love the 28 or 35 focal lengths, and I'm still not sure about a 21.  I'd gladly sell my 35 APO for a 24 and cary a 24/50/75 APO bag.  

Just curios here, but if you don’t like the 35mm focal length and prefer a 24, why don’t you get a Sigma 24mm?

[Simone_DF]

2 hours ago, LBJ2 said:

I'm expecting the new and compact Panasonic 100/2.8 macro will have a red dot on it soon. I also think we may see more SL ASPH lenses before any new SL APO lenses, unless Leica can figure out a way to maintain the standard SL APO barrel/filter size for a SL APO 135/2. But not so sure about that one. 

Maybe a 135 f/2.8?

[BernardC]

4 hours ago, LBJ2 said:

I'm afraid the Leica Super-Vario-Elmarit-SL 14-24mm f/2.8 ASPH Lens is the SL 24 offering. ☹️ Not that the 14-24 is in any way a bad lens, but it's not an SL 24 APO And yes I've had the opportunity to communicate my desire for the SL 24 APO a few times.

We have four Leica zoom options that cover 24mm, plus a few from Sigma and Panasonic . And three primes from Sigma and Pana, which are as good as anything offered in other mounts. 

24/25 is my favourite length in 24x36, so I sympathize with your desire to have Leica offer the best ever lens of this kind, but it isn't a show-stopper. The grass isn't any greener in any other walled garden. 

[Dr. G]

1 hour ago, Simone_DF said:

Just curios here, but if you don’t like the 35mm focal length and prefer a 24, why don’t you get a Sigma 24mm?

I've thought about it.  I'm just spoiled by the image quality I get from my APO Summicron-SL lenses.  

[Sohail]

16 hours ago, Dr. G said:

I've thought about it.  I'm just spoiled by the image quality I get from my APO Summicron-SL lenses.  

My feelings too. Once you're accustomed to the APOs, other lenses look and feel sub-standard. Which is why it would be a shame if there's no plan for more comparable lenses down the line. Just to be clear, overall, I'm very pleased with the range of APO lenses on offer, but it would be great if they could replicate the 50 Summilux SL in say an 85mm lens, and add an ultra-wide.

Edited February 26, 2024 by Sohail

[davidmknoble]

On 2/25/2024 at 10:50 AM, Simone_DF said:

I prefer originals to copies at 4x the price. 
The M is not a replacement, it’s a totally different machine. I’m leaning more toward the S5II these days. I’m just waiting for the right offer. 
 

Sorry, I must have misunderstood your post, I am speaking o SL lenses and the non APO SL primes (35 and 50) are lighter and smaller and less expensive.  I am not referring to the M lenses.

[davidmknoble]

On 2/25/2024 at 10:36 AM, Simone_DF said:

???

Can you point out which one of the rebadges has additional Leica weather sealing?

I am referring to the only rebadged lenses I am aware of, which are the SL and S system (ignoring the R system which is no longer sold new).  The Schneider T/S lens for the S system is not weather sealed, but one would not expect a tilt shift lens of that type to be weather sealed.

However, all of the Leica SL lenses - the 100-400, the 14-24 and others are weather sealed to the same standards as the first SL lenses - the 24-90 and 90-280 for example.

That is one of the benefits of the Leica SL lenses over the Sigma's of the same focal lengths.

[dimpfelmoser]

I first owned the 35, 50 & 90 APO SL lenses and the Sigma 24 1.4 DG DN for the SL2-S. No doubt the APOs deliver. But I was immediately suprised how sharp the Sigma at 1.4 and even more at F2 was and how beautiful it rendered. So I bought the 35 and the 50 1.4s as well. Then I compared them at F2 with the APOs. I wasn't able to tell them apart to my suprise. Actually If anything the 50's bokeh seemed a little smoother than the APO's both at F2. Also the focus Speed seemed slightly quicker on the Sigmas. That plus the advantage of being able to use F1.4 let me to sell my APOs and stick to the Sigma lenses (and save a lot cashwise ).

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[Olaf_ZG]

This thread is about the APO’s. So, actually, having sold the 35apo, I don’t care. Let’s talk the future of the summilux…