What's so great about Leica lens?

[Reim1o]

Go to Stevehuffphotography.com and check the leica lens reviews there.
Not all Leica has the 'magic'. Some Voigtlander lenses are better in sharpness than the Leica counterpart. But usually almost always Leica has better bokeh rendering.

 

[ed9119]

IF I have to ask a question like this.......it means.......I cannot afford it.

 

[9V-Orion Images]

Leica lenses had been "touched" by "masters" during manufacturing whereas mass produced lenses are only handled by robotic arms and low skilled workers.

 

[aspenx]

Leica lenses are virtually distortion-free. Great to have for people who don't know how to fix distortion in pp... or are bothered with complex distortion that can't be resolved completely.

 

[chua beng]

My take is that if I need to ask, that means I can't tell the diff straight out from the sample photos available on the web. In other words they make no diff to me.

Yes, on screen, at 72dpi, you can't really tell the differences especially if it has been resized. But we don't just shoot for posting 500pixels on web, right? Part of the enjoyment in photography goes into appreciating prints, or high resolution images on screen.

 

[ManWearPants]

Beautiful lenses. All technicalities aside. Hold one in your hand. You will feel the urge to own them. It is just like holding a petite, nubile young girl's hands. The warmth and the kind of assurance that it transmit onto your palm, brings a feeling of possession and domination. As you hold it up against the light to marvel at its beauty, much the same you would gaze at a young girl's face for her flawless and smooth complexion. There is nothing but a sense of admiration and love. As you move to insert the lens into your body, it is like running your finger around a young girl's lips. You can feel the excitement and breath. As you sqeeze the shutter, the squeak of the girl is so refreshing. The image is so rich and intense. Every shot is so delightful and unforgettable that you crave for more. It is an addiction, a desire of not wanting to be left behind.

Jack would know how precious these little things are. It is hard to resists

 

[Dream Merchant]

Beautiful lenses. All technicalities aside. Hold one in your hand. You will feel the urge to own them. It is just like holding a petite, nubile young girl's hands. The warmth and the kind of assurance that it transmit onto your palm, brings a feeling of possession and domination. As you hold it up against the light to marvel at its beauty, much the same you would gaze at a young girl's face for her flawless and smooth complexion. There is nothing but a sense of admiration and love. As you move to insert the lens into your body, it is like running your finger around a young girl's lips. You can feel the excitement and breath. As you sqeeze the shutter, the squeak of the girl is so refreshing. The image is so rich and intense. Every shot is so delightful and unforgettable that you crave for more. It is an addiction, a desire of not wanting to be left behind.

Jack would know how precious these little things are. It is hard to resists

Their equipment feels, looks and reminds me more of sophisticated, cool, calculated and aloof, highly-polished, post-industralism cold steel and glass, hard-body sleek andro iron pumping butch rather than a petite, soft little girl. :bsmilie:

No offense; and in some circles, that's very high praise.

 

[ManWearPants]

Their equipment feels, looks and reminds me more of sophisticated, cool, calculated and aloof, highly-polished, post-industralism cold steel and glass, hard-body sleek andro iron pumping butch rather than a petite, soft little girl. :bsmilie:

No offense; and in some circles, that's very high praise.

ok. I am trying to soften its image abit. Whichever way one look at it - hard or soft. These are very attractive lenses. There will always be people who use the price vs performance ratio to put it down. And others who crons about its colour realism, intensity and contrasts. The best is get hold of one and feel it for yourself. I did and is only limited by what little my money can buy

 

[pinholecam]

Yes, on screen, at 72dpi, you can't really tell the differences especially if it has been resized. But we don't just shoot for posting 500pixels on web, right? Part of the enjoyment in photography goes into appreciating prints, or high resolution images on screen.

There are many samples that can be blown up to original size as well.
I guess I'm just not one of those ppl who have the 'gift' for poring over details :dunno:





(I prefer clothes made of hemp even though then are rough; pricks the skin and reminds me that they are there; The clothes the emperor wears ...well.... the servants say its creamier than silk )

 

[Dream Merchant]

ok. I am trying to soften its image abit. Whichever way one look at it - hard or soft. These are very attractive lenses. There will always be people who use the price vs performance ratio to put it down. And others who crons about its colour realism, intensity and contrasts. The best is get hold of one and feel it for yourself. I did and is only limited by what little my money can buy

Yeah, I get what you were trying to do, but totally different design paradigms.

It's always struck me as typically hard, German Power-house industrial sophistication, rather than soft, gossamer romanticism.

 

[Dream Merchant]

There are many samples that can be blown up to original size as well.
I guess I'm just not one of those ppl who have the 'gift' for poring over details :dunno:

LOL! Was that a very subtle pun, if one were to imagine a close-up portrait taken with one of the late-version APOs?

 

[Anthony Lee]

Someone selling the Sumicron R APO 90f2 for 3.9k. Heard this lens beats them all.

 

[ManWearPants]

Someone selling the Sumicron R APO 90f2 for 3.5k. Heard this lens beats them all.

check out the MTF and the infrared photos in the below url as referred to in the B&S ad.
http://diglloyd.com/articles/MiscReviews/EOS1DM3MeetsLeicaAPOSummicronR.html

And this is the seller's extra set! OMG!

p/s: put a hold on your Zeiss 25 purchase. I heard a rumour. Zeiss might be making an improvement on this lens.

 

[night86mare]

It is just like holding a petite, nubile young girl's hands.

i'm going to find a pair of young girl's hands and try to hold them before mounting them onto my lens.

brb to let you know if the image turns out sharp

 

[proteonXPR]

its funny how people always think resolution is always important, what 72dpi screen lah.. and dunno what blow the image up lah..

many lenses have decent resolution, just a matter of how the picture is rendered in terms of contrast, saturation, shadow region resolution, out of focus regions, etc etc

 

[Anthony Lee]

check out the MTF and the infrared photos in the below url as referred to in the B&S ad.
http://diglloyd.com/articles/MiscReviews/EOS1DM3MeetsLeicaAPOSummicronR.html

And this is the seller's extra set! OMG!

p/s: put a hold on your Zeiss 25 purchase. I heard a rumour. Zeiss might be making an improvement on this lens.

Yes I know, the ZE 25 was held back and is now due to release soon, hopefully by mid-year. My new ZE 35f2 is really super. The close focus allows excellent perspective. The Leica R APO 90f2 is a must have....maybe, next one after the ZE 25.

 

[giantcanopy]

Leica lenses had been "touched" by "masters" during manufacturing whereas mass produced lenses are only handled by robotic arms and low skilled workers.

if only the leicas that touch the users will convert them into masters likewise. All the talk about resolution and resolving power and big prints etc etc and the history is interesting. I am not sure if i will shoot better, but i sure would love to own it nxt time :bsmilie:

i'm going to find a pair of young girl's hands and try to hold them before mounting them onto my lens.

brb to let you know if the image turns out sharp

Might induce more hand shake! All blood goes elsewhere, probably not the brain and the hands ..

ryan

 

[pinholecam]

LOL! Was that a very subtle pun, if one were to imagine a close-up portrait taken with one of the late-version APOs?

LoL
Its true for me. I just can't tell such things apart.
Well, its a good thing in a sense. Make me immune to such LBA

 

[raycsk]

Hi,

2 years ago I had the priviledge of visiting the Leica facility in Switzerland as part of my work and had the rare opportunity to visit the factory where lens are made.

As we toured the facility the guide explained how the optics are made. This is what I remember:

They use only pure silica and not recycled glass. The silica melted down and cast into cylindrical blocks (about 1m tall and 300-500mm diameter. These blocks are then left to cool naturally in a special room. Believe it or not, it takea bout 3 years for the blocks to cool. As glass is not actually a solid but a when cooled its actually in a solidified liquid state, by allowing it to naturally cool it will ensure unniformity in density and clarity.

After 3 years the blocks are taken out, the end portions cut away and only middle sections are use to cut them into smaller discs. I did not believe this but they told me they would cut 3 discs from 3 different blocks just to make 1 lens. So these discs go through a mechanical cutting and grinding process to get it to the desired size. Final stage is handpolished by a mastercraftsman.

I was fortunate enough to talk with one of these people a 50 plus year old Swiss guy. He told me his apprenticeship took 15 years! I was like wow that's a long time for probation. Polishing a lens depending on the curvature and diameter can take anywhere from hours to days. The larger ones are used in high end surveying and arial photography/scanning.

Coming back to the 3 discs, after they finish a lens they will check the lens for clarity and other specifics of the glass. Should this fail then the entire batch of lens from this block will be discarded.

I guess what i learnt from that trip is... the lens manufacture for them is more of a coach building process and there's a lot of wastage.

Anyway, this is what I can clearly remember and I thought I share my experience. So please do not quote me on this.

 

[ManWearPants]

i'm going to find a pair of young girl's hands and try to hold them before mounting them onto my lens.

brb to let you know if the image turns out sharp

I am sure after holding the girls hands, it will be the start of your nightmare (BBB)

Yes I know, the ZE 25 was held back and is now due to release soon, hopefully by mid-year. My new ZE 35f2 is really super. The close focus allows excellent perspective. The Leica R APO 90f2 is a must have....maybe, next one after the ZE 25.

aiyo...don't want to get poisoned by Leica...very ex. I have been looking out for Cron 90 pre-APO or Elmarit 90 rom though but is low priority. I have seen photo samples of the ZE35, very impressive. I am trying to resist the Zeiss ZE lenses and will pounce when people start letting go of CY35 and 100/2 on the cheap.