leica lenses galore
25/02/09 21:34
I am currently completing the report on the new Leica Super-Elmar-M 18mm lens. A quick count will tell you that over a period of just 15 months the Leica optical design team introduced nine new Leica M lenses ( four Summarit, two Summilux, two Elmar and one Noctilux). Most of these new lenses set the standard for the lens type.
In addition a few lenses for the new S-system were announced and are currently in test. And there must be new lenses for the announced R10 in the pipeline.
For a relatively small team as the Leica design team this is a major feat. Remember that in a full year more new M lenses have been announced than in the previous decade. As remarked many of these lenses offer stunning performance. The design of a high quality lens nowadays is no longer the laborious undertaking it was in the past. Still every lens has its own unique fingerprint as the comparison of the SX21 and SX24 show. The computer is not the boss! The designer has the final word and it is his or her insight how to set the parameters of the program and define the merit function for the lens.
The number and quality of the new lenses may be an engineering accomplishment of the highest order, from a commercial view the situation is different. Most lenses are situated in the short focal length class and a certain overcrowding may be visible. If we set the unique TE 16-18-21 out of scope for the moment, the M lens scuderia consists of one 18mm, two 21 mm, three 24 mm, two 28mm, three 35mm, four 50mm, two 75mm, three 90mm and one 135mm. That is twenty-one lenses. A Japanese zoom lens can cover this bandwidth with one single lens. The Leica lens line is very finely tuned to the different tasks that the lenses have to accomplish, but one should realize that the cost od buying a lens is quite high. It is unlikely that you will buy every lens is a certain class of focal length. Buying a SX 24 will imply that you will not buy the Elmar or Elmarit versions. Too many Leica lenses are chasing the same customers.
In addition a few lenses for the new S-system were announced and are currently in test. And there must be new lenses for the announced R10 in the pipeline.
For a relatively small team as the Leica design team this is a major feat. Remember that in a full year more new M lenses have been announced than in the previous decade. As remarked many of these lenses offer stunning performance. The design of a high quality lens nowadays is no longer the laborious undertaking it was in the past. Still every lens has its own unique fingerprint as the comparison of the SX21 and SX24 show. The computer is not the boss! The designer has the final word and it is his or her insight how to set the parameters of the program and define the merit function for the lens.
The number and quality of the new lenses may be an engineering accomplishment of the highest order, from a commercial view the situation is different. Most lenses are situated in the short focal length class and a certain overcrowding may be visible. If we set the unique TE 16-18-21 out of scope for the moment, the M lens scuderia consists of one 18mm, two 21 mm, three 24 mm, two 28mm, three 35mm, four 50mm, two 75mm, three 90mm and one 135mm. That is twenty-one lenses. A Japanese zoom lens can cover this bandwidth with one single lens. The Leica lens line is very finely tuned to the different tasks that the lenses have to accomplish, but one should realize that the cost od buying a lens is quite high. It is unlikely that you will buy every lens is a certain class of focal length. Buying a SX 24 will imply that you will not buy the Elmar or Elmarit versions. Too many Leica lenses are chasing the same customers.