Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/03/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 10:40 AM 3/30/98 -0500, B D Colen wrote: >Marc - When you say "great" user lens, what do you mean? How good optically >compared to modern Leitz lenses? This cannot be answered unless you define more tightly what you mean by "good optically". That is, there are a dozen or so optical parameters to consider. The Russian lenses I referred to are clones of Prewar Carl Zeiss Jena designs or developments of CZJ Topogons. As such, the designs are rather old, but the lenses are fine performers, especially at their low prices. The wide-angle Russar and Orion, for instance, vignette, a function of the Topogon design, but given that they run 1/6 or so the price of a current Leica lens, this makes a fine choice for folks like me who rarely use wide angles. The Jupiter-12 will probably provide better contrast, less edge drop-off, and more resolution than any but the latest 35mm Summicrons and will do so, again, for 1/4 or so the Leica's price. The 1.5/50 Jupiter-3 IS a prize lens by any standards: it is a much more satisfactory lens than any Leitz lens to the second version of the Summilux, and is close to the Summilux in performance. Marc msmall@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +540/343-7315 Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!