Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/04/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I must be missing something here...Collectability aside, the prime attraction of the M series its the outstanding mechanical quality of the camera and the equally outstanding quality of the lens optics. LUGERS debate endlessly about which version of which lens, with how many elements, is how many gnat hairs sharper than what other version of the same lens. Fine. So why the excitement about the new Tri-Elmar? According to the literature posted at the Leica website, the new lens "is distinguished by a good to very good renedition at all three focal lengths... "Aberrations such as coma, vignetting, and curvature of field are small to begin with and can be virtually eliminated by stopping down to f/5.6-8..." "Good to very good"? For $2,000 "stopping down to f/5.6 to f/8" ? For $2,000 What happened to "excellent to very good"? Granted, this is the first sort-of-zoom for a rangefinder - right? But given the quality of each of the individual lenses, and given the small size and weight of each of the individual lenses, and given that while not all of us have 28s but virtually all of us have 35s and 50s that will fit in the same coat pocket and will produce razor-sharp images, what gives? I know it's a Leica...But that doesn't make it worth running out to spend $2,000 for. In fact, it sounds like the Leica equivalent of the original Nikkor 35-85 (?) zoom. It was compact, but the images it produced sure weren't up to Nikon quality. Any thoughts? <bold><italic><bigger>B. D.</bigger></italic></bold>