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[Ken Iisaka <kiisaka@netscape.net>]

The lens is here. I have one mounted on my M3, right here on my desk now. 

I went to Shinjuku yesterday, and saw that it is already on sale, a day before
the official release date of February 1. 

For 61,700 yen plus 5% consumption tax, or approximately $600 US, I have a 
nicely finished lens that is the widest ever available (at least to my 
knowledge. Please correct me if I am wrong, Marc.) for the Leica Screw Mount. 

I have the silver version, which looks very nicely finished, and matches very 
well with my silver M3 via a L/M adaptor. Someone else who was also looking 
at buying one mounted one on a screwmount body; however, it seemed to be a 
better match to my M3 body, perhaps because of its integral hood, and its 
black name plate that surrounds the front element. The silver colour is
slightly
yellowish compared to my M3, but is hardly noticeable at a glance.

The focussing and aperture rings are finished nicely.  I have a hard time 
determining whether it is built of plastic or aluminium.  Regardless of the
material, it is finished very nicely and aperture clicks are firm and solid. 
The chrome-plated mount is bolted on to its plastic body, and screwed 
in very smoothly into the Leica L/M adaptor. 

This lens is not RF-coupled, but is hardly an disadvantage, given its focal 
length. Leave it at f8, and at 1m, and everything is in focus from 0.6m to 
infinity. I wish there were click stops at 2m and 1m so that I would not 
inadverdently move the focussing ring. The 25mm has this useful feature. 

The viewfinder is quite a surprise. Its body is plastic, a la Leica, but 
appears to be well made. Distortion is reasonably well controlled, though 
some barrel distortion is visible. Contrast is excellent, and the entire 
field can be seen by this eyeglasses wearer with little problem. I wish it 
had an integral level indicator, or a hairline cross in the middle, like the 
excellent Contax G finder for 21mm lens. I might just as well draw a line 
across the middle of the field to help me keep the camera level. Oh yes, an 
aspherical element is supposedly used in the viewfinder, too. 

No, I cannot report on its performance, as it has only been 4 hours since I 
purchased it. I stuffed the camera with a roll of Ilford XP 400 super, and 
will lug it around Tokyo tomorrow. A sunny day is expected tomorrow, so I 
will probably have a chance to test its flare resistence, too. 

Overall, it appears to fill a very special niche that has remained unfilled, 
except by the Contax G Hologon modified to M-mount. Its reasonably 
economical price makes it a very potent competitor in the ultrawide market. 
Cost cutting measures such as lack of RF coupling and (very good) use of 
high-quality plastic will probably make it hard to keep this lens in stock. 
Note that Ricoh GR 28/2.8 and Minolta 28/3.5 are hardly best sellers, and can 
be found on many camera shops in Tokyo. 

Will report further later. 

Cheers, 

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