Re: [Leica] New Cosina Voigtlander lenses

[Walter S Delesandri <walt@jove.acs.unt.edu>]

Yes, JH, you're right....TO A DEGREE....
Years ago, as a poor "shooter" (it's a shame that the most prolific 
photographers, newspaper and magazine shooters, make less than $20,000
and $40,000, respectively, and rarely can afford the best of anything)
I used to use Nikon RF and Leica RF (M) both!....for the Nikon, I had 
a 50 and a 105....for the Leica, a 35 1.5 canon (boy, shouldve kept it!)
and a 50 Summicron, and a 85 1.9 Canon!!! I later parted with the 
Nikons, but kept Leicas, and for years used an assortment of "mongrel" 
lenses....little did I know that not only did I have the BEST lenses 
made in the fifties, but that many a famous photojournalist (Duncan, Smith,
HCB) had similar outfits....
Later, in the late eighties, I got all "Leica" lenses....no, no improvement in the 
pictures but I 'felt' better.....hehe

There were many years in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, when the 
"real" photographers had Nikons and Leicas, including Nikkors, Canons, 
and the occasional Zeiss optic....all mixed up!....(the so-so 50 1.2 canon, 
which I sold, is still one of my favorites...anybody got a clean user, cheap?)

So yes, it "feels" good, among Leicaphiles (Leicapaths?) to have a sack of 
"proper lenses"....but photographers, even famous ones, rarely adhered to a 
"proper" set of optics.....for example, the Canon 35 1.8 was FAR superior 
to the "summaron",,, the Nikkor 50 1.4 was and possibly still is the BEST 
RF lens, etc....and the Canon 28 lenses (3.5/later 2.8) didn't even HAVE a 
competitor from Leica until the sixties, and then the original Elmarit wasn't 
any prize....
In my case, my three summicrons (old 35, newer 50/90) have and continue to do 90+%
 of my photography (60% with the 35...) I also have Nikons, but don't use them 
90% of the time....so my interest in the "aftermarket" lenses is for fun...
the 21 I might could actually use, the 35 1.7 etc are just interesting to me..
I've used the "greats"....the "big three".....now I've just got to  know how the 
"new guys" stack up!!!.....

However, to address your original query, yes, the $12-1600 for a used 21 w/finder 
is just too much for a little used lens....for amateur OR pro....and the 
result, pictorially, are unlikely to be very different... so in this case, the 
price IS the question.  MOST 20/21mm lenses are poor compared to the excellence 
we're used to with 50mm-etc....I just wonder HOW bad they are!...the 21 f4 SA that 
I've used in the past seemed fine to me, but now I understand from the 'experts' 
that it's a piece of shit, and that the japanese lenses are better....but not 
as good as the Elmarit.....sounds like a great price/performance compromise to 
me! We'll see.....

thanks, Walt 
 
On Tue, 20 Jul 1999 10:33:15 -0700 John Hudson <jahudson@direct.ca> 
wrote:
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steve LeHuray <icommag@toad.net>
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> Date: Tuesday, July 20, 1999 10:30 AM
> Subject: Re: [Leica] New Cosina Voigtlander lenses
> 
> 
> 
> Not being, and not likely to be, a user of these third party lenses am I
> right in suspecting that the real things are getting just too expensive for
> what they can really achieve and that there is now the start of a price
> versus the "prestige of having the real thing" trade off?
> 
> jh
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >----------
> >>From: Walter S Delesandri <walt@jove.acs.unt.edu>
> >>To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> >>Subject: Re: [Leica] New Cosina Voigtlander lenses
> >>Date: Tue, Jul 20, 1999, 10:57 AM
> >>
> >
> >>I have a question about the flurry of "non-Leica" lenses that