Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/10/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>>>>On your post re: the Summicron 50 being the pinnacle of 50mm design, I have to agree with you. It is a fine lens, which rarely is the limiting factor in any real world picture taking situation, but it could be bettered. I now have a number of recent ASPH M lenses, and the one that comes closest to being a reference standard is the latest one, the 90 APO-ASPH. Just to raise the bar a bit on this 'reference standard' thing, I am copying part of a post from the MF digest by Kornelius J. Fleischer, who works for Zeiss in Germany, and sometimes posts on lens (Zeiss) topics: ______________________________________ <<<< To Jeff: You are pointing at an interesting topic: The optical systems for semiconductor manufacture are the most demanding lenses on the planet today! The first optics used in this field in the sixties were micro-film lenses like the ones discussed above. They are the size of typical photo lenses and their price is, although high, still in the vicinity of photo lenses. Today¥s semiconductor lenses, like the new Zeiss "Starlith" lenses, weigh about a quarter ton, cost a million dollar a piece, and resolve stunning 5,000 line pairs per millimeter (yes, five thousand, not five hundred). They are so far not available with mount for Alpa or Contax or Hasselblad or Rolleiflex, rather they are built into wafer stepper machines by ASML of Veldhoven, Netherlands, one of the leading providers of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. ______________________________________>>>> ....lest we lose sight of where our Leicas stand in the scheme of things.. * Henning J. Wulff /|\ Wulff Photography & Design /###\ mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com |[ ]| http://www.archiphoto.com - -------------- So? Should we reconsider? It says nothing about the limits of technical feasibility.