Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/12/23

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Subject: Re: [Leica] lens sample variations
From: Martin Howard <howard.390@osu.edu>
Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2000 16:56:05 -0500

Dan Honemann jotted down the following:

> For those like me who will never own more than one sample of any lens, it's
> an unsettling thought to consider that you may have one of the sub-par
> variations.  On the one hand, if you don't notice it, who cares; on the
> other, why pay all this money for the very best optics if you end up
> receiving the equivalent of a much lower priced lens?

It's called Life.  Shit happens.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose.
You're playing on the bleeding edge with Leica optics in any case.  Sub-par
to what?  The absolute theoretical best a lens can be?  All lenses are that.
Sub-par to a 1937 uncoated triplet?  Sub-par to a $200 consumer Canon AF
zoom?  I think not.  Sub-par to manufacturing standards?  Unlikely.  Sub-par
to the average of all manufactured lenses of that type?  Inescapable fact of
life, as long as you are manufacturing to meet or beat a specification,
rather than just manufacturing to absolutely meet a specification.

If you're actually spending time worrying/thinking about this stuff, there
is something wrong, and it isn't with your lenses.

M.

- -- 
Martin Howard                     |
Visiting Scholar, CSEL, OSU       |    Science: To question reality.
email: howard.390@osu.edu         |
www: http://mvhoward.i.am/        +---------------------------------------