[Leica] Subject: Re: Old lenses and M8

[sethrosner at nycap.rr.com (Seth Rosner)]

On Oct 17, 2009, at 10:04 AM, lrzeitlin at aol.com wrote:

> Do I sense a ground swell of feeling that the M*s should be
> cherished because they make old lenses perform better by eliminating
> the poorer rendition in the corners? Seems like the inverse of the
> opinion that film M Leicas were to be desired over the M8 because
> Leica lenses were designed for the corners rather than the central
> area. I'm confused. I have a lot of old Leica lenses. Do I buy a
> used M8 or save my pennies for an M9?

Larry, you were misinformed; Leica lenses are not "designed for the 
corners" - what is true is that most, not all, Leitz/Leica lenses are 
designed to reduce field curvature, that is, for a flat image field. That 
does not equate to better performance, i.e. resolution and contrast, in the 
corners of the image field. Take a look at any MTF chart and you will see 
the fall-off in contrast performance at the corners of almost every lens. 
Then look at that same MTF chart and imagine that the image field covers 
only the center 3/4 of the chart and you will see how the poorer [edge and 
corner] contrast is eliminated. OTOH, when you print or project the image, 
you will have to enlarge it by a third, introducing a small bit of image 
degradation.

Claro?        ;-)

Just take pictures and enjoy the superb gear the folks in Solms are giving 
us.

Seth