[Leica] Erwin Puts farewell to Leica World

[roark.paul at gmail.com (Paul Roark)]

For those who are technically oriented, Leica makes their Modulation
Transfer Function graphs available for their lenses. So, there is no vacuum
of information about their quality.

See, for example, https://us.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-M/M-Lenses

If you click on the lens of interest, then at the page on the lens click on
"Downloads" just above the picture of the lens, you'll be able to download
the Leica Technical Data sheet for it.  That contains the MTF curves, which
are the best measure of lens performance I've found.  I might add that the
Leica MTF curves are the most believable ones I've seen published.  (I'd
guess this is due, in part, to the construction/assembly being much closer
to what the designer/computer intended.)

For landscapes and large prints, the edges and corners are where weaknesses
show up.  While no optic is perfect, the M glass on Sony bodies with the
KoloriVision Ultra Thin cover glass gives me the best I've been able to
produce with a camera that is light enough to carry easily.  My M9, of
course, was outstanding for it's sensor resolution, but Sony, the company
that invented our sensors, is a bit ahead of the competition in that area,
in my opinion.  So, basically, I'm trying to combine the best optics with
the best sensors.   And it works very well for my landscape photography.
(Forget fast shooting and all the automatic stuff of modern SLRs, however.)

I do avoid older design wide angles.  Digital cameras are most happy with
light rays that are coming in as perpendicular to the sensor as possible.
 Even 50 mm lenses are affected by this.  Note the Leica APO 50mm design.
It's basically a rather standard looking 6 element double-gauss but then
with a doublet added at the end to straighten out the rays.  It makes the
50 a bit less compact, but much better for the sensor.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com