70-210 zoom and 28-70 zoom

[pgs@thillana.lcs.mit.edu (Patrick Sobalvarro)]

In an earlier message I said that one of my books claimed that the
Sigma-made 28-70 Vario-Elmar-R had been discontinued and that the
70-210 Vario-Elmar-R had been recomputed.  A couple of people asked me
for clarification a couple of days ago and I hadn't been able to
respond at the time because of a bit of a rush at work.

The book is Jonathan Eastland's "Leica R Compendium," which I've come
to respect more and more over time, especially when I compare it to
that error-riddled little book "Leica Lens Practice."

About the Sigma-made 28-70, it says: "In 1990 when the Vario-Elmar-R
28-70mm lens was introduced, some critics noted with surprise that the
lens cost five times as much as Sigma's own version.  The subsequent
reviews in some of the photographic press of the time did little to
extol the virtues of the Leica lens, and while this objective sold
reasonably well in Germany, it suffered a downgraded public image and
in other countries and was subsequently discontinued."  (p. 49) Also:
"Manufactured by the Sigma Corporation of Japan to Leica
specification.  It was officially discontinued in July 1994 but was
being offered by Leica UK Ltd and other distributors at the time this
volume went to press as a 'free' lens when a current Leica R-type
camera was purchased new."  (p. 74)

The book goes on to explain the reasons for the high price (which sum
up to `It costs a lot to customize a lens for a new body, and the
costs had to be amortized across a very small market'), and to
describe the lens as quite a good performer.

About the 70-210 Minolta-made lens, it says: "This third lens (after
the 80-200 and 75-200 Minolta lenses) has been optically redesigned,
but the glass configuration, maximum aperture, and focal length are
identical to the Minolta MD version."  I don't know if the optical
redesign is with respect to the earlier two models or with respect to
the Minolta MD model.

Now you know as much as I do about it!

-Patrick Sobalvarro