Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/10/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I believe that members of this group who get upset over a lens test review of a Leica lens are missing the point of tests. The ultimate test of any lens is in the photos that it produces. Nothing more and nothing less. All that lens tests in photo magazines tell you is (1) how sharp a lens may be, whether that sharpness is measured in resolution and/or contrast, and (2) whether the lens produces a variety of problems, such as vignetting, excessive flare, etc. Over the years I have seen lens tests of 50mm lenses by a host of U.S. and British magazines and in those tests Leica lenses are almost invariably outstanding but also on par with 50mm lens from other manufacturers. What that says, and all that should say, is that if you bought a Leica lens you will get extremely sharp photos. Although you may also get extremely sharp photos from many of the lenses Leica may be compared to, you will also get different types of photo quality. And it is for Leica photo quality that photographers buy Leica glass. And it is for Zeiss photo quality that photographers use Contax cameras. Etc. The problem with tests is how does a publication determine the "photo quality" that a lens produces. Regardless of the type of tests made by photo magazines, it is without question that Leica lenses produce distinctive qualities that make it worthwhile for people to pay Leica prices. I don't question whether lenses from other manufacturers match or exceed the sharpness of a Leica lens or of any lens I may be buying. My concern is what a lens produces for me, given my tastes in color, gray scales and shadow detail, and what are the photo qualities of lenses by specific manufacturers. The sharpness factor gives me a minimum standard. It is not the ultimate standard. Leica's problem with tests like the one in Pop Photo, if there is one, is a marketing problem; Leica users should have no such problem. No matter how great a 50mm Summicron may be, why are there some Leica users who prefer shooting with either the old or new 50mm collapsible Elmar rather than with an old or new 50mm Summicron? Here sharpness alone is not the determining factor -- and that should be everywhere as well.