[Leica] Berek and the Leica Glow

[Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>]

At 06:02 AM 3/20/98, Joe Berenbaum wrote:
>I was wondering, since there were Nagel folders made in the 1930s with
>Leitz Elmars, does anyone know anything about the optical qualities of
>these lenses? I'm mostly curious to know if the results were any different
>from the equivalent Tessars of the same period. I gather that they are a
>similar formula- so are these early medium format Elmars at all likely to
>have anything of the Leica look? It is intriguing to me to wonder if I
>could get a medium format folder to give Leica look pictures- but maybe
>there wasn't a Leica look at all then.

Two points.  The Elmar isn't of a 'similar' formula to the Tessar, at all:
it is to the identical formula.  But, having said that, remember that any
given designer can vary the precise formulation of a lens designed within a
definite category to produce results he wishes.

And that brings me to the second point.  The 'Leica Glow' dates from the
Prewar era, when Leitz could not afford to produce lenses optically
competitive with those from Zeiss and Voigtlander.  Therefore, Max Berek
tweaked his designs to exaggerate the softness of the out-of-focus images
to, in turn, exagerrate the sharpness of the in-focus images.  The result
is a final image where the in-focus image sort of 'pops out' of the
picture.  It is not an especially subtle idea and was regarded by other
German optical houses as a cheap trick, but it did establish a rather
undeserved reputation for sharpness in early Leitz glass.

Berek died in, I recall, '53, and new designers, such as Mandler, eschewed
Berek's idea;  Leitz concentrated on using computer-aided design and
special formulations of optical glass to produce lenses competitive with
Zeiss and Schneider and Voigtlander.  The first-generation Summicron is
perhaps the last lens to exhibit this effect;  certainly, the 35mm and 50mm
Summilux and the 90mm Summicron have evolved past it.

I do NOT want to stir up "Bokeh" threads galore, but there could not
possible be a nexus between an optical trick of the '30's and what Leica is
making today.  

Marc


msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
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