[Leica] New 28mm Elmarit and Schmutz

[pcb@iac.co.jp (Paul C. Brodek)]

I traded in a 3rd generation Elmarit 28/2.8 tonight, kicked in some
cash, and came home with a new 4th generation Elmarit 28/2.8.  The 3rd
gen lens had some element separation which I had no reason to suspect
might get better. and the 4th gen lens is a little more compact and
rumored to be a bit sharper as well.

The only problem was that I went through OS Camera's entire stock (4
lenses) and didn't find one that was completely clean.  One looked
like it already had some element separation, one had a single but big
hunk of dust inside, one had a couple of little pieces of dust and the
one I took has "just" one small piece of dust inside.  I've bought 5
new M lenses during the past 2 years, and this is the first time I had
to look at more than one lens to find a clean sample.  Judging by the
serial number, this is also possibly the most recent production run
lens I own (3793xxx).

I don't want to make too big a fuss over this, as I know my dust flake
won't degrade the quality of my photos, but I do find myself expecting
more from Leica.  Sitting there in the store hoping that the next
sample the salesman opens is better than the last one (or two, or
three) is not exactly a "best in class" shopping experience.

I'll try to get out and actually take some pictures this weekend so I
can spend less time fretting about dust inside lenses and more time
looking at the wonderful images these lenses make.

Regards,

PB    =20

Paul C. Brodek
Kobe, Japan
pcb@iac.co.jp