Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/07/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Thu, 08 Jul 1999 19:54:04 -0700, you wrote: >I am very new to using a Leica and would like to know if someone can point >me to some material that will explain why Leica lenses have names and what >those names mean. Others can speculate as to the meanings of the names (all I know is that the Hektor was apparently named after a German Shepherd), but the name typically indicates the maximum aperture of the lens (regardless of its focal length): The "lux" suffix indicates a very large maximum aperture - the Noctilux is f1.0, any Summilux is f1.4. Summicron indicates an f2.0 aperture Telyt seems to indicate an aperture intermediate between the full stops - there are f3.4 and f6.8 Telyts that I'm aware of. Elmarit indicates an aperture of 2.8 (except for the 50/2.8 M lens which is known as an Elmar) Elmar usually indicates an aperture of f4.0 Prefixes may be added to indicate the type or design of the lens, as in Vario-Elmar, Tele-Elmarit or Macro-Elmarit. Simple, no? Paul Chefurka