Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/08/04

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] Summicron performance
From: "Erwin Puts" <imxputs@knoware.nl>
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 11:41:51 +0200

The story that the collapsible Summicron was the sharpest lens 2/50 that
Leitz had made for up to that  time and might be the best 2/50 of its time,
is upheld by collectors and second hand sellers as it is part of the
mystique and upgrades the value of the merchandise. True optical performance
is a different matter and I have written extensively about it and I not
going to repeat it. The only people who disagree with my assessment are the
collector oriented and the collector-user type of Leica users. The reference
to "its time" is very vague. The lens has been introduced in 1954. Its time
is that year, the whole decade? And for descriptive value: "sharpness" is
not an objective property of a lens, it is a subjective notion which can not
be quantified and so is as a quality criterium a debatable attribute. So
what looks like a neat description is in fact a very vague and subjective
impressionistic sketch.
Most standard  references (Leica books and articles) repeat the marketing
writings of those days and the text in the Leica collector's checklist.
There is however preciously little hard evidence for this descriptions,
however rosy one wishes to look at the performance of these old  Leica
lenses.

Erwin

Replies: Reply from "A.H.SCHMIDT" <horsts@primus.com.au> (Re: [Leica] Summicron performance)