Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/25

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Subject: Re: [Fwd: [Leica] Voigtlander Ultra-Wide - Heliar 12mm f/5.6 Aspherical]
From: "Simon Coates" <michael@scoates.freeserve.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 22:15:54 +0100

The review of the Voigtlander lens by Amateur Photographer is typical of a
lens review by a magazine in the UK.  What I mean, is that the magazine only
get to test 'average' lenses that everyone can afford and 99% of
photographers end up using.

When magazines test any modern lens, they will do a resolution test and use
it in 'real world' situations, and invariably end up with a positive
conclusion; it is very rare to find a seriously bad lens these days.  Even
28-200mm superzooms can produce sharp pictures now!

When I started photography approx. 10 years ago, I was sucked into this
myth; that Minolta, Pentax and Canon produce superb quality lenses, and that
Leica lenses are more or less the same; that there is no difference.  Well,
I have since started to appreciate what Leica photography is all about, and
I can conclude that the Leicas perform vastly better than my Minoltas.  The
whole process from taking the picture to projecting the slides is now far
more enjoyable.  How can Japanese lenses perform the same?  Leica, as we
know, put a tremendous amount of effort into polishing, centering and
finishing of the lens elements that a Japanese lens simply cannot compete!
There are some superb Japanese lenses out there, but they cost about the
same as Leicas anyway(sometimes more - the EOS 50/1 is £400 more than the
Noctilux!), so they would probably produce a similar test result.  Another
example is the Contax 300/2.8 APO, which is a staggering £7,000 MORE than
the Leica APO-modul equivalent!  I suppose a fifty year-old Leica lens will
not match a modern Japanese lens, but any of the recent Leica lenses such as
the M-28/2, R-50/1.4 and R-180/2.8, I am sure, will easily come on top in
any comparison test.

I suppose that magazines are not allowed to say a lens is really poor, and
they don't.  It is a bit like comparing a Rolls Royce to a Ford;  they both
get you from A to B, but with the Roller in far more luxury.  Leicas are
similar, in that they will take a nice sharp picture, just like most
Japanese cameras, but the whole process is far more 'luxurious'.  At the end
of the day, as Leica users we appreciate the craftsmanship and overall
quality that Leica cameras and lenses possess, and that the system as a
whole is simply the best money can buy.

Simon