RE: [Fwd: [Leica] Voigtlander Ultra-Wide - Heliar 12mm f/5.6 Aspherical]

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

Forgive - or perhaps bless - the delayed response to your thoughtful
response....

I would only disagree with one point you make, and that has to do with the
comparative quality of Leica lenses of the 50s to those of the
competition....It seems to me that some of the Canon and Nikon lenses of
that period, particularly towards the end of that period, were certainly as
good as, if not better than, a lot of the Leica lenses of the same
period...And let's not forget the Zeiss, Schneider, and other fine lenses
"bouncing" around then...

However.....There is little doubt that today's most of today's Leica lenses,
certainly the latest generation of M lenses, rank right up at the top of any
heap of glass, no matter where it is manufactured, or by whom...:-)

B. D.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of A.H.SCHMIDT
> Sent: Monday, September 25, 2000 9:46 AM
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: Re: [Fwd: [Leica] Voigtlander Ultra-Wide - Heliar 12mm f/5.6
> Aspherical]
>
>
>
>
> B. D. Colen wrote:
>
> > Horst - I have no idea whether his tests are any good or
> not....But has it
> > not occured to you that in terms of what appears to be possible now in
> > optical design, that a lens like this is, indeed, at the limits
> of possible
> > optical perfection.
>
> B.D.,30 years ago, we would have said the same thing. But look at
> the advances
> since. I believe they will still go on. Maybe with non glass
> lenses, electronic
> lenses or whatever, but something new and better will arrive
> sooner or later.
>
> > ...I know it's not a Leica lens. And I know it's not a
> > German lens, but it certainly seems possible to me that it good
> be as good
> > as it gets for a lens of this type.
>
> You may be right, with your comment about the Leica lens, but the
> German part is
> not correct. I don't care, in what country  anything is made.
> Look, in my ,
> what's left of it, camera equipment collection, there Is Leica
> equipment < of
> course >, Voigtlander > the real one <Cannon and Pentax. Tell me
> in what other
> countries are lenses made. This days, that is.
>
>
> > .....And, as to his mistake with the
> > Leica comparison, presumably he was comparing it to the wides
> lens Leica has
> > or does make?
> >
>
> Well he did not state this. Which one of the wider lenses did he
> have in mind.
> However it does not make much sense to compare such an extreme
> wide-angle lens,
> with a , in relation to it,much lesser angle lens. you might as
> well compare the
> a 24mm lens with a 35mm lens.
>
> > Oh, as to the Leica lenses of the 50s.....If we were to put
> them on a modern
> > 1-20 scale, it seems to me we'd be talking maybe 5/20....not 10.....;-)
>
> You are right, of course, but in the 50s, they would  surely have
> been rated at
> 18 to 20.
> and every one though they are just about the ultimate in optical quality.
> Today's equivalent lenses would then be 30 or 35/20.
>
> Regards, Horst Schmidt
>
>
>