[Leica] 100mm Apo and Erwin's prose

[Nathan Wajsman <wajsman@webshuttle.ch>]

Douglas,

> Well, admittedly, my comment is based on someone else's experience (of the M
> model).  The 35mm Summilux ASPH would have been a more appropriate example,
> perhaps, as I've personally seen the harsh results.  The "teeth on edge"
> comment is somewhere in the archives, however.  The point is this:  image
> quality matters.  And it is not something you can judge solely on the basis
> of definition and sharpness.

So, you slammed the 100mm Apo without having used one, based on some comment in the
archives? And what "M model" are you referring to? There is no 100mm lens in the M
line.

I do agree that my 35mm pre-ASPH Summicron had more pleasing bokeh than my current
35mm ASPH Summilux, although I would not call the latter "harsh", it is just that
the former was so outstanding. But I still find that the better sharpness at all
apertures and of course the extra stop make up for the less pleasing bokeh. It is
of course a matter of personal taste and your tradeoff may be different.

> I really don't find this comparison of the M3 and the M6 fruitless.  It
> offers a strong indication of the decline at Solms, and is the best argument
> for taking Erwin's site with a grain of salt.  Leica makes no money from
> it's earlier products, so it is very much in their best interest to convince
> Erwin (and through him, us) that the current products are an improvement.
> And in the absence of Erwin's refutation, it is pretty clear that they are
> not.

This type of assertion cannot by definition be proved or disproved unless you have
COMPARABLE data on M3 and M6 failures by age cohort, which I do not believe you do.
I own two M6s and one M3 and like them all for different reasons, but I would
certainly not consider my M6s to be of lesser build quality than my M3. Your
statements remind me of those made by car or motorcycle enthusiasts who wax
lyrically about some "golden age" of car/MC design. Despite this, all tests and
statistics (which do exist for cars) show that new cars are much more reliable and
perform much better in every respect. Issues of design are of course a matter of
taste and inherently untestable.

> By the way, the following from a single page on Erwin's site:
>
> Summilux-R 1:1,4/50mm    The best 1.4/50 ever in the Leica stable
> Vario-APO-Elmarit-R 1:2,8/70-180    The one that revolutionized Zoomlens
> performance
> Vario-Elmar-R 1:4.0/35-70    No compromise in image quality
> Vario-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/35-70    Beating the fixed focal length lenses
> Elmarit-R 2.8/180 APO and Summicron-R 2/180 APO    The current best
> performance for the R-system
> Elmarit-M 2.8/24mm ASPH    A superb example of modern lens design
> Tri-Elmar 1:4,0/28-35-50mm ASPH    A very fine lens now in a new coat
> Apo-Summicron-M 1:2,0/90mm ASPH    Redefining Summicron quality
> Apo-Telyt-M 1:3,4/135mm    Must be the best lens for the M
> Noctilux-M 1:1.0/50mm    A famous lens with remarkable capabilities
> Summicron-M 1:2/28mm ASPH.    A new paradigm for Summicron-class lenses
> Elmarit-M 1:2.8/21mm ASPH and predecessors    The progress is visible!
>
> This, my friends, is not objective criticism.  It is *ad copy.*

While your quotes are no doubt accurate, they are one-sentence sound bites taken
out of the context of Erwin's long reviews, an intellectually dishonest practice.
But the substance of Erwin's lens testing is indeed that the latest models tend to
be better than previous ones--is that really surprising? Leica is a high-end
manufacturer with a particular expertise in lens design. I would therefore expect
that when they release a new lens, it is better than its predecessors, otherwise
why bother?

Again, keep in mind that Erwin's conclusions are based on his rigorous tests of
measurable attributes such as resolution, rendition of fine detail on axis and in
the field etc. He deliberately ignores bokeh, "glow" and other such components of a
lens's "signature" because these are inherently subjective and cannot be measured.

And by the way, he has stated that the 50mm Nokton is better than the current 50mm
Summilux M, thus demonstrating that he is not completely beholden to Leica in the
way you describe.

Nathan

- --
Nathan Wajsman
Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland

e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch

General photo site: http://belgiangator.tripod.com/
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