Re: [Leica] The Tri-Elmar flare thing

["Seth Rosner" <sethrosner@direcway.com>]

Good morning breakfast-luggers! See below.

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan States" <dstate1@hotmail.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 8:17 PM
Subject: [Leica] The Tri-Elmar flare thing


> Sorry to rehash a subject, but I have been out of town for a few days and
> did not get a chance to respond during the discussion about the tri-elmar.
>
> Yes indeed, the Tri Elmar does have a flare problem.  In particular at the
> 50mm setting.  I have a stack of slides that were trash because of the
> unpredictable nature of this lens at the 50mm setting.
>
> What was baffling to me was that the flare occured in shots that would not
> normally be a problem for most modern lenses.
>
> I found that hazy/bright days gave the tri elmar fits.

"Flare is very well controlled and its absence, especially when specular
highlights are in the picture, enhances the clarity and crispness of the
overall image and the rendition of depth and textural clarity."

Thus sayeth Erwin Puts about the Tri-Elmar in his Leica Lens Compendium, at
page 135.

> It was this nasty traight along with a ton of distortion at 28mm that made
> me give up my TE.  The fact that these issues have not been more of an
issue
> with the LUG and especially with Erwin Puts  has suprised me.  How the TE
is
> constantly refered to as one of Leicas "best" really has me stumped.  Am I
> too picky?  Are most users not seeing the problem in the snapshots they
are
> getting back from walmart?

"As a general conclusion one may say that the performance [of the Tri-Elmar]
is outstanding when compared to the current 28, 35 and 50mm  Leica lenses at
their 1:4 setting, and like it or not, the Tri-Elmar is better than most of
the previous generations of the 28, 35 and 50mm Leica lenses."

Guess who? Compendium, same page.

Rubbish! rubbish! rubbish!!! This may be literally accurate if Puts intends
to include in "previous generations of ... Leica lenses" those produced
pre-WWII or immediately thereafter. But the clear implication is that he
means all lenses preceding current production.

Show me any way in which the T-E comes close to the 1956 50/2 Summicron. Or
the 1969 six-glass 50/2 at any aperture. Or the 1979 pre-ASPH 35/2 Summicron
at any aperture. (I've never used a Leitz/Leica 28mm).

Misleading? Deliberate?

Case closed.

Dan's experience and that of others may explain why Leica is slicing these
lenses in half and selling half-a-lens as a collectors item.

> Best wishes
> Dan States
> Grand Forks  (Americas wonderland) ND

Thanks, Dan.

Seth              LaK 9

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