[Leica] The Zeiss Choice

[billgem at hotmail.com (Bill Marshall)]

"We've decidedn to design our own camera body because other cameras simply 
cannot match the performance standards of our lenses." (from the Zeiss Ikon 
website)

No single promotional statement from Zeiss Ikon has generated more sound & 
fury than this one. It has been relegated to the category of pure hype & if 
anything, detracted from early pre-production opinions of what is to come 
because it appears to be such an overstatement. But is there any substance 
to it? I think so.

All of the talk has been about whether the ZI lenses are as good as Leica, 
better, worse, etc. Whether the build quality is up to Leica standards. Why 
there are no ultra-fast lenses in the line-up. All of this has been looking 
through a Leica lens. (Pardon the pun.) Looking at the things that Leica 
values.

Overlooked IMO has been what's different about this product line. What's 
overlooked is the fact that all of the lenses wider than 35mm close focus to 
0.5m (18") & the 15/2.8 close focuses to 0.3m (12"). No other RF lenses on 
the market to the best of my knowledge do this other than the Leica 
Macro-Elmar 90/4 - & this lens needs a special Leica Macro-Adapter-M to 
enable the body to focus down to 0.5m. Unless I'm missing something, then, 
Zeiss is correct when it says that it needed to design its own body to take 
advantage of the capabilities of these lenses. While there has been much 
discussion to assert that Zeiss has made only one lens that will benefit 
from the long base line, the Zeiss literature stresses the advantages of 
this camera for use with wide angle lenses. I believe that it is the close 
focusing capability that they are talking about.

So what is the Zeiss choice? It is the option of wide angle lenses that 
close focus to 12"-18" (.3-.5m). If your need is for ultra-fast lenses, take 
the Leica option & put them on a Leica body that is designed to work with 
lenses that focus to 0.7m (27"). But if you prefer to get in closer - 9" or 
more - then choose Zeiss. it's nice to have the choice.