Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/08/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Zeiss took dead aim at the Leica lens line in an effort to produce better than Leica M lenses. Unlike Leica, Zeiss has plenty of money to put into R&D. Foolishly in my view, Zeiss lauded their efforts to the point of incredulity by announcing in the ZM brochure the "best" lenses for Leica mount. However if your corporate identity had spent 80 years in the shadow of one of your ex-exployees (Barnack), you might be a bit antsy for pay back too. Putting aside the issue of the "Leica Look" vs the "Zeiss Look," I think it is very safe bet Zeiss ZM are very very close to Leica's current lens M lineup. In some cases, Zeiss has apparently exceeded Leica, but the time needs to tell with more user results. Tom A find his 50/2 Zeiss Planar to be better than the current 50/2 Summicron in the close focusing range. The 25/2.8 Zeiss is also reputed to be hands down better than Leica's 24 Aspherical. The new Zeiss finders are also better than any Leica 21, 25, or 28 finder -- better than even the previously best Voigtlander finders (also made by Cosina). in short, if the new ZM 28/2.8 Biogon is not the full equal of the current 28/2 Leica lens, it is very very close, and better than used versions of previous Leica M 28 designs. Stephen