[Leica] The IIIF still works

[roark.paul at gmail.com (Paul Roark)]

Mark Rabiner <mark at rabinergroup.com> wrote:
> ...
> Optical science has not stood still ...

I had an interesting discussion with a Canon technical rep some years
ago.  He made the point that most R&D went into not making lenses
sharper per se, but rather making them "affordable" while still good
enough.  That reality even affects Leica -- although at a higher
price-performance point.

Along this line, it appears one of the main advances may be in making
molded aspherics better.  One simply can't make a top notch, very wide
or very fast lens with only spherical elements, and the cost of
grinding one aspheric at a time is even out of Leica's cost structure.
 I think what we'll see, going forward, is the move to more and more
aspherics -- not just a single element per optic.  In line with this
thinking, I'd guess that the slower telephotos, where aspherics are
not needed, would be the area where the older Leica lenses can best
match the newer ones (at least in a low flare situation).

I think one of the advantages the M series will continue to enjoy in
terms of performance is the ability of the designers to ignore the
requirements of AF and IS, which has to be a huge part of current
optical design for the mainstream companies.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com