Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/03/28

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Subject: [Leica] Why don't we see more large-aperture wide-angle lenses?
From: richard at richardmanphoto.com (Richard Man)
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2012 21:40:28 -0700
References: <CAH1UNJ0=oDpsrcq33FMOOZd8+yRmrLENdMZSgcYe4W8xstxGEw@mail.gmail.com> <CB9958FA.11077%chris@chriscrawfordphoto.com>

It's the Glass myth, notably on the "highly refractive indexed" glass used
in the Noctilux. It's so much more convincing to think that there are
secret ingredients that only the elves of Schott laboratory can have access
to, and that only Leica can purchase.

Of course it's the optical design, the advantage of the RF design and the
hand assembly tolerance that give Leica lens its magic. The glass itself is
just a small part that everyone can have access to.



On Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 9:12 PM, Chris Crawford <
chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com> wrote:

> All glass is cheap. Christ, its just melted sand! Optical glass has other
> ingredients, but it is still very cheap to manufacture. The cost in making
> lenses is in the cost of the precision machinery needed to grind the glass
> to precise curves and the labor needed to assemble them.
>
> --
> Chris Crawford
> Fine Art Photography
> Fort Wayne, Indiana
> 260-437-8990
>
> http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio
>
> http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My latest work!
>
> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798
> Become a fan on Facebook
>
>
>
> On 3/28/12 11:51 PM, "Jayanand Govindaraj" <jayanand at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >More than cheap glass, I thing it is volume that keep prices down. I doubt
> >whether Canon or Nikon use cheap glass in their top of the line offerings.
> >(-:
> >Cheers
> >Jayanand
> >
> >On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 7:41 AM, Kay Yang <liangjiyang at gmail.com> 
> >wrote:
> >
> >> Exactly.
> >>
> >> If you use cheaper glass like in the canon/nikon ones, you can
> >>manufacture
> >> them at reasonable costs, but that's not how Leica does things.
> >>
> >> On Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 7:02 PM, Doug Herr <
> wildlightphoto at earthlink.net
> >> >wrote:
> >>
> >> > Frank Filippone wrote:
> >> >
> >> > >Nikon and Canon both sell them....at reasonable prices....  They
> >>must be
> >> > >retrofocus lenses to work on an SLR.
> >> > >
> >> > >Maybe the problem is ... reasonable prices....
> >> > >
> >> >
> >> > Maybe the problem is not only making them sharp but also making them
> >> small
> >> > enough that they don't obstruct the RF.
> >> >
> >> > Doug Herr
> >> > Birdman of Sacramento
> >> > http://www.wildlightphoto.com
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > Leica Users Group.
> >> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >> >
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Leica Users Group.
> >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >>
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Leica Users Group.
> >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>



-- 
// richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com>


Replies: Reply from Frank.Dernie at btinternet.com (Frank Dernie) ([Leica] Why don't we see more large-aperture wide-angle lenses?)
In reply to: Message from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] Why don't we see more large-aperture wide-angle lenses?)
Message from chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com (Chris Crawford) ([Leica] Why don't we see more large-aperture wide-angle lenses?)