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"NEW" Leica lenses announced..

kuau

Workshop Member
From what I gather from Scotts postings, there isn't much "corner performance" differences between the old and new 28mm Elmarit versions when used on a M240 but it appears quite pronounced when these lenses are used on a SL body.

Dave (D&A)
Thanks Dave,
That's what I thought yet wanted to verify before deciding on whether to purchase the "new" 28 Elmarit and spend the extra $$ or go for a used previous model...

Steven
 

D&A

Well-known member
Thanks Dave,
That's what I thought yet wanted to verify before deciding on whether to purchase the "new" 28 Elmarit and spend the extra $$ or go for a used previous model...

Steven
I guess if you see a Leica SL in your future, then from what I've seen of Scott's crops (above), I would definitely go for the new 28mm Elmarit. If simply using on a M9 or M240, a really good buy in a used Elmarit might be worthy of consideration. Then again even with the Sl out of the equation, no telling how either version might perform on a future M.

Dave (D&A)
 

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
I guess if you see a Leica SL in your future, then from what I've seen of Scott's crops (above), I would definitely go for the new 28mm Elmarit. If simply using on a M9 or M240, a really good buy in a used Elmarit might be worthy of consideration. Then again even with the Sl out of the equation, no telling how either version might perform on a future M.

Dave (D&A)
That's certainly my view. The sourcing decisions that Leica have made for the Q's and SL's sensors are the basis for my speculation that the sensor used in the next M may have more pixels but will have the pixel architecture that the SL is using, so that the SL may be a fair stand-in for the next models.

I've received a couple of requests for the comparison shots on the M240 (where there is little to no difference), so here they are:

first a pair at f/2.8 on the M[240]: The version 1 lens:

L6004314 copy by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr

and the version 2 lens does a tiny bit better:

L6004308 copy by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr

At f/5.6 I can't see any difference. First v1:

L6004316 copy by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr

and then v2:

L6004310 copy by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr

You can find the full size jpegs in my Photostream on Flickr.

I've gotten nice screensavers for display at 27 inches from travel photographs made of pretty scenes in good light with the v1 Elmarit-M 28 using M's from the M8 to the M[240].

scott
 

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Sean Reid has posted a review of both new 28mm lenses on the SL. I know he has the older 28 Elmarit, don't believe he has the Summicron, but he promises a detailed comparison in a forthcoming article. The site is in the process of converting to html5 and high resolution pictures, suitable for Retina-type screens. It looks pretty good in Safari. No more flash.

scott
 

kuau

Workshop Member
Sean Reid has posted a review of both new 28mm lenses on the SL. I know he has the older 28 Elmarit, don't believe he has the Summicron, but he promises a detailed comparison in a forthcoming article. The site is in the process of converting to html5 and high resolution pictures, suitable for Retina-type screens. It looks pretty good in Safari. No more flash.

scott
Scott,
I assume you are correct in terms of Sean's finding, looks like he was using the older Elmarit in his test.
Your samples above clearly show that the new 28 Elmarit does indeed perform quite well on the SL.
Now I just have to wait a year or so before I see some used SL's come down in price.
 

Auni

Member
Re: "NEW" Leica lenses announced..

Hi Scott
I think the changes to the 28 summicron are even more impressive - this time on the M240 as well as the SL.

- - - Updated - - -
Hi Jono.

I have the new 28 Summicron and have compared it to my old version. I have to agree with you that the new 28 Summicron is very impressive in edge performance, color and contrast across the entire frame.

Thanks for the advise to purchase the new version.
 

dchew

Well-known member
I just traded in my 28 Emarit for the new version, hoping it would work good enough with the a7rII. After a first test I am satisfied. Still smears at 2.8 and a bit at f/4, but f/5.6 is very usable and it is gone by f/8. That fits my landscape use just fine since I rarely need sharp corners wide open. So now I have two systems with one set of lenses (monochrom/a7rII).

Dave
 

rscheffler

New member
Hi everyone. Thanks for this thread and the crops.

I picked up the new 28 Summicron a couple weeks ago, however unfortunately I didn't seem to luck out with a copy that was an improvement over my old Cron. For the full details, I posted my findings over at LUF in this thread.

There were a number of aspects where the new Cron was an improvement - contrast, resistance to veiling flare, central sharpness, ergonomics, hood. But I noticed very strong forward field curvature in my copy and that image edges of planar subjects filling the frame never reached comparable sharpness to the center. My old Cron did and exceeded the sharpness of the new Cron at the edges by f/4-5.6.

I don't want to state that my new Cron was typical of how the redesign performs. Rather, that anyone buying this lens should thoroughly test it to ensure it meets their expectations and requirements.

I ended up returning it rather than trying to convince a skeptical dealer that there was a real problem with it in exchange for another one (it was the second copy I received from them after the first was clearly DOA), or have them send it to Leica for months with the possibility it would come back as 'in spec'. There just weren't enough full-rez, full frame samples available online to determine whether or how far mine was off from optimal performance.

I've since found a good used copy of the 28 Lux. There are times when I need the extra stop but the tradeoff is definitely a much larger, heavier, costlier lens. However, in the tests I've run so far, it compares favorably to the old Cron in many of the parameters I look for in images...
 

rayyan

Well-known member
Excellent!

Now then, if I buy one of these new toys, would my images be any better than say my existing corn 35, 28?

I want to see the beef. So please entice me with these wonders of optical engineering.

Gratefully yours.

p.s I never learnt to read MTF charts.
 

Auni

Member
Hi everyone. Thanks for this thread and the crops.

I picked up the new 28 Summicron a couple weeks ago, however unfortunately I didn't seem to luck out with a copy that was an improvement over my old Cron. For the full details, I posted my findings over at LUF in this thread.

There were a number of aspects where the new Cron was an improvement - contrast, resistance to veiling flare, central sharpness, ergonomics, hood. But I noticed very strong forward field curvature in my copy and that image edges of planar subjects filling the frame never reached comparable sharpness to the center. My old Cron did and exceeded the sharpness of the new Cron at the edges by f/4-5.6.

I don't want to state that my new Cron was typical of how the redesign performs. Rather, that anyone buying this lens should thoroughly test it to ensure it meets their expectations and requirements.

I ended up returning it rather than trying to convince a skeptical dealer that there was a real problem with it in exchange for another one (it was the second copy I received from them after the first was clearly DOA), or have them send it to Leica for months with the possibility it would come back as 'in spec'. There just weren't enough full-rez, full frame samples available online to determine whether or how far mine was off from optimal performance.

I've since found a good used copy of the 28 Lux. There are times when I need the extra stop but the tradeoff is definitely a much larger, heavier, costlier lens. However, in the tests I've run so far, it compares favorably to the old Cron in many of the parameters I look for in images...
I am sorry to hear about your problems with the new 28 Summicron, but it seems to be not quite what everyone else has reported about the new lens. Jono and Sean have posted reviews that seem to show the new lens to be quite an improvement.

I also have the new lens and find that your problems seem to be the exception, not that you don't have a truly bad copy(s). But, this seems to be the exception.

I have both lenses and the new version is much shaper in all aspects.

Sorry to hear about your experience and great to hear you have a good copy of the new 28 Summilux.
 
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