Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH In-Depth Review

[vieri]

Hello everyone,

my review of the new Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH is finally published! I compared it with the Voigtlander 15mm at the wide end, and with the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm at the long end. I hope you'll find it interesting, here it is:

LEICA SUPER-VARIO-ELMAR-SL 16-35MM F/3.5-4.5 ASPH IN-DEPTH REVIEW

Thank you for your time and for reading the article! Best regards,

Vieri

 

[Robert Campbell]

Interesting, Vieri.

Are you now preferring it to the 15mm Voigtländer? Will that now be sold?

 

[vieri]

Interesting, Vieri.

Are you now preferring it to the 15mm Voigtländer? Will that now be sold?

Thank you Robert, glad you found it interesting. About your question, as I wrote in the review the 16-35mm is much better than the 15mm Voigt. Selling it, well - probably not, for two reasons: 1. I cut off the lens hood (see here: https://vieribottazzini.com/2016/08/surgery-voigtlander-super-wide-heliar-15mm-iii.html) and therefore it either has very little resale value anyway (or, on the contrary, if anyone really wants it, it would be extremely expensive! ) and 2. since it is so small and light, and since it doesn't change my bottom line selling it or keeping it, I might as well keep it as a backup to the 16-35mm just in case.

Best regards,

Vieri

 

[RMR]

Hello everyone,

my review of the new Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH is finally published! I compared it with the Voigtlander 15mm at the wide end, and with the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm at the long end. I hope you'll find it interesting, here it is:

LEICA SUPER-VARIO-ELMAR-SL 16-35MM F/3.5-4.5 ASPH IN-DEPTH REVIEW

Thank you for your time and for reading the article! Best regards,

Vieri

Great review Vieri and thanks for taking the time to do it for us! I got my lens this past Tuesday and am really enjoying it....does a great job in the usual Leica way!

 

[vieri]

Great review Vieri and thanks for taking the time to do it for us! I got my lens this past Tuesday and am really enjoying it....does a great job in the usual Leica way!

RMR, thank you for you comment, I am glad you enjoyed the read! It is a great lens indeed, enjoy your time with it!

Best regards,

Vieri

 

[Red735i]

There is a report that this lens was designed and/or produced by Konica-Minolta. This report was based upon a patent application from K-M . That application had a schematic of the lens that seemed identical to the Leica SL lens.

Report:
https://leicarumors.com/2018/06/11/...now-shipping-designed-by-konica-minolta.aspx/

In the recent past, K-M Camera division was sold to Sony... and is the basis for the A7, etc lines of cameras.
I checked out the K-M corporate pages, and found only very scant evidence that K-M manufactures or designs optical elements.

OTOH, there was, in the past, really good cooperative work between Leica and Minolta ( R series, CL series, etc.)

 

[vieri]

There is a report that this lens was designed and/or produced by Konica-Minolta. This report was based upon a patent application from K-M . That application had a schematic of the lens that seemed identical to the Leica SL lens.

Report:
https://leicarumors.com/2018/06/11/...now-shipping-designed-by-konica-minolta.aspx/

In the recent past, K-M Camera division was sold to Sony... and is the basis for the A7, etc lines of cameras.
I checked out the K-M corporate pages, and found only very scant evidence that K-M manufactures or designs optical elements.

OTOH, there was, in the past, really good cooperative work between Leica and Minolta ( R series, CL series, etc.)

Hello Frank,

I have seen the rumour, and the drawings look nearly identical. I have no insider information either way about the design, so I can't comment on the truthfulness of the rumour. I am pretty sure that the lens is manufactured by Leica though.

No matter who designed it, the lens is simply spectacular, and that is all that counts for me

Best regards,

Vieri

 

[Andrew Gough]

Just posted my full review of the lens

Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35 f/3.5-4.5 ASPH Full Review - AphotoVID

Andrew

 

[jrp]

Thanks to the reviewers. It's a boring task to carry out, but v helpful to the rest of us.

I think that the three zooms make the SL an almost universal system. They may not be designed by Leica, or be as uniquely small as the M lenses, but for me, they reach the point where it is no longer (if it ever was) necessary to factor in the performance of the lens when choosing working apertures. In a zoom. That's amazing.

Now, I suspect that the F and T stops may not be very comparable with so much glass in play, so there is a still a place for the Summiluxes and Summicrons and Voigtlanders which offer a distinctive look, fast sensors notwithstanding.

Trouble is that the Sonys of this world are also producing great lenses, at much more affordable prices, perhaps to lower qa standards, if the forums are to be believed. So once they refine the ergonomic of their cameras ...

That said, the only growing non-phone market is for video lenses where Leica photo lens prices are below entry level.

In the next 10+ years, once phones get access to AI, their processing power and capability will become (even) more important than physical performance. And the consequences? Who knows? As it is, I note that Leica lens prices seem to travel in only one direction, at least while a system is still current.