naturephoto1
Established
At the very least, Leica has given Canon and Nikon something to look at and consider. I do not necessarily agree that the DMR will lose money nor that the Digital M will lose money as well. What Leica has done is to show up the two big companies- Canon and Nikon what can be done with exhisting systems that will allow the same camera body to function with either film or digital media.
As to the age, design, and performance of the Leica lens and in large measure related to the Leica wide angle lenses, many of these lenses have gone through modification and iterations over the years. Hence changes in (but not necessarily in names) as to the Summicrons, Elmars, Elmarits, Telyts, and Apo Telyts etc. The lens names refer to the design and speed of their optics. Leica was in fact one of the first companies to utilize computers for design of their lenses. Many of the Leica R lenses that I own, be they wide angle, macro, or telephoto, will still perform very well and frequently superior to the new offerings by many of the other makers including Nikon and Canon. And many of my lenses are at least 15 to 20 years old. In fact, many of these lenses will perform close to the performance of even the newer designs by Leica.
As to the performance of their super telephotos, Leica's design of 2 Apo Telyt modular systems introduced in about 1996 are still remarkable and the only system of its kind of mix and match focusing units and heads. They are perhaps the finest Super Telephoto lenses available. Leica was kind enough to allow me to use the combination of the 400 mm f 2.8 and the 800 mm f5.6 Apo Telyt modular lenses for a month of testing back in 1998. Leica has subsequently used 2 of the bird photos that I took with the 800 mm. The lens performance is extraordinary. These same photos are award winning photos by Professional Photographers of America.
Though restrictive in size (for reasons of concern of usage of images), if interested, you can see these two bird photos on my website:
http://www.nelridge.com/picturepages/lookingtowardtheheavens.htm
http://www.nelridge.com/picturepages/heronhim.htm
Both images were shot on either Fujichrome Provia 100 or Astia 100. Images can easily print digitally to 16"x 24" or 20" x30". Camera was I believe Leica R 7 (I had an R8 with me, but the motor winders had not been distributed at this time), 800mm f5.6 Apo Telyt Modular Leica mounted on Arca B1 Ball on a Gitzo Studex 320 tripod. Looking Toward the Heavens was stopped down to f11 because the male anhinga, in breeding plummage was only about 14 feet away (close to near focus capabilities of the lens) and needed more depth of field (only a few millimeters or so at this focal length and distance.
As to the age, design, and performance of the Leica lens and in large measure related to the Leica wide angle lenses, many of these lenses have gone through modification and iterations over the years. Hence changes in (but not necessarily in names) as to the Summicrons, Elmars, Elmarits, Telyts, and Apo Telyts etc. The lens names refer to the design and speed of their optics. Leica was in fact one of the first companies to utilize computers for design of their lenses. Many of the Leica R lenses that I own, be they wide angle, macro, or telephoto, will still perform very well and frequently superior to the new offerings by many of the other makers including Nikon and Canon. And many of my lenses are at least 15 to 20 years old. In fact, many of these lenses will perform close to the performance of even the newer designs by Leica.
As to the performance of their super telephotos, Leica's design of 2 Apo Telyt modular systems introduced in about 1996 are still remarkable and the only system of its kind of mix and match focusing units and heads. They are perhaps the finest Super Telephoto lenses available. Leica was kind enough to allow me to use the combination of the 400 mm f 2.8 and the 800 mm f5.6 Apo Telyt modular lenses for a month of testing back in 1998. Leica has subsequently used 2 of the bird photos that I took with the 800 mm. The lens performance is extraordinary. These same photos are award winning photos by Professional Photographers of America.
Though restrictive in size (for reasons of concern of usage of images), if interested, you can see these two bird photos on my website:
http://www.nelridge.com/picturepages/lookingtowardtheheavens.htm
http://www.nelridge.com/picturepages/heronhim.htm
Both images were shot on either Fujichrome Provia 100 or Astia 100. Images can easily print digitally to 16"x 24" or 20" x30". Camera was I believe Leica R 7 (I had an R8 with me, but the motor winders had not been distributed at this time), 800mm f5.6 Apo Telyt Modular Leica mounted on Arca B1 Ball on a Gitzo Studex 320 tripod. Looking Toward the Heavens was stopped down to f11 because the male anhinga, in breeding plummage was only about 14 feet away (close to near focus capabilities of the lens) and needed more depth of field (only a few millimeters or so at this focal length and distance.
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