Ray Nalley
Well-known
Is the 21 going to be guess focus? The front element is likely to block the RF, unless Leica has really come up with some exotic glass.
veraikon
xpanner
I have too a Nokton 1.2/35 - and I wont´t change it
oscroft
Veteran
Yep, me too.
I'd love to get my hands on a 21 or 24 f/1.4, but nothing short of a lottery win would make one affordable for me (well, like a lot of people, I could get my hands on the money if I really wanted to, but it would give retirement day a significant push backwards - not to mention having to live in the doghouse for a while when my wife caught me cashing in an ISA
).I think it's great to see Leica pushing the boundaries, and I don't care who buys the new lenses or why - I just hope enough people do.
TJV
Well-known
Great news.
I'd rather invest in glass than new camera body any day of the week.
I'd rather invest in glass than new camera body any day of the week.
yanidel
Well-known
That would be great ! Though I am not sure we can call that "counter". Skoda does not counter BMW by improving their cars, it is not the same customer base.With any luck, CV will counter with a 'Mandler-look' 21/2.0 that's sharp on center but soft in the corners wide open. Price: $899.95
kevin m
Veteran
I do hope Leica has a platform up their sleeves that will give these lenses the wider audience they deserve. If the 21/1.4, in particular, has modern Leica performance at full-aperture, then that would be a truly ground-breaking lens. I know alot of Canon shooters who would pay Leica prices to have a wide angle lens that good.
sepiareverb
genius and moron
Perhaps they're wanting people to buy their cameras?
I know alot of Canon shooters who would pay Leica prices to have a wide angle lens that good.
Gotta feel sorry for those poor chaps, stuck on the wrong platform.
kevin m
Veteran
Perhaps they're wanting people to buy their cameras?
Like the saying goes, how's that workin' out for them? If the current lens line up - with some of the best glass ever made - hasn't won many converts to the M8, then I don't think these lenses will, either. The M8 needs help more than the lens line up does.
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Harry Lime
Practitioner
There is little doubt that these are landmark lens designs. It's good to see the return of the Noctilux 'Queen of the Night' in an even faster incarnation. The 1.4/21 is something entirely new altogether. Has something like it ever existed before? The fastest 21mm I've ever seen was f2.8. I'm certain the 1.4/24 will eat the Canon L version for breakfast.
And so in light of that I hate to be a kill joy. But the prices for these lenses and the 8.2 are absolutely insane. Yes, they probably are the best money can buy, but how many people can actually afford them?
8000 Euros for a Noctilux? Come one guys, even by Leica standards that's something off the funny farm.
I've bought plenty of Leica gear new, but they lost me once they cleared the $3000 mark for something like the 1.4/35 ASPH (luckily I got mine before the big rise) or an M body.
I'm aware that in their glory days Hasselblad lenses went for the cost of a decent car, but they were primarily intended for studio work and jobs that generated a lot more cash than a reportage photo, unless it was one of those once in a blue moon news shots that ends up on every cover.
And so in light of that I hate to be a kill joy. But the prices for these lenses and the 8.2 are absolutely insane. Yes, they probably are the best money can buy, but how many people can actually afford them?
8000 Euros for a Noctilux? Come one guys, even by Leica standards that's something off the funny farm.
I've bought plenty of Leica gear new, but they lost me once they cleared the $3000 mark for something like the 1.4/35 ASPH (luckily I got mine before the big rise) or an M body.
I'm aware that in their glory days Hasselblad lenses went for the cost of a decent car, but they were primarily intended for studio work and jobs that generated a lot more cash than a reportage photo, unless it was one of those once in a blue moon news shots that ends up on every cover.
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squirrel$$$bandit
Veteran
Yeah, wow, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a 21/1.4 but I will never be able to buy it.
This will give Cosina something to shoot for, though!
This will give Cosina something to shoot for, though!
dougiec29
Member
Wow. That is an incredible set of lenses. Good thing I don't have a strong desire to shoot 21mm or 24mm FL. 28-50 for me.
Still want a FF M-mount Nikon drf.
Still want a FF M-mount Nikon drf.
peter_n
Veteran
I love my 24/2.8 so I'm really interested in the new 24. Imagine the DOF effects shooting that wide-open! The one thing that worries me is the size...
thomasw_
Well-known
Awesome lenses if this is true. Being primarily a low light shooter, the 28/1,4 is what would've interested me the most; the 24/1,4 interests me a tiny bit, but nowhere as much as a f/1,4 28mm. If Leica can make a Summilux 28f1,4 roughly the same size as the Summicron or Ultron 28f2 then they have got a big time winner that I will save up to buy. The 21 is too wide for me, being way out in Tom A territory
sepiareverb
genius and moron
Oh have they got a 50 for ya!
micromontenegro
Well-known
Very interesting thread, if only from a behavorial point of view.
This:
must be the photographic understatement of the year, if not the century!
This:
must be the photographic understatement of the year, if not the century!
victoriapio
Well-known
Oops. That is next week's price
Oops. That shows I spent too much time in London this summer where the pound is more than 2:1 in $ (or it was during Wimbledon).
BUT, more power to Leica. They will never sell many of these new Nocts and they will probably make very little money off of this model.
Which begs the question, how does Leica stay in business by NOT making money off the bodies or lenses?
infrequent
Well-known
well a rich sugar daddy always helps!!
i suppose they get by just fine. sell just enough at high margins to survive and continue. not sure how they plan to expand their market and grow but that doesn't seem to be too much a concern at this stage.
Ray Nalley
Well-known
Well, how about a poll? This forum has more Leica fanatics per square inch than any place on earth. Show of hands, how many are planning on buying one of the new lenses when they hit the market? Let's show Leica what their real market is.
