New Leica Summaron-M 28mm f/5.6 lens?

[michaelwj]

What's the point of your rant? Does anyone force you to buy Leica gear? 😕

I think it was in response to Tom A who said:

We all have the choice to buy or not to buy anyway

nasmformyzombie is quite rightly saying that a lot of us only have the choice to not buy it, as $2k for a very limited lens is not affordable to buy.

As for Leica being irrelevant and not innovating, how about the SL and the Q, above and beyond the Monochrom? Show me a Nikon innovation? They haven't innovated since the F :bang:

 

[giganova]

nasmformyzombie is quite rightly saying that a lot of us only have the choice to not buy it, as $2k for a very limited lens is not affordable to buy.

My only choice is to not buy a Ferrari, too, but why would I complain about that and if I did, who cares? 🙄

 

[Daryl J.]

There are so many uses I can think of indoors for that lens with Ilford FP4+.

I love using my 3.8/24mm Elmar that way. Heaps of character in the images even with modern technology and engineering. And yes, I usually shoot it at F5.6.

And so a classic, highly portable 28mm lens design with modern materials and coatings? Oh. My. Goodness! One merely needs to step outside the box.

 

[Huss]

Has Leica ever been less relevant to photography than it is today?

Actually the correct question would be has Leica ever been more relevant to photography than it is today? And the answer is no.
While other mfgs are engaged in a tech race adding gimmick after gimmick and losing to smart phones, Leica remains true to it's core as being a manufacturer of pure photographic devices. All that you need to be inspired by and to create an image. Embracing their heritage as the future of photography is grounded in the past. No other mfg still embraces film photography the way Leica does. I think the only other mfg that makes a film camera is Nikon with the F6. My digital M is exactly what I want from a digital camera, and my D750 really is boring me to tears. I get no joy in using it, but I do in using a Leica.

Anyway, so you don't like Leica. Cool. I hope you aren't too big into Olympus, Fuji etc as those may not be with us much longer, seeing how iPhones sales are eating them alive.

 

[jsrockit]

Not at all true. $2K for a very slow lens with its inherent limited functionality is completely beyond my budget.

So, you've (or your wallet) made the choice not to buy.

This lens is virtually worthless on a film camera.

Because we all know the sun doesn't shine anymore and people no longer like to zone focus on RFs.

Has Leica ever been less relevant to photography than it is today?

Define relevance... because it is profitable when some other companies are not.

The Monochrom body is the only real innovation Leica has introduced since the M5 and M6, cameras with a built in meter.

Leica SL... with the nicest EVF of ANY camera on the market.

In the 1920's the Barnack camera started a photographic revolution. If Leica would stop pandering to the 1%er crowd, maybe they could develop more timely and innovative products today.

If Leica concentrated on pure innovation, and catering to the masses, it would have died long ago.

 

[Srono]

They could release the new-old Thambar soon too, will be interesting.

 

[Richard G]

I might even order one now. Probably the only way to get it any time soon. I think this is an ingenious move. With digital compact means a lot to me as the cameras are big and heavy. I agree with Daryl above.

 

[jsrockit]

I think it is cool as well. I don't get offended by Leica prices although I no longer use Leica.

 

[Archlich]

Lomo's new Jupiter 3+ is cool as well then. It actually has more improvements over the old model than the Summaron does. Handled the lens once, it's quite solid now with the new brass barrel.

Now that Leica itself has hopped on the train, Lomo really should press the trend on even further - what about a new Orion-15 to go with the Summaron?

 

[Daryl J.]

A tangent: the Jupiter 3+ is quite improved over the original? I like that too. And yes I like Sonnar renderings.


Returning to the main subject: I'm anxious to see the specs and test results on the Summaron *when used on film*. Slow glass is often great glass.

 

[gavinlg]

Definitely a cool release.

 

[FrozenInTime]

Leica's M lens page for the lens : http://uk.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-M/M-Lenses/Summaron-M-28-mm-f-5.6

The hood manufacturing process is interesting -
"An Homage to the Fine Art of Engineering.
The lens hood conjures up memories of the early days of rangefinder photography. Its design, and the meticulous manufacturing processes that went into its construction, have been recreated to match the historic ancestry of the Summaron-M. The lens hood is first machined from solid brass and then given its ultimate form by a turning and bending process. The turning process also cuts the numerous grooves into the inner surface of the lens hood"

 

[aizan]

it has the same optical formula? i wonder if it's digital friendly.

 

[LChanyungco]

It's awesome and I want one. The price is too high for me though so i'll have to wait and buy used from one of you guys in the future 🙂

 

[jaapv]

it has the same optical formula? i wonder if it's digital friendly.

Clearly it is. It is coded.

 

[ForestCap]

It's awesome and I want one. The price is too high for me though so i'll have to wait and buy used from one of you guys in the future 🙂

Trust me the used ones of this lens won't be too much cheaper.

Now that Leica itself has hopped on the train, Lomo really should press the trend on even further - what about a new Orion-15 to go with the Summaron?

Now I'm glad that I have already bought an Orion-15...

 

[Austerby]

I'm delighted that this lens has been re-introduced. I made the point on here some years ago that I would like to see a "heritage" lens line introduced to Leica, as a complement to their awesome modern lenses. I have some old LTM lenses and, whilst they undoubtedly have their flaws, they still produce very capable results that cannot be readily mimicked in post-processing.

I have enthusiastically bought many of such lenses that Lomo have introduced and I'll seriously look at this Summaron.

Whilst the price is not trivial I do not think it unreasonable for a low-volume, hand-crafted, modernised lens and it'll no doubt be sold at a sufficiently healthy profit margin. Lomo can do it more cheaply but they don't have the licence to produce Leica-designed lenses, so if you want one there's only one place to get one.

I would very much like to see the Summar re-introduced: I have an original one which is in aged condition but the look from it is very different from a modern lens.

 

[helen.HH]

It looks Beautiful... I Imagine it draws with such Style
The Old One did !!

Sigh, One day perhaps ...

 

[alan davus]

It looks Beautiful... I Imagine it draws with such Style
The Old One did !!

Sigh, One day perhaps ...

As always Helen, you say it perfectly.

 

[Richard G]

Apropos the cost: have a look on the bay what an old SOOBK hood on its own costs: north of $600.