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

[SDK]

I've never considered the M bodies big, even the 240 is smaller than any Nikon.

I think the point is what the lens does, which is a way of drawing opposite the current crop from Leica. For all the gripes they must read here and elsewhere about how awful nearly everything they do now is, and how the current offerings are so far removed from their classic line, it seems like their nod to the classic line might be better received. No, it doesn't cost $175 like it did in 1958, but neither does anything else. I like this move into the archives, and hope it continues.

FYI $175 in 1958 dollars is $1,457.46 in 2016 dollars, so the $2,495.00 price of the new Summaron 28mm is over a thousand more than inflation would predict. Is multicoating really that expensive? 😉

 

[TennesseJones]

This is surely the maddest thing even they ever made.
Which is kind of admirable.
Looking forward to a sighting of the digital M with no backscreen paired with this 28mm 5.6 mounted.

 

[sepiareverb]

FYI $175 in 1958 dollars is $1,457.46 in 2016 dollars, so the $2,495.00 price of the new Summaron 28mm is over a thousand more than inflation would predict. Is multicoating really that expensive? 😉

Well, a new house avg price in 58 was $12,750 and nearly $360,000 today. Are double pane windows really that expensive? 😕

Prices of all kinds of things are all over the place, hand assembly by people who make a living wage in a first world country requires a certain retail price. Can I afford one? Not right now. That Leica is looking at their history and embracing it seems like a good move, especially given how so many people constantly deride them for having made the digital M thicker and ignoring their heritage, etc, etc, blah blah blah. Nikon now makes some lenses out of plastic, with lens elements held in place with double stick tape. But they don't cost more plus inflation than the metal bodied pre Ai version. Few modern consumer goods are without compromise in quality or price.

It still costs less than the Summicron, which will outsell this specialty item ten-fold. 🙄

 

[Huss]

Looking forward to a sighting of the digital M with no backscreen paired with this 28mm 5.6 mounted.

Here you go:


http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2016/12/09/the-new-leica-28-summaron-f5-6-lens-review/

 

[robert blu]

This lens is beautiful! The rendering is up to individual taste: someone likes it, others do not. The price is high.

If my income would be unlimited I'd buy one. But I have to keep my expenses under control...at least try to 🙂

Therefore I'll not buy it, but still think it's a beautiful piece !

robert

 

[TennesseJones]

Ha!
Brilliant.....

Here you go:


http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2016/12/09/the-new-leica-28-summaron-f5-6-lens-review/

 

[Ronald M]

Quit knocking Leica. The fancy new buildings need to be paid for.

 

[Huss]

Quit knocking Leica. The fancy new buildings need to be paid for.

The Leica boss already has that figured out. The buildings that they are using are owned by a company that he has financial interest in.
Very Trump-like, no?
😀

 

[sepiareverb]

Maybe they should just close shop since they are so hopelessly out of touch with what we want.

 

[jsrockit]

Maybe they should just close shop since they are so hopelessly out of touch with what we want.

Who is we? 😕

 

[sepiareverb]

Who is we? 😕

The assembled we who appear to know better than Leica what they should do. Tho they appear to be doing pretty well to my eyes.

http://gmpphoto.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-future-of-leica.html

 

[SaveKodak]

Maybe they should just close shop since they are so hopelessly out of touch with what we want.

You are making a joke, but I can imagine a scenario where the eastern market loses it's fetishistic interest, and at the same time there is a medium recession happening, and Leica is FORCED to close up shop. All their new products rely on the Luxury market and fashion can be fickle. That's why you had activists stopping trucks in China full of beautiful Tibetan Mastiffs, who were once 'all the rage' among the new money. Now they were on the way to a meat packing plant because the rich had moved on. (source: here)

Maybe the D-Lux products fill the gap. However, I think middle-class advanced amateurs/pros do their research and are quite price conscious. The world I imagine for Leica is one where they make an M at the current price levels, and the 262 at about $3500 bucks, and a lens like the 28/5.6 can be had for $1000.00+/-. No one who needs or wants a 5D Mark IV is considering a Leica in the same breath, but it would be good for Leica if they could. They make enough fancy one-offs and special products to have a fully fleshed out line up of goods for the ultra wealthy.

 

[Emile de Leon]

I hate to say it..but that lens seems to produce the worse % of photos ever...tough focal length to use for general photography...as in..no bokeh..and then you have the general poor image quality..even worse than the original one...and...to boot.. its fiddley to use..
The only images that I saw that I liked so far were of high contrast close in subjects in bright light where the central resolution shines..
And I'm not a sharpness freak either...I don't look for that as rule..using the Noct as one of my fave lenses..
But while it is a cool lens in many respects..a blast from the past..and would be fun to use for a day or 2..I think once the honeymoon period is over..maybe 10 days...its just a collector item at best...looking good on the cam..but ultimately not worth it..

 

[brennanphotoguy]

So you mean that a lens has to have bokeh to be a good lens?

 

[jsrockit]

Very easy to hate lens for the internet crowd... expensive, slow, etc. I bet Leica will still sell this though and not only to collectors. Some people can buy Leica lenses like I buy bottles of water.

 

[brennanphotoguy]

Very easy to hate lens for the internet crowd... expensive, slow, etc. I bet Leica will still sell this though and not only to collectors. Some people can buy Leica lenses like I buy bottles of water.

This. There's plenty of people who don't need the internet's opinion when it comes to spending their money. I'd be surprised if they aren't sold out already. The price is the only thing that irks me but it is what it is.

 

[_goodtimez]

I have not yet tried this new 28 from Leica but since we're in a 28 discussion let me just say that in terms of strong character, the Elmarit 28 f2.8 V1 is so far my lens of choice along with the SA21.
Both lenses present the old school rendition that I love so much.

 

[Emile de Leon]

I actually really wanted to like this lens..but for me to spend that much on something this limited...it better butter my biscuit pretty well...
The images I've seen..actually are quite poor in general imo..something about the way it renders...more than just the bokeh etc.
And...its not about charm..I don't see charm there..just ..boringness...its just well...another poor 28 from the past..and not in my eye..as good as the original..at least in internet renditions..
But...
I think they should have forgotton about this one..and just reissued the tiny pre 35mm f1.4 instead...that would have been a great seller for them..

 

[Bille]

Quit knocking Leica. The fancy new buildings need to be paid for.

As good as knocking Rolex. The peasants complain, rich people gather on the waiting list.

 

[brennanphotoguy]

I have not yet tried this new 28 from Leica but since we're in a 28 discussion let me just say that in terms of strong character, the Elmarit 28 f2.8 V1 is so far my lens of choice along with the SA21.
Both lenses present the old school rendition that I love so much.

Agreed, I have a 9 element 28/2.8 as well and it's super cool.