Why Leica (lens)?

Why Leica (lens)?

  • Advance optic design and performance (e.g. ASPH, lastest lens)

    Votes: 44 46.3%

  • Classic look, Vintage style (e.g. Summilux Pre-ASPH, Super Angulon)

    Votes: 40 42.1%

  • Collectible

    Votes: 8 8.4%

  • Beautiful craftsmanship

    Votes: 45 47.4%

  • Other reasons (e.g. I have too much money)

    Votes: 17 17.9%
  • Total voters
    95
Nh3 said:
You guys are living in your Leica love ivory towers. FYI some of the $100 kit lenses perform wonderfully. The technology behind designing lenses have come a long way.
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Technology will never make a plastic bodied lens with a crappy lens mount solid or consistent. Have you ever felt how much play there is in some of those kit lenses? Sure, the optics have come a long way, but how do you suppose someone makes a lens for $100? They cut plenty of corners. We're just talking about what's best, not what's adequate. There's a difference. Of course there's a difference in price. So there are will virtually all things. I can buy $20 crocs or $400 hand sewn Aldens. There's a difference. Sometimes the crocs are better for some things. But you really wouldn't argue that crocs will outlast or look better than a good pair of hand made shoes, would you?
 
Nh3 said:
This picture is soft and the contrast is too strong for a portrait. You can't see her eye or even its outline, there is just a black hole - and the detail on her hair is totally soft. Not to mention awkward shadow under her nose - a sign of harsh top light.

I don't think this picture is a justification of spending money on a Leica lens.

Sorry dude, but that's my honest opinion.
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Those are all my shortcomings. :)

(the picture was more in response to me liking to take pictures of tough guys then a chance to post a defining picture)
 
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Sometimes it's no more than chance. The M3 I bought in 1985 came with (among other lenses) a Summarit and a Summaron. The IIIc I bought twenty years later came with a Summitar. Very soon after I bought a user M2 from Youxin Ye recently, he offered me a collapsible Summicron at a price which I could not turn down.
 
I like Leica glass because I like to shoot wide open a lot of the time and the out of focus background with smooth transition from object to object is what does it for me. I do still use Zuiko and Nikon lenses and do enjoy the pictures that they produce but they are different and I haven't used anything else other than Leica that I like more. Close them all down and quality glass is exactly that, no matter whose label is on it. I'm sure the Zeiss, Hexanon and VC lenses do a great job but I haven't used them. Is Leica glass worth the money? I sometimes wonder. My Zuiko 50 1.4 cost me £30 and I get a lot of pleasure out of the results, my 50 lux a lot more and whether buying into this Leica branding can be justified by the cost, only the user can say. I think that if you can see and feel a difference in your own photography using a particular brand then the cost was worth it, if not, it wasn't! Like a lot of people on here I've used a lot of cheaper gear before I ended up with Leica, always seeking a particular look in my pictures. As soon as I'd seen the 1st roll back from my original 35 R lens I knew I had found what I was looking for. My 85mm f2 Zuiko does it for me as well though at a fraction of the cost! I've tried lot's of lenses, kept what works for me and sold the others. Didn't mean they where no good, just that they didn't suit my style.
 
Nh3 said:
You guys are living in your Leica love ivory towers. FYI some of the $100 kit lenses perform wonderfully. The technology behind designing lenses have come a long way.
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Totally, I get the same look from my Nikon kit lens from f1.4 to f8 as I do with the 75 Summilux. You are so right and smart!
 
I voted other but wish there was an 'all the above' option. I have a new Summilux-ASPH but I also have a Summarit from 1946 - I love them both lenses for different reasons. Although I sometimes resent that the prices of Leica stuff being driven up by collectors, I still appreciate that there is a market for used gear. If I buy used Leica gear and end up trying to sell it, its nice to know that I probably won't lose too much money and perhaps even make a small profit sometimes.
 
Nh3 said:
You guys are living in your Leica love ivory towers. FYI some of the $100 kit lenses perform wonderfully. The technology behind designing lenses have come a long way.
Click to expand...

Damn, I just bought a 72mm UV/IR filter for $189 and a $69 A&A Pocketto to house that lens. Yes, and I paid $125 for the 6-bit Voigtlander Type II adapter also. :bang:
 
Agree with you. I have both, but the Nikkor is no pushover (http://www.dantestella.com/technical/nikoleic.html#10525):

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