EZfan
RF Shooter
Consider a used Alpa Kern Macro Switar 50/1.9 Apochromatic or an used Kinoptik 100/2 APO cost today, both is over 40 years old already and a brand new Kinoptik 100/2 APO cost at 5,978 euros before tax/VAT. I think the new 50 APO-Summicron ASPH price is right between among the top tier lens manufacturers. 
Araakii
Well-known
The price point is exactly mid way between the lux and the noct. I think that's how they came up with the magical number.
Araakii
Well-known
Do you already own one? if not, go get one now. They are still cheap.
edftwin
Street Wanderer
No, i'm getting myself lux 50 asph...might grab a cron 50 too but not sure which version !
Jubb Jubb
Well-known
this is just going to increase the price of the used market too, hold onto your current 50's, they are about to go up in value
Richard G
Veteran
The Pentax Super Takumar 55 is a lovely lens, screw mount. Mine came for free. This new 50 from Leica actually looks like an ugly duckling. But I like the creative points made above, especially the one about the Leica coffers getting some of what would otherwise go to Rolex and Louis Vuitton etc.
david.elliott
Well-known
forgive my ignorance, but what does the apo designation actually mean? what does it translate to in actual performance / rendering?
jammcat
Lick My Lens Cap
I won't even pay for an old cron.
EZfan
RF Shooter
APO= Apochromatic. A better correction of chromatic and spherical aberration than the much more common achromat lenses. The Apochromatic lens is usually of three elements and brings light of three different frequencies ( primary colors) to a common focus.
Any lens with "APO" designation is expensive except Sigma APO lenses.:bang:
redisburning
Well-known
it means that when you miss focus by even a hair it wont be as sharp as the normal cron.
or at least, that was how Zeiss explained the use of the 250 superapochromat as compared to the plain sonnar version (which cost a ton less).
I wonder what the price would be from Canon for an actual equivalent (ie not a 50/2 that was "almost as good" but one that actually was)? probably still north of 5k.
Araakii
Well-known
Now I wonder why the 75mm apo cron is so cheap? Shouldn't they also increase the price of that to at least $7,595 given that 75mm is not as common as 50mm?
david.elliott
Well-known
Ah. Doesnt sound like it would be as big a benefit to a film m user as a digital m user then. Thanks.
david.elliott
Well-known
I often miss focus by a few hairs.... :|
Lauffray
Invisible Cities
I don't know, I like Leica but this is insanity. I'm sure people will buy it though
If I were into 50mm, which I'm not, I'd get the nice Zeiss 50, now literally only a fraction of the price. I don't think I'll ever buy a digital M even if I could afford it
If I were into 50mm, which I'm not, I'd get the nice Zeiss 50, now literally only a fraction of the price. I don't think I'll ever buy a digital M even if I could afford it
Sunti
Established
No way. Who're they kidding? Leica's building monuments to honor themselves and is no longer interested in getting my vote.
The crazy part is, it's probably priced about right. It's not a matter of what kind of quality image it produces; it's a matter of how many they can actually manufacture and the numbers that the world will demand.
ChrisP
Grain Lover
What is probably also refers to is the fact that it might focus IR and UV light exactly the same as Visible Spectrum Light (this is my guess based on the price). This is important for some other applications (scientific and medical and stuff). With a normal lens IR light isn't focused exactly the same. Old Pentax lenses have a red marker showing how much to move the focus if you're using IR film.
Really this is probably a speciality lens that isn't needed for Normal Photography.
See lenses like the Coastal Optics 60mm f4 which costs about 5k (and is slower) http://diglloyd.com/articles/CoastalOptics60f4/index.html
Thats my guess based on the price but I guess all APO guarantees is that visible spectrum light is focused to the same point
*Correction* if it focuses things outside of the Visible Spectrum it should be called SuperAPO and would require fluorite elements at least according to Wikipedia
