[Leica] Another ZM lens on the horizon

[hoppyman at bigpond.net.au (Geoff Hopkinson)]

Mark, I understand the point that you are making however the lenses made by
Kyocera under the Contax brand were certainly not junk. I have owned and
used a number, from the fixed 35 in the T3 and 28-56 zoom in the TVS111,
through the G series lenses and then some of the N series. I would say, up
until the later and cheaper AF lenses that were part of the N range, they
performed extremely well and I could never fault their fit and finish
either. I have no personal experience with the Contax/Yashica mount earlier
lenses.
Similarly to the Kyocera Contax lenses, the Made in Japan Zeiss ZM lenses
are really well made and designed and perform splendidly. The couple of
specialized lenses in that ZM range that are made in Germany are
considerably more expensive. At least equal to Leica pricing, in fact.
My subjective opinion on the ZM 4.5 C Biogon 21 is that it can hold its head
up in the company of the spherical Leica designs, regarding accuracy,
resolution, contrast and saturation. Only in adverse against the light
scenes do I see performance (wrt flare) below that of my Summicron 28 asph
for example.
It doesn't hurt the ZM range that many lenses are of modest maximum
apertures. Vastly easier to correct. Like the Summarits too, a range of
compact and more modestly priced options for an M outfit.

Cheers
Geoff
http://www.pbase.com/hoppyman/e
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/gh/

-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+hoppyman=bigpond.net.au@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
Mark Rabiner
Sent: Tuesday, 25 March 2008 08:26
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] Another ZM lens on the horizon

If Cosina is making
> their own lenses with Zeiss advice, then I'm surprised that Cosina is
> okay with that. Zeiss is obviously getting a chunk of the profits for
> its "advice". I don't care what the "brand" is, to be honest. Most of
> my colleagues who aren't shooters have heard of Canon, Nikon, and
> Minolta. I walked into a reception at the college with a Contax, and
> nobody had ever heard of that.
> 


Yes I see you are talking about stuff Cosina is doing.

But all I saw was
"Looks like a new 35/2.8 Biogon..." and then one more sentence.

And if you could get a 35/2.8 Biogon for one fifth the price of a Leica lens
then there is nothing to think about. No "option".
Forget Leica!

Leica however does not have a company else ware make its glass at a fraction
of its normal coast with it not looking anything like a real quality Leica
lens and with parts interchangeable between lenses.

If they did people might start calling them "Leica lenses".


Zeiss had previously had Kyocera turn out junk for it with it's name on it
and it didn't care what happened if people were going to buy it.

Leica does it with Panasonic point and shoots. Along with Schneider and
Zeiss.
But with that new law a yuppie cant buy a point and shoot without a German
name on the front rim I think they're off the hook.
Nobody really thinks they're shooting "Leica glass" when they're shooting a
hundred dollar Panasonic with LEICA on the front rim.


Mark William Rabiner
markrabiner.com



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