[Leica] Another ZM lens on the horizon

[jsmith342 at gmail.com (Jeffery Smith)]

I think you guys are pi**ing against the wind. I too have found the
Kyocera/Zeiss lenses to be exceptionally good, especially for the
going price. But I think we are in an argument here where anything
that wasn't built in German by Leica is considered to be garbage, and
anyone who likes anything other than Leica is a moron. I wish I were
affluent enough to scoff anything other than Leica, but there are just
too many outstanding images out there produced by lenses other than
Leica to deduce that anything non-Leica is garbage.

On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 5:15 AM, Douglas Sharp <douglas.sharp@gmx.de> wrote:
> In fact the Kyocera (Zeiss branded and Yashica) are some of the best
>  performers out there.
>  Yashica/Kyocera lenses on fixed lens Yashica RF's (Lynx, GX, GSN etc.)
>  are almost unbeatable quality, fast and razor-sharp.
>  The Yashica/Kyocera offerings for CY are a mixed bag of very good to
>  excellent lenses at reasonable prices with some fantastic highlights
>  like the 2.8/55 Macro and the 3.5/21mm, and the Zeiss branded 1.7/50mm
>  is one of the very best standard lenses ever made.
>  My two Eurocents
>  Douglas
>
>
>
>
>
>  Geoff Hopkinson wrote:
>  > 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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-- 
Jeffery L. Smith
New Orleans, LA