Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1996/11/02

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: Re: New and Improved?
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Sat, 02 Nov 1996 09:30:45 -0500

At 06:53 AM 11/2/96 -0500, Henry Curtis Miller, M.P.A. wrote:

>My dad stuck his 12th ed. Leica Manual in my hand when I was still a young
>boy in the '50s and '60s and said 'read.'  He never spoke of any 'glow' from
>his Leica or Zeiss glass. 

This displays a complete ignorance of what Berek was setting out to
accomplish.  ZEISS has always designed for maximum optical performance, so
there is NO "Zeiss glow".  Berek, realizing his design resources were so
limited, opted for a rather simple optical trick to make the lenses produce
a final image with a more striking effect than would otherwise be the case.
This explains why Leitz lenses have historically tested poorly.

It's not a matter of epic import, but it does explain why Leica lenses are
so renowned for optical performance but perform so poorly on the test-bench.

Marc

msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!