Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/05/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]In a message dated 5/14/01 6:19:37 PM Eastern Daylight Time, mark@rabiner.cncoffice.com writes: << I'm comparing the results of two lenses both set at f11 or f16. So the difference does not jump off the light table. >> Right. As Erwin and multi others have pointed out, current Leica lens production aims for highest attainable image quality at full aperture. As lenses are stopped down, the wide-open advantage disappears. In earlier generation lenses, flare is neutralized and contrast improves sharply at medium apertures. Marvelous full aperture performance accounts for the willingness, recently reported, of some LUGGERS to lug around all that extra 35/1.4 Summilux-ASPH, 50/1.0 Noctilux, 75/1.4 Summilux and 90/2 Apo-Summicron weight. If you don't need ultimate speed, the compactness and weight benefit of one-stop slower lenses makes sense without penalizing image quality. Seth Rosner LaK 9