RE: [Leica] To Buy or Not to Buy: a Leica 0

["Wang, Albert" <Albert.Wang@ibx.com>]

Based on the test shots of the Leica 0 which I have seen, I notice that the
resolving power is very good but certainly not up to par with the more
recent Summicron or even the 1960's Elmarit lens which I use. First of all,
the Leica 0 series lens is a 4 lens elements in 3 groups type which is not
as powerful as the Elmarit-R 28mm which has 12 lens elements in 10 groups
type (giving an example of a typical R lens). Indeed, the Elmarit-R 28mm has
more pieces of glass to correct for distortion which may occur because of
refracting problems which may be inherent in the Leica O lens. That means
that the Leica O suffers from more aberrations in general than the Elmarit.
And if you use a 10X loupe to hit on the Leica 0 negative you can tell where
fuzziness may occur (at least I could tell based on the test shots from the
Leica O I saw) especially in the borders of objects particularly in lower
light settings. Indeed if the lens on the Leica O were shortened then you
can tell that the corresponding lens in 28mm would suffer from evident
distortion particularly in architectural/landscape photographs.

Second, the other main problem is that the Leica 0 lens isn't particularly
all that fast. Dang, 3.5 is about as bad as a zoom lens and I might as well
forget using the Leica O because there isn't a flash sync.

Third, spending 2500 dollars for a toy is unwarranted. Dang, I buy cameras
to use them and that money could be better invested in a new Leica R3 body
or Leica M6 for me. I think that 2500 dollars could be used to get a few top
notch lens from Leica which are more practical than the Leica O camera lens,
no joke. That's why you don't see National Geographic photogs shooting Leica
O out in the field. It's too slow to be useful for varying conditions. And
for me, that's the best reason, better than worshipping lens tests which
serve to keep beginners duped for the rest of their lives.

sincerely,
Alfie

- -----Original Message-----
From: leica@davidmorton.org [mailto:leica@davidmorton.org]
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2001 1:57 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: RE: [Leica] To Buy or Not to Buy: a Leica 0


Albert Wang wrote:

"That's definitely not true. I doubt that the fewer lens elements in the O
series cameras can deliver sharper photographs than the Leica M6 or R8
seriously on any given day. In my opinion, the Leica O-series camera for me
is just another expensive toy but I doubt many photojournalists would be
using it all that much."

I'm *very* impressed by the quality of the O's lens on the pictures I've
taken with it. What problems or deficiencies have you seen on your images
from the O?

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