Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/08/06

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Subject: [Leica] Summarit Press Release
From: len-1 at comcast.net (Leonard Taupier)
Date: Mon Aug 6 08:10:03 2007
References: <cfc.166f182a.33e886e2@aol.com>

Bob,

Some prices were listed on the LUF from some shop in Europe. At this  
point we don't know how accurate these prices are since the release  
dates for the lenses are about 4 months away. What was quoted for the  
35, 75 and 90mm as 1250 Euros and the 50 as 1000 Euros. I did an on  
line conversion and it worked out to be $1723 and $1378. That sounds  
like it's in the ballpark to the new 28mm Asph.

I certainly don't know why they chose Summarit for a name either.  
Nothing in the new lenses compares to the old lens. The lens  
aperture, the number of elements and even the color is different. I  
like the sound of the name though.

I have a 1.5 Summarit as well. It is so well made, a thing of beauty.  
I used mine last week and don't recall a focusing issue. Maybe I'm  
lucky. It does flare pretty easily though. A hood outdoors is a must.  
The Summarit hood is a little rare and pricey but a thing of beauty  
as well.

Len


On Aug 6, 2007, at 10:14 AM, Afterswift@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 8/6/2007 4:44:27 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> lug-request@leica-users.org writes:
>
> the name  has me a bit muddled. i have an old summarit, a 1.5 LTM.
> does the summarit  name signify anything technical with respect to the
> design of new line of  lenses or is it a mainly a marketing name
> for the line?
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> I have a 1956 vintage f1.5 50mm Summarit M mount. Since  the  
> Summarit was
> conceived as a fast lens, perhaps Leica Solms thought  that the  
> Summarit label
> could be used for a class of lenses, more compact than  the faster  
> Summicrons.
>
> The only thing I didn't like about the Summarit -- which I  still  
> use -- is
> that the focusing assembly was made to such close  tolerances that  
> the lens was
> almost impossible to focus, so I had  to set distance by judgment.  
> When I
> returned the Summarit to Leitz NY  with that complaint, they  
> removed the oil so
> the movement now has some  slack to it, but it's still a difficult  
> lens to
> focus. I assume that won't be a  problem with the new Summarit  
> lenses. I can now
> just about use the  rangefinder with it. It certainly has a lot of  
> heavy duty
> glass and brass in it.  It's a weighty character. It was the first  
> lens I owned
> calibrated in meters. I  bought it in Germany.
>
> Other than having too much of a good thing mechanically, the  f1.5  
> Summarit
> is still a powerful lens that frees me from using  speedlights. I  
> think David
> Duncan used a Summarit for his book on Picasso and  another excellent
> photographer used one to do a memorable book on the poet Dylan   
> Thomas. I have both in
> my library. Both were shot in B&W, which seems  natural for the  
> Summarit.
>
> Incidentally, does anyone know the prices of the new Summarit  lenses?
>
> Bob
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Replies: Reply from henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff) ([Leica] Summarit Press Release)
In reply to: Message from Afterswift at aol.com (Afterswift@aol.com) ([Leica] Summarit Press Release)