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Looks like satisfying work. For about an hour or two.
And to think, Apple has this perfected this from over 100 parts down to one — a piece of plastic of the sensor 🙂
Leica lenses are worth it.
The grinding and optical alignment of the components is usually the best on the planet.
(We all know what happened when a bunch of amateurs tried to get some off the planet… STS-61/a>)
While quantity has a quality all its own sometimes there is no substitute for quality. The Germans have long been known for precision in lens making.
My first couple of years in college, I made a living as a photog. Had a Yashica and an old viewfinder Leica. (Also a Roliflex but that was for portrait and other studio work.) That Leica was my favorite piece of gear. Sadly, the lenses, even then, were prohibitively expensive so I used the Yashica most of the time. Of course, I was mostly shooting for the local news so high quality wasn’t all that important.
Funny thing. The film Leicas are the most satisfying and beautiful.(Would you really want a “digital” Leica? Think about it. The sensor will be obsolete in three years.)
So the film Leicas are the most desirable. But FILM? I don’t think so. Leicas are over, in my opinion. Too bad.
Amazing stuff. No wonder the Japanese manufacturers can’t hold a candle to Leica’s optical quality. Hand crafted vs. pumping them out on conveyor belts.
#6 Leicas are over, in my opinion.
Leica’s may be over in your mind but they are still doing unbelievably well at retail. Check out B&H or Adorama. The M range lenses are constantly out of stock. People wait months to get their hands on every new update to a digital M body. All of their M range products sell out. The demand is there. It’s just not for everyone.
“The sensor will be obsolete in three years.”
That’s the beauty of interchangeable lenses.
Are there DSLRs that take Leica lenses?
#8 Are there DSLRs that take Leica lenses?
Unfortunately not. But once you own Leica glass (new or very old), it will work on any future Leica M body.
@ #7
And to second that, it is also why the Panasonic cameras that are winning all the awards and reviews are almost all cameras that use Leica lenses.
I have one and it is phenomenal. I will only buy a camera if it has Leica it it.
Watch Canon hand make my lens from start to finish: canon.com/camera-museum/tech/l_plant/index.html
These lenses will far outlive any digicams they’ll be fitted to…
#11 Thanks for that. I have several L Series, and now I can see why the prices are what they are. Leica’s however, being essentially handmade, have to be sold at exorbitant prices. At least one can save up for a L Series Lens in a reasonable time. Leica lenses are virtually unobtainable for the average person.
#9 So, you will need to purchase an astronomically priced new Leica body every few years. At least my Canon lenses will work on a reasonably priced superior sensor in the future.
We all agree that Leicas are good, but are they THAT much better? Maybe. Maybe not.
#12 So will my L Series.
#5–Animby==since you HAD a Leica camera, how was it expensive to use?
amazon has the Leica Digital Camera, body only, that takes the M lenses. ONly $7000.
http://amazon.com/Leica-M9-Digital-Steel-Gray/dp/B002NX13NA/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1310684225&sr=1-8
Everyone I know uses Canon or Pentax with a few weirdo’s with Leicas. They always take large format pictures that don’t fit in with the group at all. Hard to compare quality when the format is so different. They do look good–but so does everyone elses.
Had friends that would brag how much better their Mercedez was over my Dodge Charger. They could get 500K miles out of their car whereas I could only get 200K. but I could put another engine in for $2000 and be good to go for another 200K AND the cost of my car was the cost of their 100K Mile Check UP.
sure its a nice car/camera. But is it worth it? YMMV.
Most pre-80’s cameras, Japanese or not, will outlive most modern digicams… Just go to Ebay and get as many as you want, and you’ll be lucky if your digicam doesn’t go dead in 3 or 4 years. And old cameras are easier and more fun to use. I’m a old guy by now, of course 🙂
I don’t know anything about lenses and cameras.
However, I’m tried of buying cheaply made stuff.
I want fewer, but nicer, things.
Things that work, are worth taking care of, are admirable, and last a long time.
If I can’t afford something, then I hope I can restrain myself from buying it.
And if I’m going to spend my money, I want value (not cheapness).
Some things are just expensive, for no other reason than that they are priced that way. Some Apple things come to mind. Also maybe German cars (better in some ways, but a Mazda or Subaru are probably a better value).
Beautiful, and hand made, things do make me salivate. Don’t know why.
I admire people that can produce something real from an idea.
# 16 bobbo, “…a Leica camera, how was it expensive to use?”
Not exactly sure what you’re asking, Bob. The Leica was no more expensive to use than any other 35mm camera. Drop in a roll of Tri-X and out the door. No batteries or other expendables. My comment was that the lenses were too expensive for me to buy whereas the Yashica used a bog standard lens mount so I was able to buy cheap mail order lenses. That was important to a freelance shooter like me who was making ten bucks for each photo published ($15 if I could talk them into a byline).
I made almost all my money from high school and college sporting events and considered it a great bit of fortune to happen upon some human misery like a traffic accident.
Come to think of it, times haven’t changed in all these years: I still make my living off human misery…
Thanks Animby. The implication is that a “viewfinder Leica” doesn’t have the expensive lenses at issue?
I did not know that.
Freelance Photog in College? Man!! I carried the US Mail. Your life has been so much better than mine. ….. I am being serious…… absent wiping my butt with banana leaves. Once is enough. Not a big fan of clinical detachment either. I’d rather feel the appropriate emotions===but then arrange my life never to confront them.
Ha, ha. Yes indeed.
Good marketing ploy.
Of course Nikon and Cannon don;t do anything remotely like this….. NOT!
This is normal lens production, even in China!
Stupid!
My Canon L lenses are awesome. They were expensive, but they will last me most of my life.
What I like about the Canon is that I can, if needed, rent a good lens for a project. And I can sometimes borrow a lens from a photographer friend.