I have lots of photographic equipment that prominently features country (or even city) of origin. I guess it has never bothered me...in fact, I think it's part of the charm - everyone and everything is from somewhere.
I have the glossy black paint version, and the little metal tab is a bit worn, revealing some brass underneath. The word "China" on the front lens is in dark red, which is not very noticeable against the black background. If it were white, it would stand out more. But it doesn't bother me because I'm aware it's a replica made in China.
If you don't like it, the paint can be removed from the word(s) making it black against black.
Nice thanks. And lastly. How is the distortion on this lens? My Nokton II is great but has noticeable barrel distortion which makes it good for some things and not great for other things.
At similar apertures, the Nokton is sharper in the middle of the frame, but worse everywhere else. It’s also more contrasty.
The 8-Element has almost no geometric distortion and it’s rendering feels more like a detailed pencil drawing relative to the Nokton’s more black ink tones (if that makes sense).
The focus tab on 8E is more ergonomic, but the aperture ring on the Nokton is easier to grab, in my opinion. Both are built nicely, but the LLL feels a step above.
Sounds like it’ll pair nicely with the 50 Summicron. The Nokton is a for now lens until I decide on my 35mm. The 50 cron isn’t going anywhere. I was thinking eventually get the funds for the 35 Summicron, but this LLL peaked my interest. The black glossy price is already $1,500 but still, cheaper than the cron. I would expect the LLL to be much nicer than the Nokton. Although I would expect the Summicron to feel a lot nicer than the LLL.
One big difference between this LLL and the original Leica 8E is the feel and sound of the aperture. It’s also heavier than the original Leica.
Having the 50 cron I can see there’s something special about the feel of the Leica lenses.
Oh and LLL replied to me. They confirmed the lens is completely brass and also that there are more glossy black coming.
A win for the LLL over the cron. The cron will wear to white while the LLL will wear to brass like my black paint camera.
New hood for the LLL 35mm f/2 Collapsible Eight Element lens.
The E39 lens hood will be made from Brass and Available in the following finishes:
Chrome
Black Paint
Nickel Chrome
From LLL: "All future purchase Collapsible Eight Element will also include the lens hood. The lens hood will be sold separately at a later date. Please contact us for more information."
They are very transparent (unlike the center of the SPII at f/16 ), so I'm not surprised. Case in point: I asked them about my SP II that is black w/brassing – I had scraped a very tiny spot on the aperture ring, and it showed what seemed to be silver underneath the black paint – but it was hard to tell for sure if the scraped spot was silver or white. I asked if the aperture ring was only brass plated, and they responded that the entire lens is solid brass including the aperture ring, but they use nickel plating below the black paint to prevent corrosion. So I guess if you want your black LLL lens to look brassy from wear, best get a "pre-worn" edition as manual wear could show the nickel plating instead of the brass. Interesting since this is reminiscent of the plating Leica does for black chrome. Not sure if the LLL ultra-gloss black paint (used on a special edition of their 8 Element replica) is different – perhaps that is black lacquer directly on brass like the black MP.
Back to the internal flare. At f/8, the only conditions for me that show the central blue-ish flare is when shooting in indirect light, like indoors with light coming in the window from somewhere in front of me. Who shoots indoors at f/8? Commercial photographers with strobes maybe? Outdoors I have to stop down to f/11-16 *and* be shooting a subject in the shade to see the issue.
Finally received my SP II. Stunning lens. Smaller than I expected. I didn't realize the focus tab travel distance is quite long. Not a rant, just an observation. Focus ring itself is quite stiff but I assume it will loosen up.
Really interesting to shoot with. It feels almost physics-bending how the highlights tend to "bleed" on darker areas when shooting wide open. I tested it by shooting some tree branches with sun behind them. Small and narrow branches looks almost like just shadows, or that they've been double-exposured.
Haven't yet figured out what conditions makes the photos "full bloom", because sometimes the "effect" is very delicate, sometimes heavily pronounced. Something going on with direct and indirect lighting, with high contrast areas and light vs. shadow areas too. Not to forget the direction of light.
Of course you walk around with a bright shiny golden lens… 😅
Hope this answers your question..
highdesertmesa wrote:
I had scraped a very tiny spot on the aperture ring, and it showed what seemed to be silver underneaththe black paint – but it was hard to tell for sure if the scraped spot was silver or white. I asked if the aperture ring was only brass plated, and they responded that the entire lens is solid brass including the aperture ring, but they use nickel plating below the black paint to prevent corrosion. So I guess if you want your black LLL lens to look brassy from wear, best get a "pre-worn" edition as manual wear could show the nickel plating instead of the brass....Show more →
highdesertmesa wrote:
They are very transparent (unlike the center of the SPII at f/16 ), so I'm not surprised. Case in point: I asked them about my SP II that is black w/brassing – I had scraped a very tiny spot on the aperture ring, and it showed what seemed to be silver underneath the black paint – but it was hard to tell for sure if the scraped spot was silver or white. I asked if the aperture ring was only brass plated, and they responded that the entire lens is solid brass including the aperture ring, but they use nickel plating below the black paint to prevent corrosion. So I guess if you want your black LLL lens to look brassy from wear, best get a "pre-worn" edition as manual wear could show the nickel plating instead of the brass. Interesting since this is reminiscent of the plating Leica does for black chrome. Not sure if the LLL ultra-gloss black paint (used on a special edition of their 8 Element replica) is different – perhaps that is black lacquer directly on brass like the black MP.
Back to the internal flare. At f/8, the only conditions for me that show the central blue-ish flare is when shooting in indirect light, like indoors with light coming in the window from somewhere in front of me. Who shoots indoors at f/8? Commercial photographers with strobes maybe? Outdoors I have to stop down to f/11-16 *and* be shooting a subject in the shade to see the issue....Show more →
That's valuable information! My LLL 35/2 8-Element glossy black paint lens doesn't seem to have that nickel plating everywhere because I can see spots where the brass is exposed. With this knowledge, for lenses where the nickel starts showing, I might consider filing it down to reveal the brass for a better patina look.
Both my 8-Element and 'Elcan' are black paint. Both show brassing. No nickel plating that I see. Perhaps they changed their production methodology on the newer lens.
highdesertmesa wrote:
They are very transparent (unlike the center of the SPII at f/16 ), so I'm not surprised. Case in point: I asked them about my SP II that is black w/brassing – I had scraped a very tiny spot on the aperture ring, and it showed what seemed to be silver underneath the black paint – but it was hard to tell for sure if the scraped spot was silver or white. I asked if the aperture ring was only brass plated, and they responded that the entire lens is solid brass including the aperture ring, but they use nickel plating below the black paint to prevent corrosion. So I guess if you want your black LLL lens to look brassy from wear, best get a "pre-worn" edition as manual wear could show the nickel plating instead of the brass. Interesting since this is reminiscent of the plating Leica does for black chrome. Not sure if the LLL ultra-gloss black paint (used on a special edition of their 8 Element replica) is different – perhaps that is black lacquer directly on brass like the black MP.
Back to the internal flare. At f/8, the only conditions for me that show the central blue-ish flare is when shooting in indirect light, like indoors with light coming in the window from somewhere in front of me. Who shoots indoors at f/8? Commercial photographers with strobes maybe? Outdoors I have to stop down to f/11-16 *and* be shooting a subject in the shade to see the issue....Show more →
I appreciate that they state it. So you know what you're getting into/how you should use it.
_jim_ wrote:
Both my 8-Element and 'Elcan' are black paint. Both show brassing. No nickel plating that I see. Perhaps they changed their production methodology on the newer lens.
The silver/nickel under the black paint kinda defeats the point to me of having a black paint over brass. When in practical terms you are getting black paint over nickel. The lenses made like this will nickel, not brass! Which now makes the regular chrome version more appealing.
Or the way expensive bare brass...
