Great series _jim_.
That 1966 lens causes some serious GAS here...
Meanwhile...
Some LLL 50/1.5 Z21. Aperture at F1.5 on all I think, can't remember but it's there it normally stays. EXIF oc only shows the value I entered in the manual lens data. I sometime venture to F2 but it's rare. All shot with the Voigtländer VM-Z Close focus adapter at 5mm. It's pretty soft when the adpter is extended but I like the look of it so I don't care so much about that.
Jim, images from the vineyard are excellent. You really made that lens shine there
Micke - Wow….I’ve seen the word ‘painterly’ used in several lenses I didn’t think it belonged, the photos above are what I think of when I hear the term ‘painterly’. Those are excellent. You say Jim’s images giving you gas, I’ll follow it up with your images giving me gas lol
Fred Miranda wrote:
The new LLL 40mm f/2 is about to be announced. Other than the aperture ring's functionality, it reminds me a lot of the Elcan 50mm f/2.
So maybe a wider "elcan" perhaps with less exotic glass to make it easier to produce that could render differently, perhaps not as center sharp weighted ? That is an LLL original and not a homage to an old lens, but may be inspired by one (the elcan?). It will be interesting when the announcement occurs and if restricted to prior customers how that will be managed.
Or if they really wanted to be out there.... do a new thorium glass lens... I know, it will never happen, I really like my now crystal clear 35 mm Nikkor F1.4 thorium adapted to Z... but no one will go back to that era.
I came across a post on IG explore page (can't find it again) saying the 40mm f2 is a remake of a chinese lens found on a fixed lens chinese camera and apparently it has high resolution in the centre. If I can find the post again I will link it.
edit- not sure how to get embedded links to work but at the time of posting it is the most recent post on the "shotenkobo" instagram account
The facebook account of Shotenkobo describes the lens as Zhou (as in LLL) Elcan- old lens
looks like an elcan and Shotenkobo says "elcan" but we will know when we know
What is more interesting is that Shotenkobo is posting it when the lens was described for prior customers - but we will all know when we know- soon I expect with the posting there...we will see.
btw I have purchased from Shotenkobo such as the LLL Z21 when tariffs impeded US purchase and found them excellent to rapidly deliver and they seem to have inventory of LLL products such as elcans that I thought were sold out. So I assume they are accurate in this post it is an "elcan" of sorts.
I'm not sure if this is true but here is what the post writes:
Zhou-san's "Hua" revealed! 👁️
It was the 40mm F2 lens mounted on the 1980s Chinese-made 35mm rangefinder camera "Huaxia (HUAXIA)." It's a double Gauss design with a 6-group 4-element lens configuration. The nominal resolution, according to period documents, is approximately 46 lp/mm at the center and 30 lp/mm at the edges (Grade I of the "National 65 Standard"). 📷
1983: HUAXIA 821 received an award (noted in documents as the "Golden Dragon Award")
1984–85: HUAXIA 822 selected as a departmental and provincial excellent product
1987: Recorded as second prize in a national award
*There's also a theory that its design referenced the Summicron-C 40/2 mounted on the Leica CL 👀
I already love my "Elcan" 50/2 (which the new 40/2 resembles), so this one doesn't really interest me. It seems LLL discontinued production of the Elcan a few months ago.
Fred Miranda wrote:
I already love my "Elcan" 50/2 (which the new 40/2 resembles), so this one doesn't really interest me. It seems LLL discontinued production of the Elcan a few months ago.
I also love my elcan enough to have two copies, but a wider "elcan-type" interests me, I am waiting to see the details, I will probably acquire it, decision after release, and if LLL resolves how the prior customer is offered the lens.It looks like an E39 lens that is a point in its favor for me to add to my small lens kit/inventory for easy carry.
The actual elcan design as a 50/2, LLL produced maybe a 1000 copies, plus the hundreds of originals. It might be a long time if ever before more true to original elcans are produced.
This photo is with the LLL Elcan and Leica M11P of a Sundog and its rainbow reflection in the Cook Inlet, Anchorage Alaska shooting directly into the Sun and to not have it washed out is a challenge, I did not use a hood, I am impressed with how the LLL Elcan handled the situation. I keep coming back to this lens for various things, finding it useful in so many ways, plus its tiny size makes it easy to use as a primary, or just an extra lens in case even if I am using other lenses as primary. In addition to Leica, I often carry the Elcan on an adapter when shooting Nikon as an extra in case more character lens, being small it always fits in whatever bag I am using as the just in case lens.
EMH2025 wrote:
This photo is with the LLL Elcan and Leica M11P of a Sundog and its rainbow reflection in the Cook Inlet, Anchorage Alaska shooting directly into the Sun and to not have it washed out is a challenge, I did not use a hood, I am impressed with how the LLL Elcan handled the situation. I keep coming back to this lens for various things, finding it useful in so many ways, plus its tiny size makes it easy to use as a primary, or just an extra lens in case even if I am using other lenses as primary. In addition to Leica, I often carry the Elcan on an adapter when shooting Nikon as an extra in case more character lens, being small it always fits in whatever bag I am using as the just in case lens....Show more →
EMH2025 wrote:
I also love my elcan enough to have two copies, but a wider "elcan-type" interests me, I am waiting to see the details, I will probably acquire it, decision after release, and if LLL resolves how the prior customer is offered the lens.It looks like an E39 lens that is a point in its favor for me to add to my small lens kit/inventory for easy carry.
The actual elcan design as a 50/2, LLL produced maybe a 1000 copies, plus the hundreds of originals. It might be a long time if ever before more true to original elcans are produced....Show more →
I think I might actually love the Elcan 50/2 even more than the Rigid...and that's saying something!
rollei35_warton wrote:
Every time I saw someone claimed LLL produced a lens for 1000 only. I couldn’t help laughing.
could be, serial numbers go only to 999, plus whatever # of review no serial they might have produced... so I and others assumed XXX/998 means they produced up to 998- but it is only an assumption rather than a stated fact. In any case they have stated they will produce no more elcans so what is out there is it. A number are "sold out" and that has not changed to my perception. They do not appear to be a big operation so even a 1000 or so of this lens and that is a significant # producing several different lenses at the same time, so likely a few thousand per year with all the different models. The forthcoming 40/2 has been outlined as a bridge to absorb production capacity, likely because other lenses such as the Elcan have ceased production. Again all assumptions.
You're right, but LLL products are still pretty niche.
Taobao, Aliexpress, Temu don't have the Elcan anymore, and most of the eBay stores are camera shops in Japan.
LLL definitely could produce unlimited runs, but it's better for them to keep making more new interesting batches business wise. Leica can produce unlimited runs of their collections too but they don't. Producing 25,000 Elcans would be wasteful production.
I saw maybe 1-2 Elcans occasionally a few months ago, and there are less places that have them now with no plans for a restock.
But I haven't been to the Shanghai camera stores yet, so I'll try to stop by to check their stocks when I go.
rollei35_warton wrote:
First of all, they have different colors, black, chrome, steel, even special edition like bare copper.
Secondly, each color has many batches, like V1L, V2L…..
Then every batch has about 998.
They can produce tens if not hundreds of thousands.
Believe me, I’m a Chinese and when I say Chinese do mass produce, they do. Never believe the “limited” crap.
And nothing is ever sold out. Go to aliexpress, eBay, temu, you can find any color of eclan for half of the official price.
