p.1 #1 · "Polar" replica of the Leica 35mm f/2 Cron 7-Element
Polar is a new company from China that's making camera lenses. They're about to tell everyone about their first lens, the Polar 35mm f/2 Summicron designed for the Leica M mount. This seems to be a replica of the Leica 35mm f/2 IV "Pre-Asph," which is famous for creating beautiful rendering.
Additional information (in Chinese) can be found in this video. Check out the sample images as well.
p.1 #2 · "Polar" replica of the Leica 35mm f/2 Cron 7-Element
Engraving on the lens and exterior construction looks really good. I paid an arm and a leg for a EX+ German 6-bit Leica CLA copy, and I’d jump at the chance to get a replica in brass to use as an everyday shooter.
p.1 #9 · "Polar" replica of the Leica 35mm f/2 Cron 7-Element
In looking at the photos from the Photorumors link Fred posted, if you look at the front and rear caps of the silver version, it appears to be straight aluminum much like an Apple laptop. Silver chrome would have covered the machined swirl marks.
p.1 #11 · "Polar" replica of the Leica 35mm f/2 Cron 7-Element
Desmolicious wrote:
So, LLL did the 8-Elements replika. Polar Bear is doing a 7 Elements replika. I'm holding off until someone makes a 9-Elements version.
p.1 #17 · "Polar" replica of the Leica 35mm f/2 Cron 7-Element
j.liam wrote:
Indeed. Opinions vary. A faux Rolex can keep good time as well as a real one so that isn’t the contention.
Poor and incorrect analogy, but I assume you knew that. These replica lenses are not being passed off as Leica products, merely homages. This has all been discussed to death already anyway.
p.1 #18 · "Polar" replica of the Leica 35mm f/2 Cron 7-Element
According to the video, this lens was developed by two young Leica hobbyists, relatively unknown in Chinese lens developer circles. They started the project after the LLL 35/2 8-element went on the market. The project nearly collapsed midway through as they exhausted their financial resources but managed to pull through at the end. The two samples in the video were pre-production units and they are working on few final touches for their production units (the font size was one of things may be changed). Initially, they will only make silver and a few bara brass lenes. The lens is pretty heavy weighing close to 300g (the original Leica silver version weighs over 260g). The initial batch of 200 lenses were all sold according to the video. The price for the first batch is 3,799 RMB, which is about $525 USD based on the current exchange rate. From the images shown in the video by two initial users (on M240, M11 and Nikon Z? bodies), the optical performance is very close to that of Leica copy they have.
p.1 #19 · "Polar" replica of the Leica 35mm f/2 Cron 7-Element
highdesertmesa wrote:
Poor and incorrect analogy, but I assume you knew that. These replica lenses are not being passed off as Leica products, merely homages. This has all been discussed to death already anyway.
