SlowDriver wrote:
My point exactly. Same for the APO 35mm with its 750g for an 35mm f2 lens.
I think you probably already aware, Peter Karbe discussed the fact that he designed a standard lens barrel size for all SL APO F2 primes and he could have made the 35 SL APO smaller, but instead decided to use the extra space to apply even more correction to the 35 APO optical formula.
To your point he could have made a smaller SL 35 APO. But he didn't for the reasons he discussed.
LBJ2 wrote:
I think you probably already aware, Peter Karbe discussed the fact that he designed a standard lens barrel size for all SL APO F2 primes and he could have made the 35 SL APO smaller, but instead decided to use the extra space to apply even more correction to the 35 APO optical formula.
To your point he could have made a smaller SL 35 APO. But he didn't for the reasons he discussed.
Yes, I am aware of that. I am guessing the standard barrel size is probably a cost savings thing, and additionally a videographers thing, and it looks cool if you have 3-5 APO lenses with a uniform size/look, but for me owning only the 35mm it is really a disadvantage as it makes the 35mm much bigger than it really should be. The APO Summicron-M weighs 320g. That is a big difference with the 750g of the APO Summicron-SL. The AF motor and the weather sealing obviously account for part of the difference but how much better is the SL lens really than the M lens as they both have the APO designation? Would anybody notice if the "even more corrections" were not applied? Are the "even more corrections" really worth say 200g of additional weight? I don't own the APO Summicron-M so I can't really comment on the quality difference (if any) but my gut feel is that you should be able to shrink the size/weight of the APO 35mm easily with 25% with little to no quality impact. Sony, Sigma, Hasselblad, etc all make version 2 lenses nowadays and they all tend to be (much) smaller.
RomanMF wrote:
3-5 years away for a new sensor leads me to believe this M11-R rumor may be true. A little holdover until they can get their proper M12 revamp out. Hopefully that thing at least has a Maestro IV in it.
I would not view that as a rumor. That is what will happen. We don't know the exact sensor that will be used, only that it will still be a Sony one. The M12 has been held up by processor issues. So we really don't know about that at this time either.
M11-R would be interesting with the SL3-P's sensor to at least provide usable e-shutter options. Curious what else Leica could include with a more powerful sensor and processor package...
SlowDriver wrote:
I am guessing the standard barrel size is probably a cost savings thing, and additionally a videographers thing, and it looks cool if you have 3-5 APO lenses with a uniform size/look, but for me owning only the 35mm it is really a disadvantage as it makes the 35mm much bigger than it really should be. The APO Summicron-M weighs 320g. That is a big difference with the 750g of the APO Summicron-SL. The AF motor and the weather sealing obviously account for part of the difference but how much better is the SL lens really than the M lens as they both have the APO designation? Would anybody notice if the "even more corrections" were not applied? Are the "even more corrections" really worth say 200g of additional weight? I don't own the APO Summicron-M so I can't really comment on the quality difference (if any) but my gut feel is that you should be able to shrink the size/weight of the APO 35mm easily with 25% with little to no quality impact. Sony, Sigma, Hasselblad, etc all make version 2 lenses nowadays and they all tend to be (much) smaller. ...Show more →
My impression is it's more a video thing and is also what Canon is doing with their line of VCM f/1.4 prime lenses. With Canon it's definitely about 'hybrid' photo/video use in consideration of those who are frequently working with gimbals.
Those Canon VCM lenses are very similar in size to the Leica SL APO Crons, but average around 550g and do rely on software distortion corrections, particularly the wider angle models. They seem to be an example of what you're suggesting could be done with the SL APO Crons to reduce weight. If I had the budget, I'd buy both the Canon and SL APO Cron sets to see what the actual optical quality difference is. So far I only have the Canon 20/1.4 VCM and while it's a very good lens, I feel it could still be better WRT flare control, which in some situations affects image contrast and saturation.
Wouldn't the real strength of Leica's optical supremacy be them designing lenses that are of similar size to their competitors that perform better? If your lenses have to be mini-telescopes to narrowly outperform your competitors, are you actually better at lens design than them? Or do people believe they've just hit a wall with physics?
Curious what else Leica could include with a more powerful sensor and processor package...