The very first sentence in their announcement page promises a long term 'Apochromatic Series Project' with the same range approach as this 35/2. Next up, the 50mm - presumably a 50/2, then either a 28mm and/or a 75mm (my guess).
'Independently develop high-performance optical designs' might suggest more complex, original design lenses. Leica's 50mm APO is an 8/5, the 75mm APO is a 7/5, this 35mm one is an 11/6.
Leica do not make a 28/2 APO and their 50/2 and 75/2 APOs are now quite dated, though lovely lenses.
They date from the crossover period from lead to reliance on lanthanum and other exotic oxides. Schott lost almost all their catalog for high end glasses. A 75mm is an easier target for #3.
A 28mm that is compact enough for M VFs will be hard, and that focal length is already catered for with some fine lenses from others. The traditional choice for three lens sets bracketed 28mm and 35mm - choose only one to go with a 50mm and a 75mm/90mm. So we might see 35/50/75 - very symmetrical.
philip_pj wrote:
Leica do not make a 28/2 APO and their 50/2 and 75/2 APOs are now quite dated, though lovely lenses.
Show me one picture where you will say "I should have used an apo lens instead of my 28mm Summicron".
Then do the same with the "dated" 50/2 APO and 75/2 APO.
[First up, I don't take orders from you, monsieur, and I'm not sure I care for your rather abrupt tone.]
'Show me one picture where you will say "I should have used an apo lens instead of my 28mm Summicron"'
It's great you have no need of APO correction at 28mm, lucky you. You might address this inquiry to the users of the CV 28/2 APO. We can point to challenging scenes that are tailor-made for that 28/2 APO, like here:
I'm certain Fred will put the LLL APO through the same rigorous tests he is doing with the 90/4 right now. You might be interested in my yesterday's experience of trying to find a decent analysis of the CA correction level the 28/2 (v2) Summicron produces.
You know what I found? Several gushing love letters totally devoid of the kinds of things Fred (or Chris Frost or Dustin Abbott or Optical Limits) does to gauge the color correction of each and every lens they test.
The 'reviewers' shall remain nameless to avoid embarrassment for them, there being no point being cruel when people are simply expressing their love for their lens - despite not even once using the words 'chromatic' or 'CA'! It's rather important, no?
Many here have grown children that are younger than the two longer Leica M-APOs (75mm and 90mm), so you can accurately dispense with the apostrophes regarding them. The 50/2 is all of 14 years old, the 75/2 is 22 years old, the 90/2 is 28 years old. You will recall the 2025 thread on the CV 90/2 Ultron APO, where Fred demonstrated its clear correction advantage over the 90/2 AA, that is what we had with older "APOs".
Few people have any idea how much glass formulae and availability have changed in that period of time. What is now possible, and even expected, that was not possible back then.
Actually I recall a member posting a landscape image posted here, shot with the 90mm APO-Summicron (from memory) - he was definitely unhappy with its color correction for that image, and rightly so. I hope you have good day, cheers.
philip_pj wrote:
[First up, I don't take orders from you, monsieur, and I'm not sure I care for your rather abrupt tone.]
'Show me one picture where you will say "I should have used an apo lens instead of my 28mm Summicron"'
It's great you have no need of APO correction at 28mm, lucky you. You might address this inquiry to the users of the CV 28/2 APO. We can point to challenging scenes that are tailor-made for that 28/2 APO, like here:
I'm certain Fred will put the LLL APO through the same rigorous tests he is doing with the 90/4 right now. You might be interested in my yesterday's experience of trying to find a decent analysis of the CA correction level the 28/2 (v2) Summicron produces.
You know what I found? Several gushing love letters totally devoid of the kinds of things Fred (or Chris Frost or Dustin Abbott or Optical Limits) does to gauge the color correction of each and every lens they test.
The 'reviewers' shall remain nameless to avoid embarrassment for them, there being no point being cruel when people are simply expressing their love for their lens - despite not even once using the words 'chromatic' or 'CA'! It's rather important, no?
Many here have grown children that are younger than the two longer Leica M-APOs (75mm and 90mm), so you can accurately dispense with the apostrophes regarding them. The 50/2 is all of 14 years old, the 75/2 is 22 years old, the 90/2 is 28 years old. You will recall the 2025 thread on the CV 90/2 Ultron APO, where Fred demonstrated its clear correction advantage over the 90/2 AA, that is what we had with older "APOs".
Few people have any idea how much glass formulae and availability have changed in that period of time. What is now possible, and even expected, that was not possible back then.
Actually I recall a member posting a landscape image posted here, shot with the 90mm APO-Summicron (from memory) - he was definitely unhappy with its color correction for that image, and rightly so. I hope you have good day, cheers....Show more →
The crazy part is that the Leica APO-Summicron 90/2 ASPH., while well corrected for axial CA (though not by today's standards or expectations), isn't all that different from the Leica 90/2 pre-ASPH in color correction. I was surprised to see almost the same amount of axial CA between the two versions when pushing it into high-contrast areas ...that caught me off guard since you don't hear much of that online.
The CV 90mm f/2 APO-Ultron operates on another level of axial CA correction entirely, and the new 90mm f/4 APO-Lanthar just pushed that needle even higher.
But the pre-APO 90mm Summicron still has the most pleasing rendering of them all. The character is simply magical. Sharp, but without that overcorrected look in the bokeh.
I enjoy using my 90mm APO Ultron, but I loved the pre-APO Summicron for its rendering. I only sold it because of the unpleasantly stiff focus ring, which still required way too much force even after being freshly cleaned and lubricated.
I’d love to have that kind of rendering in a 28mm or 35mm, and also in a 50mm… ✨
?!?@!?
Wish more info would come out