Leica is rumored to announce a new Elcan 66mm f/2 limited-edition lens next week, on September 3rd (Thursday).
The new model will be part of the vintage/historical/heritage/classic collection.
Only 660 pieces will be produced, and the price is expected to be around 9,000 dollars/euros.
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The Leica Elcan 66mm f/2 is an ultra-rare, high-resolution military optic produced by Ernst Leitz Canada (Elcan) in Midland, Ontario, around 1970-1972. Developed under legendary optical designer Dr. Walter Mandler, it was originally commissioned for the U.S. Navy and utilized by NATO forces as a “spy” lens during the Cold War. Many examples were lost or destroyed in service. The M-mount lens features a complex nine-element design, an E39 filter thread, and a one-meter minimum focusing distance, achieving a resolving power that remains impressive even on modern digital sensors. The unusual 66mm focal length has no matching Leica M framelines.
With an estimated production run of fewer than 200 total units, the Elcan 66mm is considered one of the rarest and most historically significant lenses in Leica’s history, rarely appearing on the market and commanding massive premiums among collectors. Collectors prize it for Mandler’s ultra-sharp, high-resolution rendering and balanced color, sometimes called apochromatic in practice even though it is not labeled APO.
Looks like Leica beat LLL to the punch on this one.
But LLL could still undercut them significantly, assuming they're able to get a hold of one to clone (or wait until the Leica copy is released and clone it - would anyone know the difference?).
rscheffler wrote:
Looks like Leica beat LLL to the punch on this one.
But LLL could still undercut them significantly, assuming they're able to get a hold of one to clone (or wait until the Leica copy is released and clone it - would anyone know the difference?).
The question is: Would anyone actually want to use one as a daily lens? It's famous for a lot more than just its extreme rarity, but practically speaking... I just asked my M's framelines about a 66mm field of view, and they hate the idea.
Framing via the M OVF is already an exercise in imprecision but one that can be honed through sufficient practice, as I found shooting 21mm and using the edges of the OVF itself as an approximation, instead of a dedicated 21mm finder. So if the Elcan were to bring up the 50mm lines (I have no idea), after a while you'd probably have a pretty good idea of how far in to crop for appropriate framing.
If anything, it's just a continuation of the self-inflicted pain that M shooters seem to seek out and work with as part of the M challenge.
Have any ex-military M bodies, e.g. a batch of the KE-7A, with 66mm frame lines ever been seen ?
Or perhaps the lens used within an optical instrument that included a bulk film recorder, perhaps with a Réseau plate like the lunar Hasselblads or the MK70 Photogrammetry camera, 100mm lens; a smaller 35mm camera would be easier to gyro stabilise.
There were quite a few military projects at ELCAN some prototypes never went beyond 2,3 or handful of lenses. I am researching one of them now that there are maybe 2-3 copies extent and so far the military version does seem leap over the civilian ver in IQ. Apparently Mandler enjoyed govt military contrasts letting his creativity soar. Special things and cost was not a big constraint with tax payer money available. As for the 66 I do not think the frame line was as important as what the lens can do. This is not about getting the perfect composed image, this is about getting whatever the photo target was in the center and getting the quality of the image. For military use probably most of the targets were at lens infinity ( photographer not doing portrait distance) so focus and patch less important. IQ was. I often shoot a 35 on a M3 the whole RF is close enough and I can use the M3 with a shoe meter and use a steel rim (my case the reissue) , or LLL 8 element as a proxy for the vintage Leicas and the M3 looks awesome with both.
At the moment I am not thinking of buying this one, I'd rather buy a 35 Noct. that I'd use a lot, The 66 is indeed rare and they will make continue to be so with a small number of copies of the reissue. I found myself thinking this is the type of thinking LSI, or rather LHSA used to do. Probably the lens is a decent investment, after they shut down production, it if there continue to be Leica collectors appreciate in ten years.
highdesertmesa wrote:
Oof, that is one ugly lens – should have made 666 of them instead of 660.
aside from a B70 jet bomber is anything the military has made "beautiful", functional yes.... beautiful no...... I am thinking the 66 is to get a bit more IQ detail and eliminate the "wasted" space in the 50 in the corners.. shoot it as a 50 and the sharper center in the 66 will be what is needed, no less sharp corners......that I think is the utility of a 6, an in camera crop of 50 to the sharp center. On the other hand if Leica was then to make a mark 2 KE7a it would not be a big deal to add 66 frame line, they never did it, but technically it is easy could be grouped with one of the others on the lever- they could even put a 50 and 66 on the same frame line to be clearer. Just a thought, it would be a lot of work and records are lost- but an article/book about ELCAN military is needed. Even getting images of ELCAN military in action is difficult.
EMH2025 wrote:
. Just a thought, it would be a lot of work and records are lost- but an article/book about ELCAN military is needed. Even getting images of ELCAN military in action is difficult.
The instruction and repair manual for the KE-7A seems to have survived.
I think we need Google docs to ingest a copy, so the content is generally available, and AI can answer questions.
EMH2025 wrote:
aside from a B70 jet bomber is anything the military has made "beautiful", functional yes.... beautiful no...... I am thinking the 66 is to get a bit more IQ detail and eliminate the "wasted" space in the 50 in the corners.. shoot it as a 50 and the sharper center in the 66 will be what is needed, no less sharp corners......that I think is the utility of a 6, an in camera crop of 50 to the sharp center. On the other hand if Leica was then to make a mark 2 KE7a it would not be a big deal to add 66 frame line, they never did it, but technically it is easy could be grouped with one of the others on the lever- they could even put a 50 and 66 on the same frame line to be clearer. Just a thought, it would be a lot of work and records are lost- but an article/book about ELCAN military is needed. Even getting images of ELCAN military in action is difficult.
Most every famous WWII fighter plane and half the WWII bombers
A-10 Warthog (so ugly it’s beautiful)
WWII battleships
Kidding aside, the 50mm Elcan is a nice looking lens.
Not only is it nice looking, but it's also extremely compact, especially compared to the Rigid. The focus tab is a nice touch too, and it's large and comfortable to use.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Not only is it nice looking, but it's also extremely compact, especially compared to the Rigid. The focus tab is a nice touch too, and it's large and comfortable to use.
Yes the 50/2 Elcan remains a fav of mine, makes for a pocket M film I am glad LLL brought it back..... and at a really good price compared to potential Leica classic ver... or potential LHSA ver..... although the later would appreciate through the roof. There are days especially film days where the LLLs elcan and 8 element is all I decide I need and what I take. Add to that LLL reproduced the small L-E39 lens hood completes the tiny package. I bought two.......back when I thought / feared there would be no more, I like it that much to have a spare.
Fred Miranda wrote:
The question is: Would anyone actually want to use one as a daily lens? It's famous for a lot more than just its extreme rarity, but practically speaking... I just asked my M's framelines about a 66mm field of view, and they hate the idea.
Looks interesting as an adapted lens or on a Ev-1, the focal length is interesting somewhat, 58mm was for a long time a favorite of mine.
But still it feels like they are reaching a bit.
They have a long history and some expertise, they should do new crazy things because there is a market for that nowadays.
Sonnar-7 wrote:
Looks interesting as an adapted lens or on a Ev-1, the focal length is interesting somewhat, 58mm was for a long time a favorite of mine.
But still it feels like they are reaching a bit.
They have a long history and some expertise, they should do new crazy things because there is a market for that nowadays.
The only other "65" reference I have is the Voigtlander 65mm f/2 APO-Lanthar. It's also a 1:2 macro lens, so it's not very compact either. I'd bet it's sharper than the Elcan, but unfortunately Cosina never released an M-mount version of it. It would just be too big for the M system.
Fred Miranda wrote:
The only other "65" reference I have is the Voigtlander 65mm f/2 APO-Lanthar. It's also a 1:2 macro lens, so it's not very compact either. I'd bet it's sharper than the Elcan, but unfortunately Cosina never released an M-mount version of it. It would just be too big for the M system.
I heard that the numerous 58mm of the 60s era were designed to be some wannabe large aperture 50mm but the technology didn’t allow for the manufacturers to do so, so they had to fit the desired 1.4 aperture in those 58mm lenses that were often in reality more around 62mm or more but for marketing purpose they were branded as 58mm to be closer to the 50mm ballpark that was what was selling.
My point being, maybe we have used more 60mm ish lenses than we think we did.
rscheffler wrote:
If anything, it's just a continuation of the self-inflicted pain that M shooters seem to seek out and work with as part of the M challenge.
Yay. The impossible to find and expensive lens is going to be a little more impossible and expensive, now that we've got a copy to stir up interest in the original.
I'm excited to see it one day behind glass in a museum next to the original. I assume that's as close as I'll ever get.
