Pre-order Sony G lenses: FE 24mm f/2.8, 40mm f/2.5, 50mm f/2.5

LBJ2 wrote:

chiron wrote

realVivek wrote

There are Leica handbooks that actually list all the stuff they churned out and how many per year. I even have a few of those from the past. Not a big deal.

Sony does not have to emulate Leica. In fact, Leica are following Sony and others. Their Ms now can take an EVF and are all sporting live view.

chiron wrote

Steve Spencer wrote

chiron wrote

It's a question of emphasis and of clarifying or establishing the territory. If new high quality G lenses are establishing a system for the A7C, one would start in the heart of what the family, traveling and street-oriented photographer would want. Leica's first lens was not a 90mm, nor is it the heart of the system. The smaller lenses that are now available for the A&C ae fine but still a bit large and not necessarily very special.

Think of the success of Samyang tiny series but with G quality.

I think this shows some ignorance of Leica history. The first three Leica lenses introduced were a 35mm, a 50mm, and a 135mm, and the Leica 90 Thambar was made for Leica in 1935 for the very first Leica screw mount system. Leica has for a long time embraced the 90mm and 135mm focal lengths. These are not an odd focal lengths by any stretch of the imagination for Leica and have a long and distinguished history on the Leica platform. The 90mm and 135mm focal lengths in Leica history actually preceded the 24mm focal length and the 40mm focal length by quite a lot.

Rude, but unconvincing and not to the point. Obviously they made some moderate lengths. Not the point. How many lenses do they sell in each focal length category?

I didn't mean to suggest that Sony was emulating Leica. Sony is less emulating than perhaps incipiently displacing them for uses favoring a small, fast, high quality kit.

Perhaps that is why Leica is raising their prices substantially--to enhance the aura of Je ne sais quoi that surrounds their offerings.

I spent some of the last month wondering whether I should plunk down 10k to savor this rare essence. At the moment, I seem to have recovered. If these new G lenses go where I hope they will, that will help me to stay recovered.

I better send you some more Leica videos...fast

Oh wait, here's a nice one "An Artist taking photos of another artist, Leica Style"

You are the very devil, LBJ! The appeal is very seductive and the work that has been done with that camera line is truly fabulous. I bought the book "Eyes Wide Open! 100 Years of Leica Photography." Oversized, beautifully printed, and a very thick 564 pages (weighs about 9 lbs.). It was cheaper than a Leica Noctilux lens cap.

I do envy the glass and also the slender feel of the most recent bodies that are said to recall the handling of earlier Leicas. But I also feel that for my eyes and my frequent subjects, I tend to need excellent autofocus (especially indoors or in dim light where zone focusing doesn't get you much). Also, I am a big fan of IBIS. I know there are good ways around all these factors, and the work that is done with Leica cameras and lenses is wonderful.