Will you pay $7,195 for the new 50 'cron Asph?

[david.elliott]

Originally Posted by redisburning

it means that when you miss focus by even a hair it wont be as sharp as the normal cron.

or at least, that was how Zeiss explained the use of the 250 superapochromat as compared to the plain sonnar version (which cost a ton less).

I wonder what the price would be from Canon for an actual equivalent (ie not a 50/2 that was "almost as good" but one that actually was)? probably still north of 5k.

I often miss focus by a few hairs.... :|

[Lauffray]

I don't know, I like Leica but this is insanity. I'm sure people will buy it though
If I were into 50mm, which I'm not, I'd get the nice Zeiss 50, now literally only a fraction of the price. I don't think I'll ever buy a digital M even if I could afford it

[Sunti]

No way. Who're they kidding? Leica's building monuments to honor themselves and is no longer interested in getting my vote.

[digitalintrigue]

The crazy part is, it's probably priced about right. It's not a matter of what kind of quality image it produces; it's a matter of how many they can actually manufacture and the numbers that the world will demand.

[ChrisP]

Originally Posted by david.elliott

forgive my ignorance, but what does the apo designation actually mean? what does it translate to in actual performance / rendering?

What is probably also refers to is the fact that it might focus IR and UV light exactly the same as Visible Spectrum Light (this is my guess based on the price). This is important for some other applications (scientific and medical and stuff). With a normal lens IR light isn't focused exactly the same. Old Pentax lenses have a red marker showing how much to move the focus if you're using IR film.

Really this is probably a speciality lens that isn't needed for Normal Photography.

See lenses like the Coastal Optics 60mm f4 which costs about 5k (and is slower) http://diglloyd.com/articles/Coastal...0f4/index.html

Thats my guess based on the price but I guess all APO guarantees is that visible spectrum light is focused to the same point

*Correction* if it focuses things outside of the Visible Spectrum it should be called SuperAPO and would require fluorite elements at least according to Wikipedia

[mfunnell]

Originally Posted by Araakii

Now I wonder why the 75mm apo cron is so cheap? Shouldn't they also increase the price of that to at least $7,595 given that 75mm is not as common as 50mm?

Don't be giving them ideas!

...Mike

[barnwulf]

No!!! I'll keep my 50/2 Planar. - Jim

[segedi]

When I win tomorrow's lotto, well, I'll just have to buy one to go with the Monochrom...

[Araakii]

Originally Posted by digitalintrigue

The crazy part is, it's probably priced about right. It's not a matter of what kind of quality image it produces; it's a matter of how many they can actually manufacture and the numbers that the world will demand.

The price should be right. Most people who say otherwise here would still be grumpy even if the price was $3000. They want everything for $500.

[EZfan]

Originally Posted by Araakii

The price should be right. Most people who say otherwise here would still be grumpy even if the price was $3000. They want everything for $500.

well said

[EZfan]

Originally Posted by enenrf

I'd rather buy a Noct. F0.95 ASPH.

The Noct 0.95 is not an APO designation.

[Araakii]

Originally Posted by EZfan

well said

It's actually a vicious cycle. Because people constantly demand lower prices, companies have to outsource all the manual work overseas to 3rd world countries. So the consumers get the prices they want. But suddenly, all these people doing manual labor in the US are no longer needed. So they are laid off and have no income. So in turn they demand even cheaper prices so they can afford the same standard of living they were so used to. And not only that, they laugh at other countries where wages are high and people seem to enjoy their lives more.

[redisburning]

I disagree.

they don't laugh. they pretend nothing else exists. self deception is strong in the West.

[maddoc]

Originally Posted by Araakii

It's actually a vicious cycle. Because people constantly demand lower prices, companies have to outsource all the manual work overseas to 3rd world countries. So the consumers get the prices they want. But suddenly, all these people doing manual labor in the US are no longer needed. So they are laid off and have no income. So in turn they demand even cheaper prices so they can afford the same standard of living they were so used to. And not only that, they laugh at other countries where wages are high and people seem to enjoy their lives more.

Yup. It is called "capitalism", very few win and the majority is paying for that.

[JayM]

Man the race to the bottom sucks and all but I think Leica's efforts to fight it are too heroic at times.

[Araakii]

Originally Posted by JayM

Man the race to the bottom sucks and all but I think Leica's efforts to fight it are too heroic at times.

The best thing about luxury brands is that the stuff is actually very good. They have all the design and engineering talents in the world. Imagine you are a world class designer and have to design for wal-mart so they can produce 1 million copies of your stuff for $10 each in Vietnam.

[Nikon Bob]

What was the original question? Oh yea, NO I don't think so.

Bob

[ark8012]

No, it is too much for 50mm and there are a lot of good lenses in 50 with a fraction of the price.

[leicapixie]

I was stunned! A monochrome only body, a 50mm lens with a price tag to simply stifle any questions..The fact that Leica is selling M9 at 3 times their sales projection figures is a testament of finding the right market.
The camera for me is totally stupid! I do a lot of B/W. I have a darkroom. I guess future buyers will be there as more companies are liquidated, workers laid off and the cEO can afford these trinkets with his/her severance bonus.
I still thing the camera is a dead idea. Like bleached bones in the sand, dead.
Time will see who was right.

[edftwin]

Whatever camera and lenses that Leica release, there will be people buying, it might not be you, but somebody else who has got the money and willing to spend on luxurious stuff.

[Jubb Jubb]

Originally Posted by Araakii

The price should be right. Most people who say otherwise here would still be grumpy even if the price was $3000. They want everything for $500.

No, i think $3000 would be a fair price for the lens, it would be relative to the rest of the Summicron ASPH range. However $7195 is absolutely insane.
You could buy two summilux 50's for that!!!

This really pi$$es me off, i was set on purchasing the new ASPH 50 'cron. Now I am going to have to look used, and all those prices are going to be jacked up too.

[tbarker13]

There must be some internal rule with Leica that every item it produces must be priced higher than any preceding item.
But as for the original question, I can't imagine a world where I would pay that much for any lens - let alone a lens that offers absolutely no added value for my photography.

[PhotoMat]

I would ask myself: "Will a $7000 lens markedly improve my photography over what I currently use? Am I being held back professionally by my lowly, five-year old Summicron?"

Obviously, the answer is a resounding "Hell No!"

This lens is nothing more than an object of desire -- people will buy it because they want it, not because they need it. I have yet to see a reasonably equipped photographer whose skill or personal vision is limited by their equipment.

[bob338]

Originally Posted by tbarker13

There must be some internal rule with Leica that every item it produces must be priced higher than any preceding item.

Summarit line?

[dougi]

Hmm, I wonder if Leica will bother to release a firmware update for the M8 (do they even remember those?) to include corrections for this new lens. Perhaps they will claim it doesn't need any.