Where is it ?! APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0 ASPH

A

anorphirith

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where is the threat talking about the $4,900 price increase of the Summicron 50mm ?!

non-asph non-apo $2295
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/86059-USA/Leica_11826_50mm_f_2_0_Summicron_M.html

then Leica did some extra grinding for $7195 ??!!
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/860529-REG/Leica_11141_APO_Summicron_M_50mm_f_2_0_ASPH.html

??????!!!!!!!!

compared the 50 summilux asph is "only $4K" and the 21 summilux asph is "only $7K"

BNH isn't the only one listing it at this price:

http://www.adorama.com/LC502MA.html...ping Site&utm_campaign=Other&utm_source=gbase
 
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1. you're late
2. don't buy it if you can't afford it
3. Leica so far have not discontinued the regular cron, most likely they will run it as a small number production concurrent with the regular cron
4. if you want the best, prepare to pay for it.
 
The 50 Apo Summicron is a "Damn the torpedos - full speed ahead" project. Leica set out to build the best 50 they could, applying all the knowledge they have accumulated over the years.
It is not a replacement for the regular Summicron - just a "tour de force" design. They even built a new collimator system for checking it.
Of course, most of us will never be able to use this lens to its full potential as neither film nor sensors today can fully utilize the resolution.
I do applaud Leica for making it - but from practical use, it is overkill - at least for now.
 
Tom A said:
The 50 Apo Summicron is a "Damn the torpedos - full speed ahead" project. Leica set out to build the best 50 they could, applying all the knowledge they have accumulated over the years.
It is not a replacement for the regular Summicron - just a "tour de force" design. They even built a new collimator system for checking it.
Of course, most of us will never be able to use this lens to its full potential as neither film nor sensors today can fully utilize the resolution.
I do applaud Leica for making it - but from practical use, it is overkill - at least for now.
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great thanks Tom, you make it sound like it's one of these secret ... german projects lol. the MTF charts does look unusually good for a 50mm ...
 
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Designing the finest 50mm lens possible is a good thing from a theoretical point of view only, I think. This lens is so overpriced from a 'user' perspective it is ridiculous. It costs twice the price of a 50 1.4 asph! I'd rather have seen Leica cut performance by 1% and half the price, the problem being that it would still be more expensive than made sense.

I suppose my question is, at $7K, what on earth is the point? Was there LSD in the water supply when they came up with this one!?
 
I always like it when a company or person attempts to make the absolute best of something, and to hell with cost/practicality/popularity. Makes a pleasant change from the usual nickel and dime approach, or the blandness of broad appeal.

It's a very large amount of money, but there are plenty of people in the world to whom it's pocket change.

Is it worth the money? Technically, almost certainly not, but nor is a Rolex, but it has other appeals which make it worth the money to the customer.
 
Turtle said:
I suppose my question is, at $7K, what on earth is the point? Was there LSD in the water supply when they came up with this one!?
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Isn't the M9-P retailing for $1000 more? And which do you think will hold higher value for the next 5 years? I find it kinda funny that people have accepted the M9 prices but can't accept an outstanding lens being priced at its worth.
 
Might also be that some of what Leica learned while designing and manufacturing this lens can be applied to other lense designs in the future. Who knows, though.

Turtle said:
Designing the finest 50mm lens possible is a good thing from a theoretical point of view only, I think. This lens is so overpriced from a 'user' perspective it is ridiculous. It costs twice the price of a 50 1.4 asph! I'd rather have seen Leica cut performance by 1% and half the price, the problem being that it would still be more expensive than made sense.

I suppose my question is, at $7K, what on earth is the point? Was there LSD in the water supply when they came up with this one!?
Click to expand...
 
Bingo!

Bingo!

segedi said:
Isn't the M9-P retailing for $1000 more? And which do you think will hold higher value for the next 5 years? I find it kinda funny that people have accepted the M9 prices but can't accept an outstanding lens being priced at its worth.
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Couldn't agree more. Going further, I think people that have bought a used film M have a tendency to overlook the retail rates for current products even moreso than folks that had to really reach to get in to an m9.
 
I'm talking about utility i.e. people who buy cameras and lenses for shooting, not as an investment. The M9-P is 1K more than the M9, which is the only FF M mount camera available. There are loads of lenses a person can use as an alternative to the 50 APO asph that still produce astounding results and all of which cost considerably less. In the case of the lux asph you also get another stop of /utility' along with your $3500 saving. Or a spare!

Comparing acceptance of M9 lenses and the 50 APO asph is not comparing apples with apples. The M9 is the only FF digital M solution and rather important if you wish to make use of your stash of M lenses on FF! The new APO 50 asph does not give you something that cannot be achieved to almost exactly the same practical extent with something else. The differences in performance, over a 50 cron or ZM planar, in practical use will be close to irrelevant to most people and utterly irrelevant to people concerned with wider photographic quality and not just the technical.

PS I have a bunch of Leica lenses, including the 24 1.4 lux. That cost me over 1K less than the new pedestrian 50mm f2 and was the ONLY lens (with the 21 lux) wider than 35mm in M mount in this speed.
 
You have made an intelligent choice not to buy this lens. It is good to have a choice at all even though not everything will appeal to each and everyone of us.
 
Mr.F, I am sure not everyone who buys it will be doing so to say how much they have spent. I know some will buy it because they love the idea of using something that is the absolute ultimate in performance. Some love using the very finest pieces of engineering and celebrate innovation and I understand that. My comments area more a question of Leica's wisdom in producing the lens, rather than investing in other products that would be more useful for creating fantastic images.

The M9 Monochrom has been criticised by some, but it is a more appealing camera than the M9 for me. I don't shoot colour seriously and if I really must I can use one of my DSLRs.... but for B&W digital, the monochrom is far superior to the M9 with an easy two stops more speed and far higher resolution. Niche, yes, but it has utility in a way the 50 APO asph does not have i.e. it really does allow you to shoot FF digital in lower light, or with visibly much higher resolution etc.

I love what Leica stands for, but wonder if they have gone a little batty with the new 50mm. I guess the proof of the pudding will be in how many they sell. I do recognise that new technology might filter into other lens lines, however, and this is a good thing for everyone. Doesn't make it a desirable product though.
 
So what is probably the best 50mm lens on the planet costs $7000. Chicken feed when you consider the best car on the planet probably costs a couple of million. I'd buy the lens in a heartbeat if I had the spare cash. Good on Leica for making it.
 
alan davus said:
So what is probably the best 50mm lens on the planet costs $7000. Chicken feed when you consider the best car on the planet probably costs a couple of million. I'd buy the lens in a heartbeat if I had the spare cash. Good on Leica for making it.
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So is it bragging rights - 'I have the best XYZ'?

I don't remember the half prices 50 lux asph being a slouch at F2 and that extra stop is kinda handy...

I'd also love to know whether the new lens is really dramatically more expensive to make than the 50 lux asph or whether they are trying to see just how much some people will spend to get 'the best' whatever it is.

You say you'd buy it in a heartbeat if you had the cash; is this because the extra performance of this lens is more appealing than an extra stop on the lux asph (and the regular 50 cron not being good enough)?

Your car comparison seems out of place to me as you would be comparing camera brands and pricing as one group and cars as another, with their respective luxury/top end products as part of that scale.

This is more akin to BMW making an improved next generation of 3 series and selling it alongside the already very good old model at three times the price and still twice the price of the range topping 7 series, which offers more size, power, torque, ride etc.

I think this lens is about extremes and what people must have. Seems about the daftest thing Leica has done in a long time. Lets not forget this is not an exotically designated lens. its a 50mm f2 yet it is more expensive that f1.4 ultra wide 21 and 24mm lenses which Leica claimed took all sorts of design gymnastics to make. I smell cynical pricing on Leicas part here, just to see what Leica devotees will pay. Judging by the response to this post, there are a lot of people that think a $7200 50mm f2 is not that outrageous because it is the best. Guess Leica's gamble is about to pay off, with painful consequences possibly to be seen in the pricing of future products if lots of them sell.... What next, the $9400 35 f2 asph II ?
 
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