Auto Focus lensen for M8?

P

Peter G1G2

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Hello group,

Do you think there is any chance that the dedicated lenses for the M8 will be auto focus?

I would really like to buy the new M8, but unfortunately my hands are partly paralyzed.

At the moment I work with a Leica D Lux 2 and a Contax G1 and G2 without any problem.

Thank you for reading.

Knd Rgrds,

Peter
 
I don't think so, first they would have to put the AF motor in the lens which adds a lot of bulk and second they have to have some sort of rangefinder for the AF with any form of coupling to the lens. Engineeringwise this should be doable but I wouldn't wonder if the result is bulky, heavy, ugly as hell and prone to failure.

Somebody please buy the Contax G drawings from Kyocera and build a digital on it, with a 24x26mm sensor of cause :)
 
I would definitely say no. Having that on a Leica wound be a travesty. Have you tried having wide angle lenses and using hyperfocal focusing? Even faster than auto focus in many situations.
 
I agree, hyperfocal can be interesting. Wind up the ISO (on an R-D1), stop down the lens, great depth of field from something like a 28mm Summicron, just the job for discrete shooting.
 
I guess Mark's and Boarini's solution is as close as you'll get.
1. the lenses have no electrical coupling with the body
2. The lenses would obstruct the viewfinder
3. Leica's philosophy would not allow it; they don't offer AF in the R system either.
I think your best bet will be to wait for the S system, if you want a Leica body, or buy the new Panasonic 4/3 one with the Leica zoom.
 
Maybe you could search for some info on the new Panasonic Lumix L1 (think it's called like that, similar to the old Panasonic LC1 / Leica Digilux 2 but with interchangeable lenses). Sort of Leica M resemblance with auto focus option.

Edit: well, this is more or less what Jaap said above, so much for my cafeine level, so I'm leaving now for some extra dose.

Oscar
 
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jaapv said:
I think your best bet will be to wait for the S system, if you want a Leica body, or buy the new Panasonic 4/3 one with the Leica zoom.
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What is the S system?
 
The Leica version of the Panasonic LC1;There is a long article about the third Leica System in the LFI that just came. A formal introduction will be on the Photokina.
 
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jaapv said:
The Leica version of the Panasonic LC1;There is a long article about the third Leica System in the LFI that just came. A formal introduction will be on the Photokina.
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?? -- I thought I got my magazines a little late. I read about this a few months ago in LFI. I'm amazed that there hasn't been much discussion about Leica's entry into the 4:3 system. I am not impressed, but that's because I have an unsaciable appetite for narrow DOF and very fast glass. If I want everything sharp and in focus, I use my Canon EF glass and stop it down to at least f/8. Only bad glass cannot perform well stopped down this far.
 
LFI August has a long article entitled "Four Thirds:How does the Digital Standard fit into Leica's Product Portefolio" They don't say it outright, but the implication is that Leica will announce a body and some lenses at the Photokina"
"Whether, where and in which form Leica will deliver their own Four-Thirds camera has not yet been voiced concretely - here, too, photokina is bound to come with new tidings. The same goes for prices, delivery dates and, last but not least, questions as to just which lenses are in the pipeline, making for a well rounded camera system"
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Quite a feat for a small company in the birth-throes of another totally new camera.Actually Leica wants to implement this as a system for beginners, which they, I suppose don't mean in a technical sense, as they mention elsewhere that the aim of Panasonic and Leica is to take the 4/3 system to a professional level for auxilary professional use, but it is probably meant in a financial sense and
...drawing the attention of the Leica brand to a clientele for whom the tiny undertaking in Solms had, to date, not caught its full attention.
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Does anyone seriously expect it to be anything more than a re-badged L1 with maybe a couple of new lenses beyond the one already launched?
 
Not really- but it makes business sense to build a system "under" the R and M to get customers to upgrade. At any rate, according to the article, the finder/shutter assembly of the LC1 is Olympus, the sensor/ electronics is Pana and the rest of the body is Leica. So it would be fairly easy to build a "real"Leica S-1, maybe by making the shutter Leica and cosmetically. Lenswise, of course, Leica could be the leader in this alliance.
 
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