Why LEICA M lenses are so expensive...'

snusmumriken · May 27, 2023

greg zinselmeier said:
Why do people like 35mm sooooo much? I’ve sold all of mine . Years ago for larger formats

I really don’t get it, isn’t 35, just for entry into film?

Not trying to be obnoxious, but when you find out about 2-1/4,when you are starting out with 35mm, your love affair with 35 it’s all over, and then when you find out large format, 2-1/4 love affair is all over

You mean something like this? Another love affair in ruins?

Don_ih · May 27, 2023

guangong said:
The larger formats were the entry level formats (roll film). While Leitz and Zeiss introduced 35mm photography as practical, it was really after WWII that 35mm photography (until then 35mm was called miniature photography) took off with higher quality lenses, etc. A plethora of books then appeared illustrating how to cultivate the new techniques necessary for using 35mm cameras in creative photography. In a way, 35mm requires greater technical skill.

Interesting fiction. Film use initially was all contact-printed. My grandparents' photos from box cameras through the 30s and 40s were all contact printed. 35mm photography was practical because Leica and Zeiss were already making high quality lenses. The plethora of books appeared once a plethora of enlargers appeared. And how on earth could anyone ever consider that 35mm photography requires greater technical skill than shooting large format?

guangong · May 27, 2023

Don Heisz said:
Interesting fiction. Film use initially was all contact-printed. My grandparents' photos from box cameras through the 30s and 40s were all contact printed. 35mm photography was practical because Leica and Zeiss were already making high quality lenses. The plethora of books appeared once a plethora of enlargers appeared. And how on earth could anyone ever consider that 35mm photography requires greater technical skill than shooting large format?

Hardly fiction. You prove my point when you point out that most negatives were contact printed using large format film. Technically Leitz and Zeiss produced precision instruments with excellent lenses for the time, but affordable only for upper income folks. This can be seen in films of the time where wealth is hinted at by character owning a Contax or Leica. While I enjoy shooting with my Elmar and Hector lenses, they are certainly no match for postwar lenses.
Perhaps “greater skills” should be replaced by “different skills”. This is evidenced by a true master of 35mm technique, my late friend Lou Stettner, who also authored “U.S Camera’s 35mm Photography” in 1956. I have several other books addressing 35mm technique. All of these books mention an assortment of 35mm cameras in addition to Leica and Contax. In contrast, B. Abbott in her book “A Guide to Better Photography” 1941, mentions only two 35mm cameras: Leica and Contax. Book concentrated on photography with larger format film.
By the way, both Leitz and Zeiss produced enlargers for 35mm, so there was no need to wait fo a plethora of enlargers.

faberryman · May 27, 2023

There are great photographers who have used many different brands and many different formats of cameras. I do not believe using Leica cameras and Leica lenses will make you a great photographer. But if you want to use Leica cameras and lenses, by all means do so. Just skip the rationalizations and show me your prints.

snusmumriken · May 27, 2023

faberryman said:
There are great photographers who have used many different brands and many different formats of cameras. I do not believe using Leica cameras and Leica lenses will make you a great photographer. But if you want to use Leica cameras and lenses, by all means do so. Just skip the rationalizations and show me your prints.

Query: Did you know there is a Louis Vuitton handbag forum? Is is sort of like the Leica camera forum.

Louis Vuitton

Sub-forum community for Louis Vuitton fans, shoppers and collectors.

forum.purseblog.com

To be fair, there are forums or sub-reddits for virtually every recognisable brand of camera, handbag, motorbike or power tool, including Holga.

Sirius Glass · May 27, 2023

The real reason the Leica M lenses are so expensive is a plot to get people to buy Hasselblad and Hasselblad Zeiss lenses.

Radost · May 27, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
The real reason the Leica M lenses are so expensive is a plot to get people to buy Hasselblad and Hasselblad Zeiss lenses.
View attachment 339779

Way better cheaper cameras out here.

Sirius Glass · May 27, 2023

Radost said:
Way better cheaper cameras out here.

But when one uses a Hasselblad and the photographs are blah, then one can look in a mirror and see the problem straight in the face. [Can't blame the camera]

Radost · May 27, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
But when one uses a Hasselblad and the photographs are blah, then one can look in a mirror and see the problem straight in the face. [Can't blame the camera]

WHen it comes to medium format camera pretty much 100% are in the ballpark. I shoot a lot of folders from the 50s and they look great. Not to mention I shoot 6x9 6x7 6x45 as well as 6x6.

DREW WILEY · May 27, 2023

Put it this way .... who eventually bought the Sinar line? That should tell you something. It wasn't Hassle-bland.

faberryman · May 27, 2023

There you have it. Why Leica M lenses are so expensive.

Nikon 2 · May 27, 2023

faberryman said:
There you have it. Why Leica M lenses are so expensive.

Finally...!

Luckless · May 27, 2023

reddesert said:
FWIW, I was able to duplicate the penny video with a Bronica SQ (I don't own a Hasselblad). The penny didn't fall off, although it took a couple of tries before I could get one where the penny didn't move at all.

SLR vs rangefinder is a personal preference. Some people find one easier to focus than another, for example. I don't see the point in arguing that one's personal preference is right or universally better. It's like arguing about flavors of ice cream.

I was able to replicate a similar test on my RB67. But I had to use a nickel because I'm Canadian and have moved in the last decade...

Hardest part was finding a spot I could balance the coin and not have it roll right off.

A real test of vibration's impact on an optical system would be fitting a quality laser in place of the film back, and then recording the patterns made across a long room.

Nikon 2 · May 27, 2023

I’m so glad we’re back on topic...!

cliveh · May 27, 2023

As mentioned in a previous thread:-

Everyone knows that Leica lenses are the dog’s bollocks of optics. They are made from rare earth elements that are only found near the centre of the earth. Mining and assembling of these rare elements are a huge task, involving thousands of miners and engineering experts in innovative mining technology. Minute quantities of these rare earths are then placed in platinum crucibles and then subjected to heat and pressure only matched by the production of the finest diamonds. Each lens is then ground by Peruvian virgins underwater and assembled to produce a matching set of optical perfection elements that could only be matched by zirconium optics from the planet zardos. When a Leica lens is placed in any proximity with another lens such as a Nikon, or Zeiss they will simply roll away and commit suicide by smashing to the ground.

Nikon 2 · May 27, 2023

cliveh said:
As mentioned in a previous thread:-

Everyone knows that Leica lenses are the dog’s bollocks of optics. They are made from rare earth elements that are only found near the centre of the earth. Mining and assembling of these rare elements are a huge task, involving thousands of miners and engineering experts in innovative mining technology. Minute quantities of these rare earths are then placed in platinum crucibles and then subjected to heat and pressure only matched by the production of the finest diamonds. Each lens is then ground by Peruvian virgins underwater and assembled to produce a matching set of optical perfection elements that could only be matched by zirconium optics from the planet zardos. When a Leica lens is placed in any proximity with another lens such as a Nikon, or Zeiss they will simply roll away and commit suicide by smashing to the ground.

Please keep on topic as why Bronica cameras are superior to Hasselblad ...!

Radost · May 27, 2023

Nikon 2 said:
Please keep on topic as why Bronica cameras are superior to Hasselblad ...!

BRONICA??? MAYBE only the RF. But Mamiya for sure

Don_ih · May 27, 2023

Radost said:
Mamiya

has no soul.

Radost · May 27, 2023

Don Heisz said:
has no soul.

Looks wonderful… Don’t care about soul.
My motto is:
”Do you want to look cool while taking a photo or do you want your photos to look cool?”

Nikon 2 · May 27, 2023

Glad we’re back on topic…!

DREW WILEY · May 27, 2023

Translate that into : Do you want to be the first person mugged on the streets of SF or not? Nothing gives you more social status than filing an official police report stating you had a Leica stolen. Of course, you don't necessarily need to be mugged. Just leave it on the seat of your BMW when you're inside an expensive restaurant.

Nikon 2 · May 27, 2023

DREW WILEY said:
Translate that into : Do you want to be the first person mugged on the streets of SF or not? Nothing gives you more social status than filing an official police report stating you had a Leica stolen. Of course, you don't necessarily need to be mugged. Just leave it on the seat of your BMW when you're inside an expensive restaurant.

That’s exactly why I play it safe owning a F2...!

Pieter12 · May 27, 2023

Leave anything on the seat of any car and it will be stolen.

Nikon 2 · May 27, 2023

Pieter12 said:
Leave anything on the seat of any car and it will be stolen.

Now that’s deep...!

DREW WILEY · May 27, 2023

During college years and the reality of being devoid of sufficient income, a few of my old high school pals who rented an apartment together, but were trying to avoid paying a garbage bill, so saved up old Christmas wrappings, wrapped their garbage in it, and placed that on the back seat of a car with the door unlocked. Every day it got stolen.

But just this past month, overseas relatives of an acquaintance of mine arrived in SF, and left their baggage, including some very expensive 35mm camera gear, in a locked car right in front of a Chinatown restaurant just long enough to get themselves on the waiting list - less than 5 minutes unattended. That's all it took. They lost everything.

Even worse, a couple months before, an amateur photographer parked his Lexus over by the shore, and was walking around conspicuously shooting new high-end DLSR gear. That drew thieves to him like moths to a candle. But instead of mugging him, they tailed him a full hour back to his home 60 miles away, and not only took his camera gear, but went inside for an armed robbery, terrifying his family; and then, to add insult to injury, one of them drove off with his Lexus.

As for me, I'd rather look like one of the Beverly Hillbillies instead of looking cool. Or maybe I just look like that anyway. I drive a decently dented and reasonably dirty old truck, and dress accordingly. In any event, it works. But my brother tried to look like a pro, and carried his gear in shiny Halliburton cases, and drove around in a Porche, and had all his gear stolen twice from its trunk.

If I chose to shoot a Leica, I'd put some kind of nondescript relatively ugly wrapping over most of it, and then a dented or tarnished lens hood on the lens.

Why LEICA M lenses are so expensive...'

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