[quote name='Martin_MM' date='15 June 2010 - 09:13 AM' timestamp='1276589598' post='532']
I didn´t know that the variations are mosty present in the whole lens batches and it´s not a problem pieace by piece that much....[/quote]
It's actually more of a piece by piece problem (IMO), but when tested seriously one would need to check for batch problems, too.
[quote name='Martin_MM' date='15 June 2010 - 09:13 AM' timestamp='1276589598' post='532']
Why aren´t you testing the Leica lenses? Of course I mean the "real" Leica, Solms (and the M9 lenses), not the Panasonic with pre-paid "Leica" label. Is it going to change in the future?
[/quote]
Yes, definitely. In fact I already announced upcoming Leica tests in April in the old forum, however a few things have hindered a launch of the reviews. First of all, there's a huge backlog of Nikon reviews that need to be published first. The M9 reviews are more of a "hobby", something I almost forced Klaus to accept <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> and consequently of low priority. In addition, I'm having a little trouble with one Leica lens (backfocus, who would have thought ...), so that lens and the camera have spend a few weeks at Solms already and thus were unavailable for testing. The issue is not resolved yet and I'm afraid I'll have to send in at least the lens once more.
In April, I posted this image of our test camera (and that lens, a Heliar 50/3.5, will of course be reviewed, too):
![[Image: m9b.jpg]](http://www.mst.cc/Images/m9b.jpg)
[quote name='Martin_MM' date='15 June 2010 - 09:13 AM' timestamp='1276589598' post='532']
I got a feeling the M9 has been quite a bit success and moreover the Leica lenses have been a benchmark of quality for decades so it would be very interesting to test something like the legendary 35/f1,4, wouldn´t it?
[/quote]
Absolutely. Leica and Leica users are just now shifting towards digital, facing some of the issues other brands have solved years ago already. Their reputation so far is built on (no doubt excellent) film cameras and usage of their lenses combined with analog film.
The digital age, however, brings new challenges to deal with. Subtle differences in contrast or colour balance for example were important attributes of a lens with film, but now they are just the move of a slider away.
On the other hand, there's now the possibility to pixel peep with a Leica, too (not on the M9's ancient display, though), and some surprising results seem to be ahead. Like: if you purchase a fast tele prime, that carries APO in its name (for a price, that would have bought you a Nikon 200/2 VR just a year ago, before Nikon raised the prices) you'd probably expect it to be free of LoCAs. Well, turns out it's not.
I have a feeling there are quite a few sacred cows to kill.
There are some testers out there already who do M lens reviews. However, none of them does technical reviews like we usually do, so we're trying to fill that gap. I'm sure we'll have to face some hefty arguments with the fan boys, though <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
-- Markus
I didn´t know that the variations are mosty present in the whole lens batches and it´s not a problem pieace by piece that much....[/quote]
It's actually more of a piece by piece problem (IMO), but when tested seriously one would need to check for batch problems, too.
[quote name='Martin_MM' date='15 June 2010 - 09:13 AM' timestamp='1276589598' post='532']
Why aren´t you testing the Leica lenses? Of course I mean the "real" Leica, Solms (and the M9 lenses), not the Panasonic with pre-paid "Leica" label. Is it going to change in the future?
[/quote]
Yes, definitely. In fact I already announced upcoming Leica tests in April in the old forum, however a few things have hindered a launch of the reviews. First of all, there's a huge backlog of Nikon reviews that need to be published first. The M9 reviews are more of a "hobby", something I almost forced Klaus to accept <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> and consequently of low priority. In addition, I'm having a little trouble with one Leica lens (backfocus, who would have thought ...), so that lens and the camera have spend a few weeks at Solms already and thus were unavailable for testing. The issue is not resolved yet and I'm afraid I'll have to send in at least the lens once more.
In April, I posted this image of our test camera (and that lens, a Heliar 50/3.5, will of course be reviewed, too):
[quote name='Martin_MM' date='15 June 2010 - 09:13 AM' timestamp='1276589598' post='532']
I got a feeling the M9 has been quite a bit success and moreover the Leica lenses have been a benchmark of quality for decades so it would be very interesting to test something like the legendary 35/f1,4, wouldn´t it?
[/quote]
Absolutely. Leica and Leica users are just now shifting towards digital, facing some of the issues other brands have solved years ago already. Their reputation so far is built on (no doubt excellent) film cameras and usage of their lenses combined with analog film.
The digital age, however, brings new challenges to deal with. Subtle differences in contrast or colour balance for example were important attributes of a lens with film, but now they are just the move of a slider away.
On the other hand, there's now the possibility to pixel peep with a Leica, too (not on the M9's ancient display, though), and some surprising results seem to be ahead. Like: if you purchase a fast tele prime, that carries APO in its name (for a price, that would have bought you a Nikon 200/2 VR just a year ago, before Nikon raised the prices) you'd probably expect it to be free of LoCAs. Well, turns out it's not.
I have a feeling there are quite a few sacred cows to kill.
There are some testers out there already who do M lens reviews. However, none of them does technical reviews like we usually do, so we're trying to fill that gap. I'm sure we'll have to face some hefty arguments with the fan boys, though <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> -- Markus
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