Leica Elmarit-R 28 mm f/ 2.8 Lens Manual
Chapter 1
Leica R-Lenses
11
The curves for 5, 10 and 20 Lp/mm are almost flat, close toget-
her, and high in the diagram. The small undulation in the curve
for 40 Lp/mm is not so important in this case. You can be very
happy with this performance potential. An ideal lens is not (yet)
possible. The excellent performance wide open is accompanied
by some distortion.
Close to 2% is still an impressive value, but one will see this cle-
arly as straight lines as the edges become a bit curved. You
should reflect on this behaviour when selecting your subject
matter. I am not aware of a better 50mm f/1.4 lens than this
one, within and without the Leica domain. There are very few
lenses in the same performance league, but the Leica lens has
the advantages of better mechanical engineering and precision
in manufacture. Especially here, where you expect and demand
top quality, the accuracy of manufacture may be quite signifi-
cant. Stopped down this lens delivers outstandingly good image
quality and wide open the performance is excellent, even in
absolute terms. If you are aware of the great challenges that
have to be taken up by the designers to create a lens with such
high performance, you feel impressed by the result.
__Summary
The Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4most versatile and offers the best
allround performance and improves upon the Summicron-R
50mm f/2 at smaller apertures. Ana dditional advantage of the
Summilux is its good performance at the wider apertures. If you
want accurate reproduction of a wide range of subjects, also in
the close focusing range, the Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm f/2.8 is
the best choice. The Summicron-R 50mm f/2 offers many of
the characteristics of both these lenses in a compact and well-
handling shape, but has to take second place in the specialized
disciplines of its companions.