Dan Tamarkin here from Tamarkin Camera in downtown Chicago
to talk a little bit about how to choose a Leica M lens.
The first thing to understand about Leica M cameras
is that they're range finder cameras,
which means you're looking through this little window.
You're not actually looking through the lens itself.
As you can see, the lens is placed here,
and the viewfinder is here.
We do have parallax correction,
which allows you to focus the lens.
It's very important to understand, in choosing Leica lenses,
that there are no zooms because
you're simply looking through this piece of glass,
which has these little bright frame lines inside of it.
As you mount different lens models,
the proper bright frame lines appear up here in the range finder,
which allows you to compose your image.
However, you can only have one lens on the camera at a time,
so choosing the Leica lens
that you will be using to compose your images
is very important.
Understanding how the range finder works
is the first step in choosing a Leica lens.
Here, on the table, we have a number of 50mm lenses,
some from the 1950s, 1970s, 80, 90s, currently manufactured.
These are F2 lenses.
These are F1.4 lenses.
And these are faster Noctilux lenses,
which we will talk about in a moment.
The important thing to also understand
about range finder lenses
is that you have a mechanical connection
when you mount the lens.
All of the lenses snap right into the body,
and they're very, very compact.
They all have focus, and they all have aperture.
These are the important facets of any photographic lens.
The way that the system works
is that you have this mechanical connection here.
As you focus the lens,
this little cam moves in and out,
and it, in turn, moves this little lever,
which is what you use to focus.
The range finder is calibrated to focus
in this connection.
Why do people use Leica lenses?
Well, because they're extremely compact,
they're extremely well-made,
and the optics are the best in the world.
Why do all Leica users use these funny words,
like Summicron, Summilux, Elmarit, and Noctilux?
All of these terms are trademark Leica terms
that refer to F-stop of the lens.
For example,
all Summicrons are F-2--
that's the widest aperture that the lens has.
So, what do these words mean?
Summicron = F-2.
Summilux = F1.4.
Noctilux can be F1.2, F1 or .95,
which is the fastest production lens in the world.
All of these Leica M lenses are extremely compact,
and they all work on the older M cameras,,
newer M cameras,
and even digital M cameras.
So, a lens that was made in the 1950s
will work just fine on a modern Leica M digital camera.
Nonetheless, it's very important to choose
the right focal length for you.
There are two other terms
that Leica uses in their manufacturing of their lenses.
One is APO,
which stands for apochromatically corrected,
and then aspherical (ASPH).
Apochromatic correction addresses an anomaly
called chromatic aberration,
or colors shift and are not rendered necessarily correctly.
You can get color fringing and all kinds of other effects
that we don't really like.
So, some of the lenses that Leica designs,
such as the APO aspherical 50mm Summicron,
are corrected for color
and all of the light rays to meet on the film plane
at exactly the same time.
APO stands for apochromatically corrected,
and there is benefit in having an APO lens,
even if you're shooting black and white.
It means that the lens renders more sharply,
with high contrast, all kinds of good things.
The other designation addresses spherical aberration,
which is the other kind of aberration that
happens in 35mm photography.
The important thing to understand
is that aspherical lenses generally are less prone to flare,
have a flatter field,
and the edges of the photograph are generally sharper,
higher contrast, and with better color rendering.
However, the important thing to understand
in choosing a Leica lens
is that these are little gems,
and it doesn't matter whether you have some aspherical
or something that's vintage--
they all make fabulous images,
and you basically get higher contrast as you get more modern.
So, as you continue to embark on your Leica journey,
please do contact us at tamarkin.com
or by dialing (800) BUY-LEICA,
so we can help you choose exactly the right camera
and Leica lens for your photographic journey.
Also, on our website, tamarkin.com,
you can look at some of the differences between
the vintage models and more modern models,
as well as the Leica digital cameras,
and even some of the rare, collectable cameras
that we have to offer.
We're more than happy to share our knowledge
of every photographic Leica device that
has brought to market since 1925.
Give us a call or send us an email,
and let us know how we can help find
the right camera and lens for you.