[LRflex] Re: Leica insolvency temporarily cured.

David
I can't recall where I saw it but one of the canon engineers made a comment to 
the extent "I we knew what Leica knows about making lenses we'd be the best in 
the world." or something to that extent. I believe it might have been in one of 
Erwin Puts' columns
David Young <telyt@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Your are undoubtedly right, Doug.

Rather sad, actually.

Moreso, because when I purchased my 20D, I also purchased their 17~80mm=
EF-S, IS zoom, because it filled some 'holes', particularly at the wide=
end.

However, I am appalled at the quality (or lack thereof) of this lens. It's=
sharp enough, but at the extreme w/a, barrel distortion is, well, extreme.=
Moreover, it has a terrible tendency to flare, even with the lens hood=
on. I know that I've been spoiled by using Leica gear all these years...=
but for $CAD $1000 this lens is very poor value!

I supect that you're right... Canon has good reason to fear Leica lenses in=
EOS mounts.

Cheers!

David.

---------

On 26/08/2005 at 8:48 AM Douglas Herr wrote:

>David Young wrote:
>
>> ... I tend to agree with the Luminous Landscape... If Leica were to
>> build their lenses in Nikon/Canon mounts, only a very tiny percentage=
of
>> those owners would ever buy one. But it would probably double Leica's
>> lens sales! And lenses (not cameras) are where the money is!
>
>This topic has been discussed a number of times on several forums. In a
>nutshell:
>
>If you want auto-diaphragm and full-aperture metering, there are two
>paths to this: cooperation and reverse-engineering.
>
>Cooperation won't happen, period. Canon doesn't want the competition. 
>The interest in using Leica-R lenses isn't minescule. Go to the Fred
>Miranda forum and see how much discussion there is on the subject.
>
>Reverse-engineering is risky, because Canon can (and has) made minor
>firmware tweaks that "break" the compatability of third-party lenses. As
>a lens purchaser you might be willing to take that risk if the lens offers
>you a significant discount but are you willing to bet the price of a Leica
>lens that it won't be turned into a doorstop? I don't see a market here.
>
>Foregoing the auto-diaphragm and full-aperture metering would be using the
>Leica lens in full manual mode, exactly like using an R-mount lens with an
>R-to-EOS adapter. A manual-only lens in an EOS mount would lose the
>flexibility of using it on a Leica-R body. I don't see a market there
>either.
>
>Ditto for Nikon mount, with the possible exception of an AIS mount, except
>that many current Nikon bodies treat AIS lenses as though they're
>manual-only. Can't even use the camera's meter.
>
>
>Doug Herr


David Young,
Logan Lake, BC 
CANADA. 

Personal Web-site at: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt
Leica Reflex Forum web-page: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt/lrflex.htm

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YXAndy


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