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Meyer Optik unveils Nocturnus III 50mm F0.95 with new mechanics and Leica M mount

03 Apr

German lens manufacturer Meyer Optik Gorlitz has redesigned its super-fast 50mm F0.95 lens both inside and out, and has added a Leica M mount option to the existing Fuji X and Sony E Mount fittings.

The Nocturnus lll has a new mechanical construction, according to the company, that makes manual focusing and adjusting the aperture almost silent. This new version is somewhat lighter than the Mark ll model, and there is also a slight design change to the outer barrel of the lens that now sees a cut-away in the metal to show the aperture value in use.

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The manual focus lens features a 15-bladed iris that closes down from F0.95 to F11, and the stepless aperture construction and ‘nearly silent’ focus control make it suitable for use in video. Inside you’ll find 10 lens elements in 7 groups, which gives the Nocturnus III a close-focus distance of 0.50m and total weight of 790g.

The new version of the lens is due to ship in August this year, and will cost $ 3,000 in either black or silver. Pre-orders made before the middle of April, however, can be made at a discount of up to 60%. For more information, visit the Meyer Optik Gorlitz website.

Press Release

Meyer-Optik-Görlitz launches new Nocturnus III 50 F0.95 with mounts for Sony-E, Fuji-X and Leica M

The third edition of the Meyer-Optik-Görlitz Nocturnus 50mm F0.95, which is known for its exceptional light intensity comes in a new design and features now mounts for Sony-E, Fuji and Leica M. The lens is currently available through a pre-sale campaign on the manufacture’s website.

Meyer-Optik has just announced the launch of the Nocturnus 50 F0.95. The super-fast manual-focus lens is optimized for use with full-frame sensors, but also works with APS-C cameras. The third edition comes in a new design and now features mounts for Sony-E, Fuji-X and Leica M. Within the next 14 days, the lens in offered in a pre-order sale, where it is available for less than 60% of its future MSRP.

Like its predecessor, the new Nocturnus comes with a focal length of 50mm and an aperture range from F0.95 to F11. Thus, the lens features a lot of versatility both when shooting in available light conditions and in terms of depth-of-field. Its 15 aperture blades with anti-reflective coating, make the new Nocturnus III 50 F0.95 a unique tool to create a pleasant bokeh with circular highlights whilst creating great sharpness in the focused areas.

The Nocturnus has a minimum focus distance of 50cm and weighs 790 grams. The new mechanical design of the Nocturnus III makes the Nocturnus also an interesting option for videography: Manual focus control and the stepless aperture ring operate almost silently.

Technical Specifications:

Focal length. 50 mm
Aperture: f0.95-11
Angle of view: 23°
Minimum focusing distance: 50 cm
Filter diameter: 67mm
Optical design: 10 elements in 7 groups
Aperture blades: 15, steel, special anti-reflex coating
Weight: 790 g
Color: Black or Silver

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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CP+ 2018: Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

04 Mar

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

Although the changes separating the K-1 Mark II from its predecessor are small in number, the new model occupies a big chunk of the Ricoh-Pentax booth at this year’s CP+ show in Japan. We were able not only to get our hands on the camera, but also the company’s upcoming D FA* 50mm F1.4 SDM AW that we’d only previously seen behind glass.

And though we couldn’t save any pictures taken with the camera, we got a chance to quickly try out the maximum ISO value of 819,200 and hand-held Pixel Shift mode – read on to find our impressions.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

Ergonomically, the K-1 Mark II is to all intents and purposes identical to the K-1, and the control scheme is identical its predecessor. With a UI that’s well-sorted and an impressive amount of direct controls, this isn’t a bad thing.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

Indeed, the only noticeable physical change to the body is the name on the front of the camera, and existing K-1 users that send their cameras in for the $ 550 upgrade will have the new name painted on their older models. Functionally, we’re told that an upgraded K-1 and a factory-fresh K-1 Mark II will be identical.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

Thanks to the new ‘accelerator’ in the imaging pipeline, the K-1 Mark II is able to shoot at ISO 819200, which is an increase of two stops compared with the original K-1’s previous maximum value of 204800. As you might expect, the one sample shot we took at this value showed a very high amount of noise, but it’s entirely possible that more moderately high values will show improvement over the original K-1. This is something we’ll be looking at very closely when we get a production K-1 II in for testing.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

The really big change for the K-1 II is the hand-held Pixel Shift mode, with the menu option shown here. We did a trial shot with the D FA* 50mm F1.4, and were pleasantly surprised by the sharpness of the result – despite shooting at a moderate focal length, there wasn’t any blur from hand-shake to be seen.

Unfortunately, your valuable time is the price your pay for this functionality; while the actual exposures are captured rapidly, the camera takes roughly 20-25 seconds to process the final image, during which time it is effectively locked. Still, we’re impressed by the possibilities of this new Pixel Shift implementation.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

And now, on to the HD Pentax-D FA* 50mm F1.4 SDM AW lens. This is Pentax’s first new prime lens to be developed since the introduction of the K-1 two years ago, and it feels like a really premium piece of kit. The nitty gritty details on the lens are still thin – we still don’t know the optical formula, for instance – but this pre-production model appeared fully functional.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

The ‘D FA*’ label designates this as a flagship lens for Pentax, and it certainly feels like it. It’s quite heavy and solid-feeling, but it balances well on the K-1 II thanks to the camera’s good-sized grip.

Focusing is taken care of internally and with a silent motor, and though it isn’t what we’d call ‘lightning fast,’ we would say it’s on par with other manufacturers’ wide-aperture prime lens offerings.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

The 50mm F1.4’s ‘WR’ label stands for ‘weather resistant,’ which is made most visible by the bright red gasket on the rear of the lens. Although we don’t know the full extent of the sealing, we’d surmise there are a number of other seals against both dust and moisture incursion throughout the rest of the lens.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

Handling on the D FA* 50mm F1.4 is straightforward, with only an autofocus switch and a broad, well-textured manual focus ring. The distance scale is likely to be appreciated by users preferring manual focus, and the lens can focus down to 0.4m or 15.75 inches.

Hands-on with the Pentax K-1 Mark II and D FA* 50mm F1.4

We’re really excited to get both the new D FA* 50mm F1.4 and the K-1 II into the DPReview offices to see what this combination can do. The K-1 II will be available in April, 2018 for $ 1999.95 body-only.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

03 Mar

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

Tokina released two lenses in advance of the CP+ 2018 show in Yokohama, and we had a chance to stop by their booth and get a closer look. First up is a premium 50mm F1.4 prime, the first in a new series of ‘Opera’ lenses designed for high performance on DSLR cameras.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

As you can see, the 50mm F1.4 is fairly large. The build quality is extremely solid, fit and finish is excellent and the focus ring is nicely damped.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

This new lens is just a prototype, and we unfortunately weren’t given any information on the lens’ optical construction or pricing. But the press release does state that the new lens lineup’s name, ‘Opera,’ was chosen because the company hopes to help photographers create photographic works of art.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

The 50mm F1.4 Opera features a degree of weather-sealing, including a gasket around the lens mount to help prevent dust and moisture incursion. It’s slated to be available in European and Asian markets in the summer of 2018.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

The E-Mount FíRIN 20mm F2 FE AF is a different beast altogether. Designed for mirrorless cameras, the 20mm F2 AF is a followup to Tokina’s existing manual focus lens of the same specification.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

Those specifications include 13 lens elements in 11 groups; three of those elements are Super-low Dispersion, and two are aspherical. Despite this, the FíRIN remains compact and lightweight, with a heft of 464 grams. Unfortunately for those that enjoy manual focus, there is no distance scale.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

The front of the lens accommodates a bayonet-style hood and 62mm filters. The 20mm F2 AF has a nine-bladed aperture diaphragm, and the closest focus distance is 0.28m or 0.9 feet.

CP+ 2018: Hands-on with Tokina’s 50mm F1.4 and 20mm F2

It’s best to take care when using this lens in inclement weather, as there is no rear gasket nor claims of weather or moisture sealing. Despite this, the FíRIN 20mm F2 looks very promising.

The lens will tentatively be available in Japan by the end of April and the rest of the world in May. Pricing information has yet to be announced.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Tokina unveils ‘top premium’ Opera 50mm F1.4 FF lens for Canon and Nikon

01 Mar

Tokina has officially announced the Opera 50mm F1.4 FF lens for Canon EF and Nikon F mounts that was leaked last week. The lens—part of Tokina’s new ‘Opera’ series designed for ‘high-spec full-frame DSLR cameras’—will arrive on store shelves in Summer of 2018, and a prototype is being shown off this week at CP+ in Japan.

This lens, and the Opera series in general, are being billed as Tokina’s ‘premium’ line—sort of like the Sigma Art series. In fact, Tokina goes out of its way to connect the term Opera with ‘Art’ in its press release. But marketing word choice aside, Tokina promises that Opera branded lenses will be “designed to perfectly match recent high-spec full-frame DSLR cameras, which keep requiring high quality optics.”

The Opera 50mm F1.4 FF is the first in this lineup, and already Tokina has put more tech into the lens than you’re probably used to from the third-party manufacturer. The lens boasts a ring-shaped ultrasonic AF motor, weather sealing to protect internals from dust and moisture, an electric diaphragm mechanism for the Nikon version (a first for Tokina), and a focus ring that turns the same direction as your native Nikon and Canon glass.

Unfortunately, Tokina hasn’t revealed one of the most important details yet: price. But with the official release scheduled for summer 2018, it won’t be long before we find out if (or by how much) Tokina has undercut Nikon and Canon’s 50mm F1.4 options.

Press Release

Kenko Tokina Co., LTD. is Proud to Announce the New Tokina Opera 50mm F1.4 FF, a Premium Full-Frame Lens for High-End DSLR Cameras

February 28, 2018

About opera series

With the debut of opera 50mm F1.4 FF we are launching a new series of next generation premium full-frame lenses for high-end DSLR cameras called “opera” series.

Opera series is designed to perfectly match recent high-spec full-frame DSLR cameras, which keep requiring high quality optics to be used with. In addition to originally high-valued Tokina AT-X series, this new opera series is positioned as top premium series of full-frame size lenses and will be further expanded with other lenses of related specifications and performance.

In modern society the word “opera” is commonly used to express general genres of stage art. In Italian it means work or work of art. As an omitted art genre definition opera comes from “opera musicale” that means a piece of music work. In Latin opera comes from “opus” and in contemporary language “magnum opus”, “opera magna” still has a meaning of “great literary, artistic or intellectual work”. We chose the name “opera” for a new premium full-frame DSLR lens series thinking of a lens that will help photographer in creating real “work of art”.

About the product

The debuting premium full-frame lens for high-end DSLR cameras in opera series is 50mm F1.4 FF (FF – Full-Frame). Designed for full-frame format DSLR cameras, opera 50mm F1.4 FF adopts a ring-shaped ultrasonic motor for autofocus drive module. Weather sealing prevents from dust and moisture to come inside the lens body. For the first time in Tokina line up Nikon mount model incorporates an electric diaphragm mechanism. The direction of the focus ring rotation fits the genuine Nikon and Canon lens.

Mounts: Nikon F, Canon EF

Sensor size: full frame format

About sales release

Sales release: summer 2018

A prototype of Tokina opera 50mm F1.4 FF will be displayed at CP+2018 Kenko Tokina booth location: Exhibition Hall(1F), booth # G-57

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Leaked: Tokina to announce Opera 50mm F1.4 FF and FíRIN 20mm F2 FE AF lenses

23 Feb

It seems Tokina is preparing to release two new lenses at CP+, and thanks to some last-minute photo and spec leaks courtesy of Nokishita, we get a peek ahead of schedule. The leaked lenses are the Opera 50mm F1.4 FF for Canon EF and Nikon F mount, and the FíRIN 20mm F2 FE AF for Sony E-Mount.

Tokina Opera 50mm F1.4 FF

According to the leaked specs, the Tokina Opera 50mm F1.4 FF will be dust and weather resistant and features an ultrasonic motor, a focus ring that rotates the same direction as that of a genuine Canon or Nikon lens, and an electromagnetic iris system for Nikon shooters (a first for Tokina).

No pricing info has been leaked, but the Opera 50mm F1.4 FF is allegedly scheduled for announcement on February 28th, and will ship in September of 2018.

Tokina FíRIN 20mm F2 FE AF

Meanwhile, the new Tokina FíRIN 20mm F2 FE AF will replace the FíRIN 20mm F2 FE MF lens released in September of 2016, and judging by the name alone, you can bet the new lens will add autofocus capability to its 1.5-year-old manual focus predecessor.

Leaked specs indicate this lens will be largely unchanged from the 2016 version otherwise. Identical specs include: 13 lens elements in 11 groups, 62mm filter thread, minimum focus of 0.28m, and a 9-blade aperture. Somehow they’ve managed to trim the weight down from 490g to 464g, but we’ll have to wait for official specs to confirm that (and our assumption about the addition of autofocus).

We don’t have any pricing info on this one either, but the new FíRIN 20mm F2 will allegedly be announced officially within 24 hours, and ships at the end of April.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Samyang unveils ‘premium’ XP 50mm F1.2 lens for 50MP sensors and 8K capture

20 Feb

It’s official! 24 hours after product photos leaked online, the rumored Samyang/Rokinon XP 50mm F1.2 lens for Canon EF Mount has officially arrived. This is the third so-called “XP” lens—the first two, which were announced in 2016, were the XP 85mm F1.2 and XP 14mm F2.4—which are named for their ‘Excellence in Performance.’ That is: they’re designed to resolve over 50 megapixels for photography purposes, and easily capture crisp 8K video.

Like those lenses, the XP 50mm F1.2 is manual focus and currently only made for the Canon EF mount. It boasts a 9-blade aperture, and is made from 8 groups of 11 lens elements, including one aspherical and one high-refractive lens element that promise to “deliver sharp and vivid images to camera sensors by effectively tuning the light path.”

Finally, Samyang has also included its “ultra multi coating” to help ameliorate flare and ghosting. Here’s a closer look at this lens:

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And here are some sample photos, posted by Samyang on the new XP 50mm F1.2 product page alongside an MTF chart and detailed specs:

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Samyang/Rokinon XP 50mm F1.2 spec sheet

The Samyang XP 50mm F1.2 will be available for purchase in March, at an expected retail price of 950 Euro (and very likely the same price in USD). To learn more, head over to the Samyang Global website.

Press Release

Samyang Optics Launches the Premium Photo Lens- XP 50mm F1.2

February 20th, 2018, Seoul, South Korea – Global optics brand, Samyang Optics (http://www.samyanglensglobal.com) is pleased to unveil the Premium Photo Lens – XP 50mm F1.2 for Canon full frame DSLR cameras. The XP 50mm F1.2 is the third lens of the premium line up, XP series, created under the motto of ‘Excellence in Performance’. The XP 50mm F1.2 lens is expected to expand the brand power of Samyang in the premium lens market thanks to its great image quality, following in the footsteps of the XP 14mm F2.4, XP 85mm F1.2.

The moment of the drama with absolute resolution

This lens, built for DSLR cameras, has a resolution of more than 50 megapixels for photography and 8K for video. The XP 50mm F1.2 manual focus lens enables you to capture those dramatic moments in perfect image quality with a bright F1.2 aperture. In particular, it optimizes for portraits, capturing the delicate change of the eye at the time of a portrait, right down to a strand of hair, and bright and beautiful skin colour. You can express unconstrained depth with the bright aperture, while the 9 blades also deliver beautiful bokeh, starburst, and out-focusing effects. Also, you can even achieve high image quality in low light conditions and indoors thanks to the fast shutter speed

Excellence in Performance

Produced from a total of 11 lenses in 8 groups, you can minimize distortion and various aberrations while producing crystal clear resolution. The special optic lenses, aspherical lens, and high-refractive lens deliver sharp and vivid images to camera sensors by effectively tuning the light path. Also, flare and ghost effects can be well controlled thanks to the ultra multi coating.

Available from March 2018

The absolute resolution XP 50mm F1.2 lens will be available in March at a suggested retail price of EUR 949. To celebrate the launch, Samyang Optics will hold various consumer events on Facebook and Instagram. For more information on the product, visit Samyang Optics’ official website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Leaked: Samyang XP 50mm F1.2 EF lens coming soon

20 Feb

Leaked photo via CanonWatch

Nokishita and CanonWatch have both gotten their hands on some leaked photos of an upcoming Samyang/Rokinon lens that is very intriguing indeed. Meet the unreleased Samyang XP 50mm F1.2 EF.

Based on the moniker, we know that it’s part of Samyang’s manual focus eXtreme Performance series of lenses—the third lens to join the party, after the XP 85mm F1.2 and XP 14mm F2.4 announced in September of 2016. And judging by the “EF” at the end of the name, this one will only be made for the Canon-EF mount as well. Here’s a closer look, courtesy of Nokishita on Twitter:

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No word on price or specifications beyond the focal length and max aperture, but Nokishita’s image leaks typically come within 24-48 hours of release, so we expect this lens to make its official debut in the next day or two.

For comparisons’ sake, the XP 85mm F1.2 goes for $ 900, while the XP 14mm F2.4 retails for $ 1,000.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Meike teases three new lenses: 50mm F1.7, 25mm F2.0 and 25mm T2.2

08 Feb

Chinese accessory and optical manufacturer Meike has posted a picture on its website of three lenses it intends to launch in the coming months. Two stills lenses are promised, a 50mm and a 25mm, as well as a 25mm designed for movie shooters.

It is reported that the first will be a 50mm F1.7 for mirrorless systems—including the Canon EOS M mount—which is due in the middle of next month. A 25mm F2 shown in the same graphic is quite a different design to the 50mm, and different also from Meike’s existing mirrorless and APS-C range of lenses, so it isn’t easy to guess what systems this model will be aimed at. The third lens is a 25mm T2.2 Cinema lens, which appears to be the company’s first foray into this video market.

Finally, as for how much these lenses might cost, it’s worth noting that the company’s current 50mm F2 retails for about $ 80… so they tend to be pretty affordable.

For more information, visit the Meike website.

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Rokinon AF 50mm F1.4 FE: sample gallery and impressions

18 Dec

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The Rokinon/Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 FE ($ 500) and AF 35mm F1.4 FE ($ 800) represent the South Korean manufacturer’s first foray into the autofocus lens market. The 50mm F1.4 is a steal compared to Sony’s own Planar T* FE 50mm F1.4 ZA ($ 1400). So what do you sacrifice, and is it worth the savings? In short, it’s enough to say this lens is no gem in a bargain’s disguise. But it’s not a bad piece of glass either.

The housing is made of metal like the Planar T* and the build quality is reassuringly dense – nothing rattles around when you shake it (a very scientific test indeed). It’s a little bit smaller than the Planar T* (the filter ring is 67mm vs 72mm), as well as lighter (645g / 1.4lb vs 778g / 1.7lb). But the Planar T* is by all accounts a large, heavy prime, meaning the Rokinon too feels hefty to lug around. It left this reviewer yearning for the comparably tiny/light-weight Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA instead.

The Rokinon/Samyang AF 50mm F1.4 FE, shot wide open. ISO 100 | F1.4 | 1/5000 sec

Photographers considering the Rokinon AF 50mm are likely doing so because of its F1.4 maximum aperture. Wide open, it’s not terribly sharp, but photos shot at F1.4 are certainly usable, especially if you add more sharpening in ACR or Photoshop. As you’d expect, sharpness improves as you stop down (until you hit diffraction territory). For a full stop aperture progression, head to the end of our gallery.

There’s a considerable amount of longitudinal chromatic aberration (purple and green fringing), and it can be really distracting around high contrast edges – see the second image in the gallery. While this can often be removed – to an extent anyway – in ACR or Lightroom, it’s often difficult or very time consuming, and comes with the risk of desaturation of other areas of your photo. Lateral CA corrections were left off for images in this gallery, and while you can turn it on in-camera or in Raw processing software, lateral CA seems to be well-controlled in this lens.

The AF motor is very noisy, not unlike a distant submarine distress call

The other significant reason photographers are likely to consider this lens over the cheaper manual focus Rokinon 50/1.4 is its autofocus. Unfortunately, we don’t have a whole lot of good news in this department. In use, the AF motor is very noisy, not unlike a distant submarine distress call. That, or a very near dental tool. Trying to use it paired with the Sony a7R III in AF-C is a nightmare. Focus speeds are slow, loud, and AF is easily confused, sending the lens into a painfully long hunt. Performance and focus accuracy are far more reliable in AF-S. Eye AF, one of our favorite Sony features thanks to its uncanny ability to grab a subject’s eye and lock focus is sadly inaccurate and unreliable when used with this lens.

This would not be my first choice for a normal Sony FE lens with AF, but it’s still capable of lovely results. ISO 100 | F2.5 | 1/1000 sec

The lens also has some issues with bokeh. Take a look at the onion rings in the out-of-focus highlights here, and if you search around the image above at 1:1, you’ll see slightly out-of-focus highlights having distracting holes in their center.

The takeaway: If you’re on a budget and want an FE 50mm F1.4 lens with autofocus, well, you don’t have a lot of options. Seeing as you can get some nice, usable images wide open, I wouldn’t steer you away from pulling the trigger on the Rokinon. But I would probably try to convince you to settle for F1.8 and save up for the Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA ($ 900) instead (quality-wise it is far superior to the Sony FE 50mm F1.8 – $ 200).

That said, optically this lens actually performed better than I expected a first-generation AF lens to. And I’m pretty excited to see Rokinon stepping into new territory.

See our Rokinon AF 50mm F1.4 FE gallery

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Leica unveils retro version of the APO-Summicron-M 50mm F2.0 ASPH to honor the LHSA

01 Dec

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Hot on the heels of yesterday’s Noctilux-M 75mm F1.25 ASPH announcement, Leica has debuted yet another lens this week. This time, it’s a special edition: the Leica APO-Summicron-M 50mm F2 ASPH ‘LHSA’ released in honor of the 50th anniversary of The International Leica Society (LHSA).

What makes this lens special is, basically, that it meshes the styling of the original Summicon 50mm F2 from 1954 with the optics of the current APO-Summicron 50mm F2 ASPH released in May of 2012. Optically, it’s identical to the 2012 lens, but on the outside it features either a black paint or silver chrome finish, a 1950s style lens hood, and red engravings of the distance scale. Other special markings include:

The special serial number is engraved on the aperture ring and is picked out in black on the silver chrome version and is not coloured on the black paint lens. Further engravings are found on the bayonet ring: ‘MADE IN GERMANY’ and the LHSA Logo – both of which are not picked out in colour.

This special edition Leica APO-Summicron-M 50mm F2 ASPH ‘LHSA’ will be limited to just 500 copies—300 in the black finish and 200 in silver—and each of them will come in ‘high quality packaging’ with a certificate of authenticity.

Both colors will be available starting the 4th of December, and according to our contacts at Leica it will retail for $ 9,595. That’s $ 1,800 more than the non-special edition lens retails for.

To learn more about this lens, visit the Leica website.

Press Release

Leica APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. ‘LHSA’: Special Edition to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of ‘The International Leica Society’ (LHSA)

Wetzlar, 30 November 2017 – For the past 50 years, ‘The International Leica Society’ (LHSA) has dedicated itself to researching the history of Leica and the use of the company’s products. The beginning of the celebration of the 50th anniversary in 2018 will be marked by the launch of a special edition of the Leica APO-Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH. produced especially for the occasion. The appearance of the lens is reminiscent of the Summicron 50 mm f/2 from 1954. The special edition thus unites the outstanding imaging performance of the current lens—which was the first to be able to fully exploit the contrast and resolution offered by modern digital cameras—with the look of the nineteen-fifties.

Depending on the choice of colour of the ‘LHSA’ special edition, the outer brass elements of the lens are finished either in black paint or in silver chrome. This also applies to the separate lens hood in the style of the nineteen-fifties that is also made of brass. While the engravings of the distance scale in feet are picked out in red on both versions, the other engravings vary in colour depending on the version of the lens selected: these are in white on the black paint version and black in the case of the silver chrome option. The special serial number is engraved on the aperture ring and is picked out in black on the silver chrome version and is not coloured on the black paint lens. Further engravings are found on the bayonet ring: ‘MADE IN GERMANY’ and the LHSA Logo—both of which are not picked out in colour.

The cordial collaboration between Leica and the LHSA has a long tradition and has already been the source of a number of special editions in the past. These include, for example, a set comprising a silver chrome Leica M6 and three Summicron-M lenses of different focal lengths produced in 1993 and a Leica MP from 2003 finished in a special hammertone lacquer.

The LHSA special edition of the APO-Summicron-M 50 mm f/2 ASPH. is strictly limited to 500 examples, 300 in black paint finish and 200 in silver chrome. Both versions will be supplied together with a certificate of authenticity in particularly high-quality packaging and will be available from 4 December 2017.

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