The New Leica Summaron-M 28mm f/5.6 – It Costs How Much?!

by Sean Setters

It's no secret that Bryan and I use Canon DSLRs and Canon-compatible lenses in our daily lives. Bryan has much more experience with non-Canon camera systems than I do (though I have some), but neither of us has any experience with Leica cameras and lenses.

Regardless, we enjoy reading about all types of camera gear when they are introduced. Keeping abreast of the camera industry as a whole allows us to better understand Canon's (and Nikon's / Sony's) position in the marketplace. As such, I recently read an article about Leica's newest M-mount prime lens, the Summaron-M 28mm f/5.6.

And that got me thinking, "Why in the world would anyone buy this?"

Let me break it down for you. The Leica Summaron-M 28mm f/5.6 is a remake of a screw-mount lens that was manufactured in 1955. The optics have not been updated. In fact, the following is stated in the product description at B&H (bold and italics added for emphasis):

Classic symmetrical optical design uses six elements in four groups to achieve a distinctly analog appearance with natural contrast, fine rendition of details and sharpness, and noticeable vignetting for an aesthetic, unique image quality.
So it features an optical design from the 1950s and the vignetting is so bad that Leica is advertising it as an "aesthetic, unique image quality" feature. Nice marketing. They were probably wise to skip over the part about the lens having an agonizingly narrow aperture for a prime. But negatives aside, I do understand the benefits of having a pancake-style lens that's very easy to carry. There's definitely some value in that particular aspect of the lens. But how much is that value worth to someone who owns, let's say, a Leica M Digital Rangefinder?

How about $2,495.00?

This is the part where my jaw drops and my head starts hurting.

Even I get nostalgic at times, and I can see why someone would enjoy using Leica cameras (even film cameras) for that reason. But for the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone would spend $2,500.00 for a moderately wide angle f/5.6 prime lens with an optical design straight out of 1955.

I'm baffled.

What do you think of the Summaron-M 28mm f/5.6? Let us know in the comments.

Posted: 3/28/2017 7:00:34 AM ET   Posted By: Sean
Posted to: Canon News, Sony News    
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