Leica Black Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH Lens For Leica M-Series Cameras - 11663

Leica 11663 Black Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH Lens For Leica M-Series Cameras

The LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35 mm f/1.4 ASPH. is a further revised version of the popular wide-angle lens of the Leica M rangefinder system. Thanks to the latest developments in the fields of optics and precision engineering, the new 35 lens sets a whole new standard in the fast wide-angle lens portfolio. Regardless of whether it's a matter of selective focus in the close-up range, highcontrast available light applications or landscape shots with immense depth of field, the lens delivers persuasive arguments in any situation. In comparison with its predecessor, the new LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35 mm f/1.4 ASPH. now incorporates a floating element: the lenses behind the aperture blades are constructed as a floating group that changes its position relative to the front lens group during focusing to ensure that the LEICA SUMMILUX-M 1:1.4/35 mm ASPH. achieves equally outstanding imaging performance at closer focusing distances. Another new feature is a full-metal, rectangular, screw-mount lens hood that contributes significantly to the even more compact dimensions of the lens. Even wide open, the LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35 mm f/1.4 ASPH. reveals performance characteristics without precedent in the field of compact 35 mm lenses: outstanding imaging performance over the entire focusing range, from infinity to minimum focus, excellent contrast, even in the finest structures, superb rendition of details across the entire image field, good field flattening and, stopped down to f2 and onwards, almost complete freedom from coma effects. It is hardly possible to improve this excellent optical performance by stopping down.

Features

• High Quality Glass
  The first thing in the life of every lens is the choice of glass. Purity, as well as its reflective, refractive and transmission characteristics, can influence image quality from the start. Only the best optical glass is selected for the manufacture of Leica lenses. For the current lens portfolio, Leica needs around 100 different types of glass for the production of approximately 360 different lens elements. Our own glass laboratory, founded in 1948, formulated and patented many of these types of glass. Today, research and development in the Leica glass laboratory continues to ensure the highest quality: hundreds of glass types and test reports are immediately available for computer simulations and practical testing.
• Outstandingly Fast
  The high transmission characteristics of all Leica lenses guarantee outstanding maximum apertures. Enormous effort is also invested in the minimisation of stray light around the lens elements and in the lens barrel by precision coating and perfected barrel construction. All glass surfaces are treated with high-performance antireflex coatings that are determined separately for each glass type using geometrical calculations based on all optical correction parameters. At Leica, the search for optical excellence is a passion. In their search, Leica engineers find not only the best solutions for guiding light, but also the most elegant.
• Exceptional Imaging Performance
  To build the perfect lens, the laws of physics must be rewritten. Laws that also apply to Leica. Nevertheless, Leica engineers constantly strive to push the limits of the technically possible. A rewarding approach: M-Lenses have a very even imaging performance across the entire image field. There is no vignetting, and they are almost entirely free of aberration, yet they offer high colour saturation and precise colour separation.
• Mechanical Precicion
  The best optical system will only demonstrate such performance qualities if the engineering of the lens barrel is just as precise. Depending on the lens, the ef fects of at least 50 construction parameters on imaging performance must be per fectly coordinated. Engineering with such precision is only possible by combining the latest technologies with the most meticulous manual skills, and naturally, in combination with only the highest-quality materials. Thanks to perfect functionality, intelligent construction and an absolute dependability that guarantees perfect handling at temperatures from –25°C to +60°C, every single Leica M-Lens is a unique masterpiece of manual precision.
• Aspherical Lens Elements
  The majority of M-Lenses feature aspherical elements. In contrast to the symmetrical curvature of spherical lenses, their surfaces are characterised by asymmetry. This makes it possible to refract light rays at the edges of the lens element differently to those passing through its centre. This means that a single lens element can simultaneously per form several corrections. It is precisely this curvature that makes the production of such lens elements so elaborate. But the complex calculations are rewarding: aspherical surfaces minimise or avoid aberrations and are also the key to the compact size of M-Lenses.