The very high-speed and compact LEICA SUMMILUX-M 24 mm f/1.4 ASPH. gives photo- journalists a new tool for their work. The lens is ideal for available light photography. Like the 21mm f/1.4, it consists of ten lenses in eight groups. Until the advent of state-of-the-art blank-press methods for aspherical lenses, it was not possible to create these new Summilux-M lenses. Hand assembled in Solms Germany, this meticulous craftsmanship also ensures long term reliability even in challenging conditions.
The correction of colour imperfections requires great deal of effort. and to that end this 24mm lens incorporates five separate lenses with anomalous partial dispersion. As a result, vignetting and distortion, the parameters traditionally difficult to control in fast wide-angle lenses, are corrected so well that they are hardly noticeable in practice. Even at an f-stop of 2.8, in effect, only natural vignetting is present. Patented rectangular lens hoods fit Series VII filters.
The LEICA SUMMILUX-M 24mm f/1.4 ASPH extends Leica's series of high speed M lenses into the wide-angle range.
It offers excellent performance over the entire image field even at full stop and in the close-up range thanks to a "floating element".
Stopping down to 2.8 leads to an absolutely outstanding image quality, in fact, in comparison to the Elmarit lens of the
same focal length, its rendition is slightly more uniform across the image field. The vignetting typical of every optical system is
naturally more apparent with a super wide angle lens, particularly a high speed one like this, than on standard lenses or those
with a long focal length. At full stop with the 35mm format, its maximum - i.e. in the corners of the image - is around 3.3 aperture
stops or, with the Leica M8 models and their slightly smaller format, around 1.9 aperture stops. Stopping down to 2.8 visibly
reduces this light fall-off towards the image edges to 1.9 or 0.8 aperture stops. Stopping down further does not bring any noticeable
additional reduction, as all that remains is essentially the natural vignetting. The maximum distortion of the lens is 2.2%,
which in practical terms is negligible for the majority of photographic applications. A total of ten lens elements are used to achieve
this exceptional performance. To correct color aberrations, five of these are made of glass types with anomalous color dispersion
(partial dispersion), while one has an aspherical surface. To maintain performance in the close-up range, one group towards
the rear of the optical system is a "floating element" that moves independently of the rest of the mechanism.
Summary: The LEICA SUMMILUX-M 24mm f/1.4 ASPH offers maximum image performance with a focal length / speed combination
previously unavailable in the M system. This extends the composition options of M photography, particularly for available light
shots, but also thanks to a previously unattainable reduction in the depth of field in combination with large angles of view. |
