Leica has been promising that its APO-SUMMICRON-SL 50 f/2 ASPH lens will be available in the first half of 2019, but August is here and we are still waiting patiently for more information.
Now, as Japanese camera rumor site Nokishita has discovered, German photo retailer Koch seems to have beaten the optics specialist to it, releasing plenty of new information on the lens, including the €4,200 price tag, which is around £3,900 / $4,700 / AU$6,900.
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The lens belongs to the L-mount system, which means it can be used on Leica's cameras L-mount alliance partners Panasonic and Sigma, as well as on the manufacturer's own body. So, if the budget doesn't quite allow for a SL watering can and a new lens, you can at least mount it on the Panasonic C1 or the upcoming Sigma FP.
The company cites reportage, travel photography, studio work, architecture, landscapes, portraits and close-ups as any application for the lens, and has previously claimed that it sets a new standard in terms of compactness and performance, corner-to-corner sharpness and balanced bokeh.
What we now know from this leak is that the lens was designed around 12 elements in 10 groups with aspherical surfaces on three of those elements. As an APO lens, it corrects monochromatic aberrations to the same extent as chromatic aberrations, which will surely please those who can afford to forgo that kind of money.
The lens has a 0,35 m near focal length and a maximum magnification of 1:5, and measures 102 x 73 mm, weighs about 740 g, and with a 67 mm filter thread, which can be seen in images previously released by Leica, seems to confirm too.
Like other Summicron lenses, the SL Visual allows you to use a stepper autofocus motor with CPR (Dual Synchronous Drive) to move the fast focusing system, while the manual focus ring is also molded into the barrel. Other details include the use of a multi-functional coating on the elements to help banish reflections and keep contrast high, as well as being weather-resistant to an unknown degree.
We don't know exactly when all of this will be confirmed yet, but with the price and all the details now out in the wild, we can't imagine we'll have to wait much longer.
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