Camera and Lens Reviews

Nikon is not known to make special editions unlike Leica, but they hit the nail on the head with this one. A remake of the original black paint SP with the retro 35mm F1.8 and hood combination. So beautiful that even when I showed it to my wife for the first time, she said that this looks better than a Leica. Not the same built quality or the optical performance of a Leica, however, they win with cosmetics. Matched up with their most desirable and fastest wide angel lens (35mm F1.8), these sets are an outstanding value (priced at $3,750...

Of all the special editions, this one ranks up there as one of my favourites and by far one of my favourite M7 cameras. Leica made 2 versions of the special edition Hermes set. One is an obnoxious orange and the other classic, subtle, and refined etoupe. This was the first example of Hermes buying into the Leica brand. Few examples followed afterwards until Hermes finally revoked their association with Leica. A 35mm F1.4 with the specially made lens shade was also the first of the 6 bit examples. Soft leather, classic script on the top, unique lens hood, and...

I'm a 50mm shooter and I always carry my 28mm lens with my 50mm, but if you need one lens that's wider than 50mm, not too wide, the Leica Summilux-M 35mm is the way to go. Not just any 35mm because the F2 Summicron I find is sometimes too slow. The F1.4 gives it the extra speed and allows me to be creative with the shallow depth of field. I prefer this 35mm 1st version ASPH for a few reasons: The rarity factor: This was the first ASPH 35mm lens that Leica made. Hand ground, hand assembled, and because of...

Many know that the M3 is the finest Rangefinder camera of all time…TRUE. What they don't know is that there is a small batch of approximately 4,000 cameras made in 1957 that have the characteristics which make it the BEST of all the M3 cameras ever made. Serial No. M3 series 854000-858000 circa 1957 characteristics: Double stroke film advance lever: specific for the early M3, shorter arm, quiet return. Later cameras have the single stroke long arm also used on the M2 with a ratchet "click, click, click..." sound return. Triangular "RABBIT EAR" lugs: Unique to the early M3 , mounted...

I have been waiting for this lens for more than a decade. I have always shot with the Leica Noctilux 50mm and the 90mm Summicron APO ASPH. The Leica 35mm Summilux that I have was always too close to the 50mm, so I either took one or the other. The 28mm was the perfect focal length but there just wasn't any faster options then the F2 Summicron version. For darker interiors the F2 didn't cut it. Finally the 28mm F1.4 Summilux-M arrived. The perfect separation of focal lengths in my arsenal of lenses. Also, the 28mm CAN do what the 35mm...