When Technique becomes Art …

Not every person will like the conclusion, but the Tri-Elmar-M is clearly superior in all optical parameters to many Leica lenses of the 28, 35 and 50mm focal lengths. With the exception of the aforementioned 5 lenses (28 current and 3rd generation, 35 ASPH and immediate predecessor: (the 7 element Summicron) and the current 50mm Summicron) the Tri-Elmar-M will outclass any other Leica lens of the 28, 35 and 50 focal length of previous generations by a large margin.

Second surprise: in many picture-taking situations its performance is equal to that of current Leica lenses of 28, 35 and 50mm focal length. There are obvious and visible differences between the Tri-Elmar- M and its current fixed focal length companion lenses. To appreciate the relative importance of these differences I would like to draw a distinction between two types of Leica M use. Note that this a distinction between styles of use and not between users. The same person in one situation will demand superior optical performance and in another situation this person will be more concerned with capturing the fleeting moments of passion and life. Leica M users are fortunate that their equipment supports both styles eminently.

The performance of the Tri-Elmar-M at 50mm: the lens gives a high contrast image with fine and very fine details rendered crisply. Extremely fine details have somewhat softer edges, but are still quite visible. This performance extends over a circular image area with a diameter of 12mm (the center area). In the outer zones (the image circle from 9 to 16mm from the midpoint) the contrast drops a little and the very fine de- tails become slightly softer. Some astigmatism lowers the contrast here. The extreme outer area and corners are soft with fine details just visible. Stopping down to f/5.6 brings somewhat more contrast and better definition of extremely fine details.

This performance level continues until after f/11 where diffraction softens the details and lowers the contrast. Close-up capabilities (1.2 meter) are very good with a contrast image showing crisply rendered fine details over the whole image field. At 35 mm: at full aperture the contrast now is a bit lower and very fine details are a bit softer.

Extremely fine details are just visible in the center, but in the outer zone barely so. The corners are on the same level as they are in the 50 mm setting. Quite remarkable here is the uniform perform- ance over the total image field. The close-up performance again shows a high contrast image with excellent rendition of details over the whole image field. At 28mm: Leica states that the 50 position of the Tri-Elmar-M gives the best performance, and a slightly lower performance at the 28 setting. Indeed distortion is a bit greater than it is at the 35 and 50 settings. When photographing flat objects like walls, some barrel distortion is clearly noticeable. When picturing architectural objects with depth, this effect mostly vanishes. At full aperture fine details are rendered with medium to high contrast in the center and contrast is a little lower in the outer zone. Very fine details are clearly visible and become somewhat softer in the outer zones. At close-up distances the image is of the same high contrast and uniformity of field as it is at the other settings. Here, as with the 35 and 50 settings, stopping down increases contrast but the correction of aberrations is already of such a high level that image details and textural details only improve a little.