mmount

A Complete Guide to Leica M Lenses

Leica. The name conjures notions of luxury, history, quality, and precision. This especially applies to Leica’s M-mount lenses. While some of Leica’s latest camera bodies like the M11 have gathered praise, the lenses have set the industry gold standard.

Leica M11

The M Rangefinder is Holding Back Leica’s Innovation

Leica innovated the heck out of the camera with the Leica 1 back in 1925, breaking new ground with the Leica 2 and then the M3. However, not so much in recent years and I argue the "classic" M is now actually holding back Leica's innovation.

Dreux Richard R-D1s

I Was One of the Lucky Few to Win an Epson R-D1s Digital Rangefinder

In 2010, when I started working as a journalist in Tokyo, layoffs of newspaper photographers had reached the stage where reporters couldn't expect a decent layout unless they provided their own story art. I couldn't afford a camera, but I also couldn't afford to see my stories published without illustration, so I bought a DSLR and soon learned to hate it, or at least to hate the self-conscious way it made the people I was photographing behave.

What Leica-M Gear Sells The Fastest?

Previously, we explored topics like which Micro Four Thirds system held up better over time, which line of Sony's full-frame mirrorless cameras is most popular, or which DSLR system held more of its value. This month, let's look at which Leica M-mount film gear is the fastest-moving off the shelves.

TTArtisan Launches 90mm f/1.25 Lens for Leica M-Mount

TTArtisan has announced a new Leica M-Mount rangefinder lens that, even upon close inspection, looks remarkably similar to a Leica optic. The company promises smooth transitions between objects and bokeh for a "dreamy picture" with ideal depth of field and background blur.

Leica Unveils the APO Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH Lens

Leica has added to its M-mount lens lineup with the announcement of the APO Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens, a "sibling" optic to the APO Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH, and promises to be able to resolve the high megapixel sensors of the present and future.

7 Reasons to Add a Noctilux Lens to Your Camera Bag

As a professional corporate photographer who completes around 300 professional assignments a year and has done so for many years, I have used a number of modern, ultra-fast lenses made by excellent optical equipment manufacturers, but I keep on coming back to the Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 lens by Leica.

Rare Leica Lens Sells at Auction for Whopping $290,000

A rare Leica lens has sold for more than some people will pay for a house. The Vario-Elmar-M 3.5-5.6/28-75mm ASPH. prototype was initially estimated to sell for between €60,000 and €80,000 (~$72,430 and ~$96,570), but blew past those projections easily, closing at €240,000 (~290,000).

The New Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Produces Gorgeous Swirly Bokeh

Cosina has announced the Voigtlander Nokton Vintage Line 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical II VM lens for Vessa and M-mount cameras, replacing the first version that was released in 2013. The lens is constructed nearly entirely out of metal and glass and features knurled rings for the manual adjustment of aperture and focus.

This Adapter Lets You Autofocus Leica M Lenses on Fujifilm Cameras

Leica M mount lenses are all manual focus, but that doesn't mean you can't "add" autofocus... with the right adapter. That's what Fotodiox has created with their latest gambit: a specialized adapter that lets you focus M-mount lenses on Fujifilm cameras by moving the lens back and forth as you focus.

The Pixii M-Mount Rangefinder Has No Display or Card Slots, Costs $3,300

Almost two years ago, the French startup PIXII announced the development of a "radical" M-mount digital rangefinder that had neither a rear display nor any sort of memory card slot. Now, this strange camera is finally available for brave early-adopters to order... if you're willing to drop 3 grand, that is.

Ridiculously Thin Hand-Made Lens Leaves Pancakes Behind, Borders Crêpe Territory

There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of the company that goes by the name MS Optical, and we won't blame you. It’s a one-man operation, run by Mr. Sadayasu Miyazaki from Honcho, Japan. But you might want to take not of them now.

Specializing in unique lens designs, MS Optical focuses on creating small pancake lenses for the Leica M Mount. But MS Optical’s latest creation leaves the 'pancake' title in the dust... this thing should be called a crepe lens.