Leica 50mm f/2 APO Lens now in Dazzling Red Anodized Finish

75 Comments

1. Just a brief update: The red Leica APO 50mm was sold out quickly. They went for €20k+ a few months ago.

2. I like a purple one with gold stripes, not red!!

3. Leica 50mm f/2 APO Typ Rudolf

4. From a red spot to a red nose.

5. Leica got a red nose.

6. I never understand comments that run along the lines of “this thing is just a big sign saying rob me.”

   I’ve seen a good number of Leica users (almost always M system) out shooting, but never with any of the special edition/collector’s edition models.

   Has anyone? These items (body or lens) get snapped up super fast by collectors who store them away.

   And that’s great. They pay a premium for something, and Leica makes a killing – which allows the company to continue doing what it does for Leica clients who actually go out and shoot with the regular gear.

   It’s a win/win situation for the company, for Leica users, and for those who collect Leica specials. And it’s a win for people who use Sony or Olympus or Fuji, as they feel happy that they have nice gear that cost them a fraction of the price.

   We should be applauding Leica for being Leica. Myself, my 50 cron on my M6 are things of wonder and I love using them. I’m thinking of getting an M-A, too, at some point in the near future. And that camera exists because Leica can choose to continue making such cameras.

   So sincerely, I thank every collector who buys red lenses or Hello Kitty bodies, or whatever. 🙂

7. Oh, Hell NO!!!!
   🙂

8. Listen up chumps

   This is for celebrities, moneybags and those who photograph celebrities and moneybags 1to1.

   (Not for investment you chumps as those that can afford it to them it’s peanuts.
   They don’t need to hang on to it just to make double ¥$€£Gs chump money when they make ¥$€£BillionsMillions elsewhere).

9. This lens (120 units built) has been designed to go with the Leica M-P red ping-pong grip designed by Rolf Sachs 100 Units built). Both of them are wonderful, and I would love to have them together.

10. Perhaps to keep on supporting that contradiction:
    A precious Zeiss Ikon camera value is ten times smaller of that one a Leica the same years.

11. Perhaps to keep on supporting that contradiction:
    A precious Zeiss Ikon camera value is ten times smaller of that one a Leica the same years.

12. If it never leaves the living room on Christmas morning, a fine choice. Taking it outside is like strapping a giant “Rob Me” sign on the photographer. Great lens, poor design choice.

    • It’s not a poor design choice. It’s a very intentional design choice that is for the collectors’ market much more than for actual use. It’s a long term investment that will appreciate in value if it’s stored carefully.

13. I miss the diamonds-fitting to my Rolex!

14. I have no words for this.

    I’m happy I went the A7 + Loxia route instead. 99% of the experience for 10% of the price and 0% of the D-bag look.

    To those calling out the white Canon/Minolta/Sony telephoto zooms: those lenses are white for a reason. Large black lenses heat up too fast in direct sunlight, which affects the image quality because the glass elements expand.

    • Sorry…but an A7 + Loxia is not ‘99% of the experience for 10% of the price’…10% of the cost maybe. The only similarity between an A7 and a Leica rangefinder is that they are both mirrorless.

      I agree with you though…I would never buy this lens.

      • Any A7 (even Mk. I) does have much more DR & Image Quality then the for instance old M9 18 MP Kodak FF-Sensor, or the one into the current M240, well technically speaken. No offence.

        Good Light !
        Marc

    • “To those calling out the white Canon/Minolta/Sony telephoto zooms: those lenses are white for a reason. Large black lenses heat up too fast in direct sunlight, which affects the image quality because the glass elements expand.”

      Why then doesn’t Nikon use white for its big lenses?

15. Eventually the profit from extra sales to collectors and from the higher price will help Leica to pay some bills, the marketing department’s salaries or a bonus to all staff. No one knows whether there will be 100 buyers worldwide, or at least 100 dealers who order one just for display. In a worst case, most will sit on shelves for ever or after years go with substantial discounts.

    After so many silly occasions, celebreties, colours or materials for limited editions, and marketing bored to death from that, they try out how far they could go.

    Perhaps Leica is running

16. This lens is beyond silly.

17. Better not plan on walking around Europe with that around your neck unless you’ve got a BIG body guard walking next to you. I got followed in Paris with just a white Llens Canon. Good thing I’m from NYC. I spotted them I took appropriate action. Getting in line in museum group.

    Bob in Chicago now.

    • “..Better not plan on walking around Europe..” ..you mean France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Greece, etcetera?

      How can you possibly extrapolate from one particular (potential) event in a particular spot in Paris ..to the entirety of Europe? That’s like my saying “..I got followed in NYC once, so my advice is never go to America!” Do you see how silly that seems?

      • Perhaps Bob, like many others who have commented elsewhere, was wise not to be fleeced by the roaming Eastern European gangs who stay at good hotels and rob their way from capital to capital in the tourist season.
        They are particularly active in the Metro and outside popular spots; Notre Dame Paris and the Eiffel Tower, for instance.
        It’s not too hard to spot them and Bob’s vigilance paid off.

    • Hey, lol
      I was assaulted in Paris and they didn’t get my Leica. Just money and documents.

    • I could say something similar along the lines of not visiting the US, because I do not want to get shot by a police officer who mistook my D500/Tammy 70-200 2.8 kit for a rocket launcher. Here in Europe, police officers are nice people who actually talk to you before giving you an order, let alone pulling out a gun.

      • A gun? ..Here in the UK, police just carry a radio, a pair of handcuffs and a stick. Armed Response Units – specially despatched from HQ – would have guns, but the ordinary police officer doesn’t use a gun and hasn’t been trained to use firearms, though sometimes there are armed patrols at Heathrow and other airports.

        Police here may possibly carry a Taser, but they’re very, very seldom used.

        The police here generally use something called Reason instead ..like in old Hollywood movies of NYC, where the neighbourhood policeman smiled, waved a stick, and scratched his head while Gene Kelly was singing’, and dancin’, in the rain..

        Our police also have fast cars, which go “Nee-naa, nee-naa” and which are often driven down the other side of the road. But generally our police just say “Good evening, sir; is this your car/lens/gas bottle/bike/blog?”..

        • In Serbia police officers do carry a gun, but they very, very seldom use it. In 2015, if I remember correctly, only two officers fired their guns using 3 bullets total, and the shots were shot in the air. And you can see special units patrolling in their Land Rovers more than usual, but that is due to the immigrant situation.

          Here they would address you with ”Good evening sir/madam, this is a routine check, may I please see your ID?”. Add to that maybe ”Why/for whom/for what purpose are you photographing this government building/military facility?”.

          • Ah, Serbia, birthplace of Никола Тесла ..Nikola Tesla, of alternating current and wireless transmission fame. (All those cameras with built-in wi-fi? ..give thanks to Tesla.)

            Sounds great there. For a while, in the early 2000s, London policewo/men also asked “..why are you are you photographing this government building?..” but they’ve relaxed rather and now ask “would you like a photograph of me in front of this government building?” and they do especially enjoy people taking photos of them dancing with passers-by during the Notting Hill Carnival!

18. Honestly, I believe this is for the spouses of very rich photographers who don’t know what to get them for the holidays, because they already have everything they need or want. “Surprise, honey! Now you have a RED one — I know you wouldn’t have bought it for yourself.”

    And, if they don’t like the color for shooting, they can always hang it on the tree.

19. (sing along) …Leica with your lens so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight? Then all the gearheads loved him, as they shouted out with pure envy, Leica the red-robed summicron, you’ll go down financially.

20. The lens is hiperpriced and reflective

21. Obviously you gotta put this thing on the green Safari model.

22. Thanks for posting this, Steve. It was worth it just to get all those wonderfully entertaining comments!

23. Well this is a hoot. It would not be on my marketing plan and that plus a million other things is why I’m not working for Leica.

    It does look cool, if I was the kind of person who valued that it might be something I’d be interested in. I’m certainly interested in a 50mm f/2 APO. The would be cool in any color (but red). Now if I had the expendable income where these kind of purchases were largely routine – starting to peel the onion, or go down the decision tree to where these kinds of things are possible.

    I’m not living on that logic branch, but I’ve made those kinds of frivolous decisions in the past – it’s just that the trigger points are a bit different.

    I mostly buy refillable plastic pencils with a HB (not No. 2) lead. I think they are cool and I can get them in colors other than yellow and the erasers are even replaceable. I remember an earlier time where the straight No. 2 yellow was really the only thing in my budget. But it’s kind of nice to know that I can make that other choice now, just because I can. There’s still a place for the yellow one, I use them all the time in the wood shop – they even work better there.

    I’m sure there are others who will find the red one possible, just because they can. I wish them well, because I’m sure Leica has it worked out so that their needs, meet Leica’s needs and that eventually gives me more to consider in the future – should I ever decide to play the lottery (and win).

    Roger

24. This is why you have to love Leica. Can you imagine Fuji or Sony making a fire-engine red version of a lens for the collectors’ market?

    • That’s because Fuji and Sony don’t have a collectors market.

      It’s this type of thing that makes me despair about Leica. I know they’ve produced hyper expensive collectors editions over the years, but this and the Sofort…..

25. I dont blame Leica. As long as there are people who buy those special edition things and are happy-why not. Even though I am still amazed that there are people who buy such things.

26. Japanese mfgs are making the white lenses. No-one seems to complain about that. Guess looking like a zebra is ok, but looking like Rudolph is not?

    https://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/ef-300mm-f-4l-is-usm

    http://www.sony.com/electronics/camera-lenses/sel70200gm

    • There are engineered, practical reasons why those lenses are white.

      Only way I can see red being practical is if you’re hiding in a department store Christmas tree trying to get shots of rabid shoppers.

    • There are engineered, practical reasons why those lenses are white.

      Only way I can see red being practical is if you’re hiding in a department store Christmas tree trying to get shots of rabid shoppers.

    • I always thought they are made white to reflect more sunlight, keeping your lenses cooler in the field… so there’s a purpose… this would work well on krypton though.

      • Nah, fashion. Nikon doesn’t do it with their big pro lenses.
        I think a honkin big white lens that many users favour is far more noticeable than a small red lens.

    • I thought they did that for marketing purposes, so that when you see a white lens on the sideline you know it’s Canon (or that was the thinking at the time. Sony has their white lenses now). But yeah, I’m in the camp that says this is just awful. If I ever saw one of these in the wild, I would definitely judge, but I probably never will, because they are collectors items masquerading as tools for poseurs, so I’ll get my judging out of the way now.

    • I love your comment! Made me giggle!

27. That’s one way to get yourself noticed on the street. Which is exactly the opposite of what I want to happen when I’m doing street photography.

    Still, it does look pretty cool. Maybe if I win the lottery…

    • Well, they made once a goldplated 50/1.4, how about that?

28. Anodising is a quite simple process; Leica could be releasing new colours for various lenses for years to come. Hopefully the extra profit from this endeavour will allow them to upgrade some of their cameras. It looks hideous.

29. Not surprising, the company did/does sell a camera digital camera with no viewfinder and at a premium. I honestly think they sit back and laugh at their buyers sometimes.

30. Leica kerb crawling in Red Light District :-))

31. Well the holidays are here, time to push out goofy stuff like this for the camera jewelry crowd and cash in.

    $1700 premium for red anodizing, SMH.

32. Every Leica shooter I know shoots seriously and loves photography.
    None want people to know they have a Leica.
    In fact they go out of their way not to show off their cameras.
    They do not look down on other camera systems. They use Summarit lenses or Summilux lenses because they like how the lenses render- nothing else !
    Question who is buying this “other stuff” ?

    • Good point! Leica shooters do not wear straps that say “Nikon D4” in big bright letters. Ironically, the Leica is more Japanese than the Japanese cameras. Small, modest, beautiful, simple.

33. It’s a social inclusion thing. Give the footpads, struggling hit-and-run thieves and cut-the-strap dashers something to aim for. Why should they endlessly search for good gear when this gives them a 100 metre visual to plan a successful grab with the knowledge that what they pick up is going to be worth the trouble?

34. When a Red Dot just won’t do…

    • No, when a small red dot just won’t do.

35. LOL, look at your struggling folks I got a $9,000 lens.

36. This would be funny if it weren’t so sad. While one can make all one wants out of the vaunted quality of Leica lenses, this is simply a distasteful pandering to the 1% who own 99% of the world’s wealth. Poor little me just got a gorgeously sharp shot of the super moon last night with a fuji X Pro 2 and a 100-400 mm Fujinon lens at a fraction of the cost of a Leica kit. Just like Leica’s are made in Germany, Fuji’s are made in Japan. Please don’t tell me that German technology is better than Japanese or that German technicians are better than Japanese technicians.

    • Nobody says that. After all, some of Leica’s lenses are made in Japan. For good reason. And besides, Leica used to make cameras and lenses in Canada. Nothing wrong with those.

      German manufacturing, science and engineerin culture does have a prestige which cannot be easily matched, however.

    • Once upon a time………..,

      Harley’s and Leica’s.

37. Is it a hoax?

38. I’ve got a red panny that would look awesome on.

39. What are they thinking?

    • $$$ or £££ or €€€

40. Taste. It’s a difficult thing.

41. Is it a hoax ? It’s anathema to the spirit of photography : to see and not be seen. I own the Apo, and, yes, it’s wonderful. For this lens, I sold my M3, M2, M6 and my Hasselblad equipment and I’m still delighted. But that ugly red thing is for rich collectors who will put it in a safe. I hate Leica for that sort of prostitution.

    • I suspect that this sort of prostitution helps Leica to fund R&D for its more serious photography products, and to cater to niche markets. Would Leica still be developing the M otherwise? I don’t know the answer to that question, but if selling silly stuff to rich collectors contributes to it, I’m all for it.

42. Still laughing.
    Amazing innovation this new lommocron

43. One of your funniest post.
    They must make it also in blue and yellow

    • No, it can only be in red for obvious reasons.

      • They might sell it then together with a red strap and a red uniform.

44. ” Last one out, please turn off the lights”

    • Precisely, game will be over soon for these guys.

      • Why would you say that??? I would never buy this lens but many will…and that can only be good for Leica.

45. sorry if it isn’t a joke it reminds me of that Monkey with his red behind……

    if it is true it simply shows that most (of course not all! !!)Leica cameras are beig bought by people with loads of money and few photographic ambition….

46. Red DOT ! If you want to stand out of the crowd!

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