35 Summicron comparisons

[Charles E. Dunlap <cdunlap@rupture.ucsc.edu>]

I've recently purchased a new pair of binoculars (Leicas, as it turned 
out), and the thing that struck me was the obvious variations from one 
pair to the next of any particular brand and model. With binoculars the 
subtle and not so subtle quality control problems are obvious. There is 
no intermediate stage of image processing to add variables.

When comparing lens performance I think it would be wise to remember that 
any particular example of one variety of Summicron might outperform any 
particular example of another that varies within the tolerances that 
Leica set at the time of manufacture. Leica sets narrow tolerances, and 
we pay for the lenses that they reject, but that doesn't mean that every 
lens is equal when scrutinized by an eye looking to make distinctions.

In short, take all comparisons with a grain of salt. The methods used 
might be sound, but the items compared might be apples and oranges.

-Charlie

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            Charles E. Dunlap
            Earth Sciences Dept.
            University of Calif.
            Santa Cruz, CA 95064

          cdunlap@earthsci.ucsc.edu
408-459-5228 (office)    408-459-3074 (FAX)
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