M. Valdemar
Top Veteran
- Location
- New York City
I don't know how many of you have been following the threads on RFF about the Chinese replica of the 1950's V1 35mm Summicron, but it has been ongoing for close to two years.
They set out to make a replica of the original Leica lens, right down to the almost unobtainable flint glass elements. I won't repeat what has been posted before, but I signed up over a year ago to buy one of the initial run of the lenses. About 5 weeks ago I got an email that my lens was near completion, and I sent over $600 to a PayPal address to have my lens shipped to me. I realized I may have been insane to send money to an unknown web person, but the lens arrived via DHL today, and I am flabbergasted.
The lens is absolutely gorgeous, heavy, perhaps built better than the Leica original. It came with thoughtful touches like a heavy metal lens case with a bayonet base, a heavy metal lens cap, and accessories.
The fit and finish of the lens is 100% quality. I'm reminded of the stuff in William Gibson's "Cyber" books about "Buzz Rickson" WWII flight jackets, how the Japanese "otaku" replicated these jackets down to the tiniest details, like period nylon, the correct linings, zippers, etc. Well this lens does the Japanese one better. It is a drop dead replica of the Leica 35mm V1 Summicron. It is like I have a brand new one from a time machine.
I have not been so happy with a purchase in years.
I went out in Lower Manhattan and just snapped some frames with my Leica M9. Minimal processing in Photoshop.
Instead of posting more details I suggest you look on RFF or Google for details. More to come later. I just wanted to quickly post these.
(open images in new tab and click to expand.....these are huge files to see details)
They set out to make a replica of the original Leica lens, right down to the almost unobtainable flint glass elements. I won't repeat what has been posted before, but I signed up over a year ago to buy one of the initial run of the lenses. About 5 weeks ago I got an email that my lens was near completion, and I sent over $600 to a PayPal address to have my lens shipped to me. I realized I may have been insane to send money to an unknown web person, but the lens arrived via DHL today, and I am flabbergasted.
The lens is absolutely gorgeous, heavy, perhaps built better than the Leica original. It came with thoughtful touches like a heavy metal lens case with a bayonet base, a heavy metal lens cap, and accessories.
The fit and finish of the lens is 100% quality. I'm reminded of the stuff in William Gibson's "Cyber" books about "Buzz Rickson" WWII flight jackets, how the Japanese "otaku" replicated these jackets down to the tiniest details, like period nylon, the correct linings, zippers, etc. Well this lens does the Japanese one better. It is a drop dead replica of the Leica 35mm V1 Summicron. It is like I have a brand new one from a time machine.
I have not been so happy with a purchase in years.
I went out in Lower Manhattan and just snapped some frames with my Leica M9. Minimal processing in Photoshop.
Instead of posting more details I suggest you look on RFF or Google for details. More to come later. I just wanted to quickly post these.
(open images in new tab and click to expand.....these are huge files to see details)
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