Leica Lens Light Lab

[rayvonn]

Lens Light Lab (LLL) is a Chinese company which makes copies of old classic Leica lenses, the type which cost the price of a house in certain parts of the UK. And by all accounts, these copies seem to be of a superb quality, not only in appearance to the originals, but more importantly, rendering. One may not like rendering from over 50 years ago, warts n’all, but if you do, the latest LLL upcoming release, a copy of the original Noctilux 50mm F1.2, may be of interest.

Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 ASPH “1966” lens for Leica M-mount sample photos - Photo Rumors

Here are the first sample photos from the upcoming Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 ASPH “1966” lens for Leica M-mount: Direct link to Flickr. If you are interested in purchasing any of the LLL lenses, you can contact me here and I will forward your request to the company. LLL does not have a website or […]

photorumors.com

(I wish they did the Noct V4 F1; guess I’ll still have to be saving the pennies for that one)

 

[Brian]

A number of Rangefinder forum members signed up for the LLL 35/2, got burned. I would not put money down until the lens is in production and can be delivered.

It is rumored to cost more than the Voigtlander 50/1 Nokton, which is a superb lens. The 50/1.2 Nokton is under $1000- and has beautiful rendering. I have both of these lenses, and the 50/1.1 Nokton. The latter has gone up in price in the last year.

 

[rayvonn]

A number of Rangefinder forum members signed up for the LLL 35/2, got burned. I would not put money down until the lens is in production and can be delivered.

It is rumored to cost more than the Voigtlander 50/1 Nokton, which is a superb lens. The 50/1.2 Nokton is under $1000- and has beautiful rendering. I have both of these lenses, and the 50/1.1 Nokton. The latter has gone up in price in the last year.

I also remember you commenting upon the Voigtlander 50mm F1.1 basically having the same or better optical qualities as the Noctilux F1 which is useful to know.

 

[Brian]

The 50/1.1 Nokton is under-rated, at one time could buy them new for $700. On mine: I added one strip of copper tape for use on the M9. The Nokton was probably optimized for the Zeiss Ikon M-Mount camera. I keep a UV/IR cut filter on mine, the M9 is sensitive to UV and the M8 to IR. This greatly reduces fringing that some have complained about.

50/1.1, Wide-Open on the M8.

For the Light Lab Lens: if they are hand polishing the Aspheric Surfaces, expect lots of deviation from lens-to-lens and for the sharpness across the field to vary greatly, as it did on the 1966 Leica lens. Polishing with modern equipment and techniques has produced better lenses.

 

[Tmnui]

Hey Brian, What is that chart from?

 

[Brian]

Hey Brian, What is that chart from?

This is from the Pop Photo 1976 test of 32 "normal" lenses, I scanned it from the original magazine.

Other pages here:

Lens Test: Technical

Lens Test: Technical album hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

You may download them.

 

[Tmnui]

Thank you! As a lens tech, im always on the hunt for more scientific info.

 

[Brian]

Thank you! As a lens tech, im always on the hunt for more scientific info.

Feel free to post anytime you want! I'm also always looking for information on old and new lenses.

I'm getting ready for the new Bertele Sonnar from Skyllaney. Should be here in time to catch Fall colors.

 

[rayvonn]

Orders now being taken. It's really for those that desire the optical "features" of the original 1966 lens and all its characteristics but don't want to spend 30/40/50 grand ( ). One must also want to use and not merely collect the lens. There's always a slight element of risk as per Brian's observations upthread. I do find this interesting but it's ultimately not for me as a used V2 Summilux can be had for less.

Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.2 ASPH "1966" 2024 Pre-Order Deposit

A recreation of the mythical and highly sought-after 50mm f/1.2 ASPH from 1966. Down to the lanthanide-infused glass code named: "900403". We are proud of our development with the polishing aspherical process, using classic high-temperature grinding and polishing processes. There were several improvements to the origin

lightlenslab.myshopify.com