18mm f/3.8 Elmar-M Aspherical Manual Focus Lens

by Leica

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• ASIN: B0024507CK
• Item model number: S-001645
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 1, 2009

Product Description

The Leica 18mm f/3.8 Super-Elmar-M Aspherical Lens works with any Leica M-mount cameras, providing a field of view equivalent to a 24mm lens in the 35mm format when used upon the M8 digital rangefinder. A highly refined effort to say the least, this lens takes advantage of the M system's absence of a mirror box to achieve wide angle performance which any SLR lens would need to envy. The last element of glass (closest to the film or sensor) goes deep into the body of the M camera, and this gives the Super-Elmar-M the pinnacle of resolution and distortion correction (please note that this does increase the vignetting).

Being an 18mm focal length and f/3.8 maximum aperture, the Super-Elmar-M always provides a broad depth of field, making it a practical tool for speedy close-up snapshots as well as for sweeping architectural and landscape vistas. Even shooting wide open it can give uniform sharpness from ~4' to infinity, and stopping down the aperture only further increases this capacity. Upon analogue Leica cameras the 18mm f/3.8 Super-Elmar-M provides a 90 degree horizontal viewing angle, and with the M8 you'll get a 74 degree horizontal view.