Originally posted by rparmar I have never used a Leica but certainly look at the pictures taken by their lenses in appreciation. That said, most of the appeal is down to the photographer, choice of subject, lighting and all the other usual photographic variables. I have tried to eliminate these factors and see the Leica magic. To be honest, yes, I am sure I can, but without handling and using such a lens myself I will never know.
That said, the amazing Leica rendering I think I see seems on par with the amazing FA Limited rendering I know I see. The difference being that I have used the latter not the former.
A little curiosity is a dangerous thing. I have now spent the money needed to get a Leica lens for my K20D. I can then shoot it alongside lenses I know well, with identical body and all other factors as consistent as possible.
Soon I will know. Part of me prays the Limiteds are just as good. Otherwise I might be in for quite an expensive little diversion!
Well, get ready. I think the Pentax comes the closest (amongst the japanese marques) to that Bavarian "feel" or "look". To really appreciate the Leitz and Zeiss lenses (and some of the Schneider ones) back in the day, you had to engage in the film equivalent of pixel peeping. That's when you stick a negative in a carrier, rack the enlarger to the top, and put a 25x or 50x grain focuser down on the easel and peer into it, arm twisted above you to turn the knob on the focusing bellows. Not all Zeiss, nor all Leitz, are stunners, but when they get it right, there's no comparison. From the feel of the lens to the look of the image, they're incomparable. When I decided to get back into photography as a hobby, I remembered some tests I did of Pentax lenses against Zeiss, Leitz, Nikkor, Canon, and Oly (never was a Minolta fan); the Pentax came the closest, in 35mm, in 645, and in 6x7. Leitz has this presence to the reds and the sky looks like a polarizer was used; Pentax comes close, very close.
I had a very expensive revelation once, when a "friend" loaned me a Hasselblad to shoot side-by-side with my Mamiya RB-67.