[bwDraco]

A lot of Leica M-mount lenses are really expensive for what they are, even third-party lenses such as those from Cosina Voigtländer. This is the case even for lenses slower than f/2.

Any explanations for this, aside from the usual Leica premium (where it applies)? Is it for the same reasons the new Zeiss Otus lenses are super-expensive, tight tolerances and QC? How well do the Pentax Limited lenses compare?

—DragonLord

[Fogel70]

When it comes to Leica the extra cost is because lots of manual labour by european workers and lots of quality control in the manufacturing, plus low volume production using premium materials.
Pentax Limited is similarly produced, but I believe they use partly automated manufacturing, much lower labour cost, produced in higher quantity. And I don't think Pentax has as rigid quality control, plus Leica probably have higher specification on mechanical tolerances on parts and produced lenses.

Vimeo

[wombat2go]

For those interested in photographic lens manufacture, here is a link to a detailed pdf provided by Tamron.

http://www.tamron-usa.com/lenses/learning_center/Production_Process_Tamron_Lens.pdf

Some of it does not look much different to the processes shown in old documentary films of the Kodak manufacturing process from the 1940-60 era.

[drewski]

For those interested in photographic lens manufacture, here is a link to a detailed pdf provided by Tamron.
http://www.tamron-usa.com/lenses/learning_center/Production_Process_Tamron_Lens.pdf

Very interesting read. Still a lot of manual work involved regardless of the brand, but I guess the quality is not as stringent as the Leicas? Plus, labour costs in Germany must be much higher compared to China.

[Christine Tham]

A lot of Leica M-mount lenses are really expensive for what they are, even third-party lenses such as those from Cosina Voigtländer.

Really? Speaking as someone who owns an largish collection of Summicrons (I am missing out on 28mm and 75mm but have everything else) plus a good selection of CV (15mm, 28mm f2, 35mm f1.2, 50mm f1.1, 75mm f2) I find them good value for money.

Fact is, good glass from any manufacturer will be expensive. I like the M mount glasses because the price/performance is quite good, and they are smaller and lighter because they don't have AF, which I don't need for the kind of shots that I take with them.

Our local Leica dealer was offering 10% all Leica a few weeks ago and I was sorely tempted but I have just bought about $5k worth of FE lenses and I decided maybe another day.

[wildman]

What makes them so expensive?

Primarily the difference in production costs in the third world compared to the first and mystique.