Leica Lens Compendium

Rating:
Summary: Splendid Technical Overview of Leica lenses
Review: Erwin Puts' "Leica Lens Compendium" is an exhaustive technical, but quite readable, survey of virtually every Leica lens ever made. He has gone to great lengths to test these optics not only in the lab, but also in the field, explaining the virtues - and vices - of each lens design. Puts gives equal weight to both Leica's rangefinder (M and screwmount) and single lens reflex (R) lenses, showing his immense knowledge and love not only for Leica, but more importantly, photography. His book is the best one volume documentation demonstrating why Leica lenses are the finest in 35mm photography (Though I believe that Zeiss lenses made for the Contax SLR and G rangefinder cameras are as good, if not better, than their Leica equivalents, based on years of usage, often under less than optimal field conditions.). His website is by far the best for Leica photography I have seen so far (http://www.imx.nl/index.html) and is one that is widely regarded by many, even if it contains frequent comments and reviews that could be construed as free advertisements for Leica photographic products; it is nonetheless, like this book, an excellent source of information on current and relatively recent Leica cameras and lenses. Without question, Erwin Puts' book belongs on the shelves of anyone interested in 35mm photographic lens design, not only diehard fans of Leica photographic equipment (I currently don't own a copy, but look forward to the time when I will acquire one.).

Rating:
Summary: Very informative
Review: Frankly, you do not even need to own a Leica to appreciate this book. All the fundamentals of optics and lens design are explained in detail. Any serious photographer should read this book. They will understand the limitations of their non-Leica systems and be in an informative position to decide if they need the ultimate picture recording potential of Leica lenses. Until now, I was using a Nikon F4 with the 17-35 2.8 ED. The author has informed me that he tried the lens, along with the Zeiss (Contax) 17-35 2.8 and neither approach the capabilities of similar leica zooms. Is he crazy? Read this volume and you will understand why no system can match the build, optics and design of Leica. Most important, you will see that the way most lens tests are done in today's photo magazines are not worth much at all.
Keep in mind, this is not a stunning picture book. Color photos are kept to an extreme minimum and are only used to make some point about optical capabilities of certain lenses. This book will no doubt serve as the ultimate leica lens buyer's guide. But remember, it is much more than that and Puts is one of the few people who can articulate lens performance into a fun and informative read.
A soft cover version would be nice for those who can't afford the hard cover volume.

Rating:
Summary: Truly Great.
Review: This fascinating book gives far more technical detail than most Leica books. This guy apparently has tested almost all of the old and new Leica lenses and he gives a verbal description of the visual characteristics of almost all of the lenses rating the lens as low, medium, or high contrast for each area of the lens starting at the center and working out to the edge of the lens. The quality progression of Leica lenses throughout history and their manufacturing environment is explained. Optical lens design and optical aberrations are discussed from an artistic standpoint and with reasonable detail for the non-engineer. Covers both M and R lens types. He respects both Rangefinder (M lens) and SLR (R lens) types of photography. There is so much information that some sections will undoubtedly need rereading.

His website goes even further: ...http://www.imx.nl/index.html
This site is the tour de force Leica website that all others are compared to for its intellectual brilliance. New lenses that the book doesn't cover are reviewed on the site. He has the best technical explanations available within photography.

The author also has written an excellent "how to choose & use" type publication called Leica M-Lenses (Their soul and secrets) for Leica that is the best I've ever read at telling what lenses are best to use for given situations.

His enthusiasm for photography and intelligent written discourse are about the best available within the photographic industry. It is a welcome change from the stupid pabulum of most photo magazines that are written for some supposed general idiot audience. I've reread the book many times... it has earned its keep and his website has affected my view of photography more than any magazine. His viewpoint has a technical emphasis and he notes how the technical can be used to creative effect. He is a European writer who handles the English language very well including the production of many very insightful statements. No, I don't work for him or his publishing company I just find his writing to be one of the defining forces of modern day Leica photography.