<< I'd like the 75/2 also. Supposedly it already exists and has for some time. However the DOD won't let Leica release it to the public as it was funded by them to ride only on satellites (the unmanned image taking kind). Hardly seems fair, since we all paid for a piece of them. -- Jerry Pfile >>

I've read more than one reference (on this forum) about the existence of "Military" lenses that have almost perfect quality but that are not available for the civilian market. What's with this? It's not as if I'm going to take satellite pictures of Bin Laden with my M6. Why don't they release such lenses for public consumption? Surely there is a demand for them. Isn't the Cold War over? Just curious. This seems a very old-fashioned thought process by the Military, some bureaucratic BS perpetrated on the public.

-- Vikram (VSingh493@aol.com), May 31, 2002

Answers

Vikram. The lens in question, I believe, is a 75/2.4 "Apo" M lens which dates back to the 1970s. I'm not sure this lens is even up to present day optical standards. I'm not sure why Leica would want to introduce a design that dates back around three decades in a new lens. BTW, there are at least three designs originally for the military that were later used for civilian production by Leica: 1) 75/1.4-M Summilux (NASA), 90/2.8 R (now M also) Elmarit, and 180/3.4- R Apo. In addition, I'm pretty sure that the same design was used for the 90/1.0 Elcan-M (used by naval reconnaisance} was also used for the 90/1.0 Elcan Picker X-ray camera lens.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), May 31, 2002.

WOW! ....A 90/1.0? This I never heard of before. The DOF must be almost nonexistant. Probably used at infinity from an aircraft or something like that, huh? A portrait with this hummer would probably have the cornea of the eye in focus and the lashes soft as a babies butt. I wonder what the minimum focus distance is for this lens? Probably like the Mamiya 210 for the M7II...where minimum focus is infinity. Eliot, do you have a picture of this lens you can post?

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), June 01, 2002.