What (if anything) makes Leica lenses superior to all others?
Good question. Leica lenses are regarded as the most prestigious of them all. The truth is that their designs of old were made on licence by all the big names today, both Canon and Nikon originated from it. That makes Leica the daddy. Leica in the world of handheld cameras has remained relatively stable, designing cameras and lenses to be produced out of only the best materials, using the most up to date technology. However all of this does come as a huge cost. This is why the Leica M8 costs £3000 and lenses mostly cost £1000+. In more recent times, Canon, Nikon, Sigma and Tamron have become much more larger lens makers. Canon’s L-series of lenses are renowned for their quality. For example Canon’s 1200mm f5.6L, this lens was made with single crystal fluorite elements that take a year to grow, this is the lengths that Canon go to to make their lenses, no shorter than Leica, and this lens had a pricetag to match, now only available used it costs $120,000. Then there is Sigma’s 70-200mm
