The Leica 18mm f/3.8 Super-Elmar-M Aspherical Lens works with any Leica M-mount cameras, providing a field of view equivalent to a 24mm lens in the 35mm format when used upon the M8 digital rangefinder.
A highly refined effort to say the least, this lens takes advantage of the M system's absence of a mirror box to achieve wide angle performance which any SLR lens would need to envy.¾¾The last element of glass (closest to the film or sensor) goes deep into the body of the M camera, and this gives the Super-Elmar-M the pinnacle of resolution and distortion correction (please note that this does increase the vignetting).
Being an 18mm focal length and f/3.8 maximum aperture, the Super-Elmar-M always provides a broad depth of field, making it a practical tool for speedy close-up snapshots as well as for sweeping architectural and landscape vistas.¾¾Even shooting wide open it can give uniform sharpness from ~4' to infinity, and stopping down the aperture only further increases this capacity.¾¾Upon analogue Leica cameras the 18mm f/3.8 Super-Elmar-M provides a 90 horizontal viewing angle, and with the M8 you'll get a 74 horizontal view.
- Extremely compact and light specifications for a wide angle lens
- Sophisticated 8-element lens formula with aspherical element
- Broad depth of field at every aperture
- Just 1.8% of maximum distortion; practically undetectable to the human eye
- Dedicated hood, with cutout to minimize viewfinder obstruction
- Optional E77 filter accessory
- Optional M8 UV/IVR filter to placed between hood and lens when using the M8 camera
- Optionally-available 18mm viewfinder in black or silver
- Lens mount's rear has 6-bit code allowing digital M-series cameras to identify lens and its characteristics