reference book recommendation

[albert_smith]

I just got my new copy of the Hove "Leica Pocket Book", 7th edition

and I would recommend this book to anyone that has been seeking out a

reference guide for all things Leica. I have been using the 5th

edition for about 10 years and never felt any need to upgrade since

the various editions have a lot of re-hash. This new book breaks the

mold from the previous books and offers an expanded range of

information in a much larger volume.<P>

 

In particular the lens section has been expanded to include MTF

charts for the lenses and there are narratives on the lens'

performance, including things like the amount of light fall-off, the

optimum aperture and when diffraction sets in. There is also more

delineation in some sections when compared to the older editions.

For instance, the old volume had the older 1969 50mm Summicron and

the 1980 version lumped together, while this new edition has them

clearly separated and includes different MTF graphs for each. Erwin

Puts wrote the lens section, and it is what I had hoped to see when I

bought his "Lens Compendium" two years ago.<P>

 

Another plus is that the lenses and body serial number lists go up to

the year 2000, rather than the mid-1980s of the previous editions.<P>

 

If you have been looking for a reference like this, or if you have an

old "Pocket Book", I can recommend the upgraded 7th Edition for your

library. Here is a link so that you can see some examples of the

layout for the new book.

<a href="http://www.hovebooks.com/new_for_photokina_leica.htm"> New

Hove Pocket Book </a>

[mrbutterworth]

This may be a silly question but... does it include screw mount cameras and lenses? Performance descriptions for the LTM lenses?

 

Thanks,

[albert_smith]

Nick,

 

Yes, it includes all LTM cameras and lenses. You can check out the MTF graphs all the way back to the LTM 50mm f/3.5 Elmar to the latest M series aspheric lenses. All of the R series glass is also presented the same way.