>> Actually, the real legends are the 35/1.4 M lens and the 32-38mm "Flex 35" >> zoom.... > > Ah, the mythology of legends... ;-) > > I just dug out a couple magazine mentions of the M 35/1.4 that was > shown at the 1980 Photokina: > > "A 35mm f/1.4 with floating element for better closeup performance, > focusing to 1.3 ft." > > [and] > > "Very fast moderate wide-angle lens. Speed is the key to this > 10-element, eight-group K-mount wide-angle lens. The only other data > available are minimum aperture (f/22), close-focus distance (0.4 m), > weight (420 g), and filter size (58-mm)." > > <sigh...> <drool...>
I even have a picture of one. I understand a couple of prototypes were actually made. Ah, vaporware. You do know, though, that you can get lenses custom-made for you? I believe Schneider Optics will custom-make a lens for something like $800 per element, plus a design fee. Elcan (the former Leitz Canada, now a defense contractor owned by Raytheon) will also custom-make lenses, but they need to do a batch. I think the basic price is 100 lenses for a quarter of a million dollars, but that may be wrong. Even Zeiss will custom-make lenses if you pay them enough money. And according to Zeiss, there are people who pay the price. Don't think I don't ponder things like this, in my weaker moments. It's probably a good thing I'm not rich. --Mike
