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Yes.

Posted by GliderGuider (A) on April 2, 2007 at 08:37:50

In Reply to: Could A Pro Really Tell A Difference Between A Hundred Shots With A Nikor And A 100 With A Sumicron?.... posted by Draz on April 2, 2007 at 08:03:06:

Not always of course - some Nikkors are better than others, and some Summicrons are worse than others. And of course much more of the picture quality depends on other attributes than raw lens quality. Having owned many Nikkor and Leica lenses over the years, I will say that modern Leica rangefinder lenses show the consistently highest image quality of any lens line I've used, and I can consistently identify the reasons for that. The differences in most photographic situations is marginal though, and the very best thing about Leica rangefinder lenses is that they fit on Leica rangefinder cameras. It's altogether a special gestalt.

To get down to some specifics, I have never used a Nikon wide angle that has come near to the over quality of any of the modern Leica 24, 28, and 35mm aspheric lenses. Not even close. Nikon's single focal length wide angles are really very poor in comparison. The 50 Summicron has a coherent image quality that that was matched by the old 50/2.0 Nikkor-H.SC lens. The rest of Nikon's 50mm lenses were almost as bad as their wide angles. Nikon's 105/2.5 Gauss design however is justly legendary, and while the 90/2.0 Summicron APO-ASPH might have higher contrast and slightly higher resolution, there was "something" about that Nikkor that set it apart (as well as being vastly easier to use).

That being said, most small-camera images don't depend on raw lens quality for their impact, and from that point of view you're much further ahead with with modern professional zooms. The Nikkor 17-55/2.8 DX, the 70-200/2.8 stabilized lens, the 12-24 wide angle zooms - these are creative and recording engines of the highest order.

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