Leica news, before it happens

Here is a quick report on the new Funleader 18mm f/8 pancake/cap lens for M-mount:

• Price at the official online store is $199 but the lens is currently on sale for $178, you can get another 5% off with code LEICARUMORS for a final price of $169.10 (buy here: direct link – free worldwide shipping is included):

• Got a “no lens attached error” on some Leica cameras – make sure you turn off the auto lens selection in the menu.
• The lens doesn’t really click on the camera mount – you will have to push really hard to lock it into the mount. You may have to apply pressure when releasing the lens as well.
• Very good build quality – as far as I can tell the lens is 100% metal built (aluminum).
• Lens construction: 6 elements in 5 groups (multi-coated).
• MTF chart:

• Very strong vignetting is present, soft images, also plenty of distortion and ghosting.
• The minimum focusing distance is 0.45m.
• Very compact and light” 0.55 in / 14 mm thick and weighs only 40 g.
• The lens is not rangefinder coupled.
• No need to really manually focus the lens since at 18mm f/8 pretty much everything is in focus – the depth of field is 1.48ft / 0.45 m to infinity (you still have a small focusing scale for adjustments).
• This lens is more for fun and to replace a missing camera mount cap (of course, you can always purchase cheap metal M-mount caps).
• The best use of this lens in my opinion is for some fun/creative images and black and white photography.
• With the Funleader 18mm f/8 lens, Leica M cameras are really “pocketable” because of the low profile of the lens:

• Here is the Funleader 18mm f/8 lens packaging:

• Additional pictures of the Funleader 18mm f/8 lens:

• The lens is now available also in silver:

• Some sample photos can be found on Flickr (SOOC JPG file: straight out of the Leica M9/M10R cameras):

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