I am used to incredible optics from Leica, but even I’m having a hard time coming to grips with exactly how the optical team in Wetzlar has been able to make such stunningly capable zooms. At all focal lengths, all distances and all apertures. Just like its smaller sibling, the 24-90, the 90-280 tele zoom is exemplary. Now, while the Leica 90-280mm APO-Vario-Elmarit-SL is not a small or light lens, I can say without any reservation that this lens is most certainly not inferior when it comes to resolving power, sharpness, or any other measure of optical quality. They can be larger, heavier, and often, optically inferior.
Traditionally, zoom lenses have been a compromise compared to fixed primes. With the upcoming 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-SL, the pendulum might swing the other way as Peter Karbe and his team start rolling out top-notch fast prime glass. Between the original 24-90 and the new 90-280 that I’ll be reviewing here, SL users are now covered from 24mm all the way up to 280mm. For the recently released SL, Leica focused their initial efforts on quickly launching high quality zooms for the system, in an attempt to cover the largest possible focal length range for the greatest number of users. Developing an entirely new lens lineup is no easy task.
