Doug,
> My experience is that Contax G glass is sharper with more dynamic > color saturation across the range than are the Leica M lenses.
Did you take the same image, using the same film/exposure etc. with each camera and then compare them? If not, then what are you basing your assessment on?
> The > sharpness of these lenses on a comparative basis has been empirically > tested by many sources including photodo.com
Er, right, yes it has...here is what photodo.com has to say:
G 35/2:
Weighted MTF for 35 mm: f2 0,68, f2,8 0,77, f4 0,82, f8 0,83
Leica 35/2.0
Weighted MTF for 35 mm: f2 0,69, f2,8 0,78, f4 0,80, f8 0,83
...well, interesting...they both rate 4.1, and fact is, the Leica is sharper at two f-stops, and the G only one.
Now, the G 45/2:
Weighted MTF for 45 mm: f2 0,71, f2,8 0,83, f4 0,88, f8 0,87
and the Leica 50/2:
Weighted MTF for 50 mm: f2 0,78, f2,8 0,81, f4 0,85, f8 0,87
The Leica is MUCH sharper at f2, by nearly %10...and the G is slightly sharper at two other f-stops. They rated the G at 4.7, and the Leica at 4.6. So, here again, there really isn't much differenct at all, except at f2, where the Leica is FAR better.
And the G 90/2.8:
Weighted MTF for 90 mm: f2,8 0,81, f4 0,84, f8 0,85
and the Leica 90/2.8:
Weighted MTF for 90 mm: f2,8 0,81, f4 0,85, f8 0,86
And the Leica is better at two out of the three f-stops tested. Rating for the G lense is 4.4, and for the Leica lense is 4.5.
So, Doug, in reality, your claim is simply unfounded. There is physically no way you could see these differences, except possibly the superiority of the Leica 50/2 at f2.
I am NOT in any way Contax bashing, I believe they are superb cameras and lenses, but reality is reality, and the Contax lenses are simply NOT sharper, as an overall generalization, and as shown by your own reference.
The "color saturation" issue may or may not be good or bad, as I've seen no color fidelity testing (which is what is required, a lense that adds color is simply distorting the image...what you want is a lense that faithfully reproduces the color, with no color distortion), which would be what is required to actually see which one is in fact "better" in this "category". I believe your film choice/exposure is far more important than any difference between the two lense.
Regards,
Austin