Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: henrikfoto on January 21, 2012, 09:32:57 am
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I am looking for some Leica R lenses to adopt to Canon.
There seems to be a lot of them.
Are there any of these lenses that ate known as "super-permormers"
in the R-line (regardless of focal length).
Are the Leica branded lenses or the Leitz lenses best?
Henrik
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You should get the legendary 90 Apo Summucron Asph
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I dabbled around with a Leica R9 once and did some lens research as part of the process.
- I was told that when it comes to zooms, the 28-90 zoom is terrific (it's also priced accordingly)
- In the fixed lens category, the Summicron-R 50/2 is said to be a very good choice
- Personally, I ended up with a 35-70/f4 zoom (which therefore is the only R lens I have actual experience with). I would not recommend this lens; lots of complex distortion, slow max. aperture, and I was not satisfied at all with the image quality towards the edges
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I am looking for some Leica R lenses to adopt to Canon.
There seems to be a lot of them.
Are there any of these lenses that ate known as "super-permormers"
in the R-line (regardless of focal length).
Are the Leica branded lenses or the Leitz lenses best?
Henrik
All Leica lenses are good, but this doesn't mean that you don't have even better solutions ...sometimes! In reality, the only R lenses that are currently worthwhile, are ALL THE STANDARDS and ALL THE PORTRAITS (ie. 80-90mm), the only other one I would consider is the "28mm f2.8 Elmarit", if I was to go wider than that (where is the "Canon problem"), I would go for the Contax N 17-35mm f2.8 (for its 17-24mm performance) and for the Contax C645 lenses for the "tele" region. For the later two (the 17-35 and the "teles"), I would ask "Conorus" of Canada to convert the wide-angle zoom (17-35) and also to convert for me the Nam-1 adapter that was originally meant, to use the C645 lenses on Contax N 35mm. This way, I could save much of the cost that would be required to have both DSLR and MF systems well equipped, while at the same time, retain maximum lens compatibility (the "Conorus" convertions retain all lens/camera functions & AF). For example, if I was using Canon, I would use the Contax 17-35 for UWA, the Elmarit 28 for "general purpose" WA, the Canon 24-70 for standard zoom, the "Sumicrons" 50 & 90mm for std and portrait respectively and the Contax C645 120mm macro, 140mm f2.8 & 210mm f4 for "teles" via a Conorus NAM-1 adapter. This would give me the opportunity to retain my C645, add the 35mm & 55mm Contax 645 lenses for it, ....and perhaps the 80mm f2 std for C645 could replace my "portrait 80-90mm" from the Leicas. This is a very efficient system for somebody to have both DSLR and MF, in superb quality, covering most of the needed range, while at the same time save space and lens choice. Unfortunately I am using Nikon (although I've many times have been tempted from the above solution), thus, I can only recommend what I think is perfection (the above + a MFDB for the C645). If the back happens to be a "multishot" one, as is mine..., and you can additionally use the back on a view (or Fuji GX680) camera, as I do..., then with 2-3 more lenses for the later (the view camera) you are on the top of the world. Regards, Theodoros. www.fotometria.gr
P.S. The superb Zeiss 21mm could replace the Contax 17-35mm choice...
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In my view, the top R lenses are :
19mm 2.8 latest version
28mm 2.8 latest version
60mm 2.8 Macro
100mm 2.8 Macro
180mm 2.8 APO
That would be a good start.
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I had until recently the 35-70mm f/2.8 elmarit zoom. This was a fantastic lens on the Canon 5d2. The f/4 version of the zoom is also great. I think the other lens not mentioned above that is really excellent is the 80mm summilux. I had briefly the canon 85mm f/1.2 and compared it to the summilux which I found both sharper wide open and with more pleasing bokeh (IMHO). Similarly I compared the 80-200mm f/4 leica to the canon 70-200 and found the leica better (but only just by a little bit as the canon 70-200 f/4 lens is quite good).
The 100apo macro, 90mm sumicron, and 60mm macro listed by others above are also outstanding lenses.
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I had until recently the 35-70mm f/2.8 elmarit zoom. This was a fantastic lens on the Canon 5d2. The f/4 version of the zoom is also great. I think the other lens not mentioned above that is really excellent is the 80mm summilux. I had briefly the canon 85mm f/1.2 and compared it to the summilux which I found both sharper wide open and with more pleasing bokeh (IMHO). Similarly I compared the 80-200mm f/4 leica to the canon 70-200 and found the leica better (but only just by a little bit as the canon 70-200 f/4 lens is quite good).
The 100apo macro, 90mm sumicron, and 60mm macro listed by others above are also outstanding lenses.
The "summilux" IS mentioned above Eric.. "All the 80-90mm portrait... " Regards, Theodoros. www.fotometria.gr
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Thanks a lot everybody for good help.
When I look at all these lenses on Ebay is seems to be a lot of different versions.
Are all these really improvements or are the earlier verions just as good?
The price differenses are huge!
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There are a lot of different versions, but for use on the Canon some differences do not matter, for example you don't care if it has ROM contacts or not.
With the 80 lux, and 60mm macro I don't think there are any differences optically. You can look for Erwin Putt's book on line where he details the differences in the versions.
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There are a lot of different versions, but for use on the Canon some differences do not matter, for example you don't care if it has ROM contacts or not.
With the 80 lux, and 60mm macro I don't think there are any differences optically. You can look for Erwin Putt's book on line where he details the differences in the versions.
+1. This doesn't only applies for Canon, but for Nikon as well. The difference is that with Nikon you have to change the fit of the lens, which doesn't cost more than Canon (or Sony). The difference is that you can't refit the lens back to an analog Leica R body whenever you please, as you can do with Canon or Sony. All the above is due to the mount to sensitive area distance, which is shorter on Canon/Sony than Leica/Nikon, that's why somebody can use a Nikon lens on to Canon, but not vise-versa. Regards, Theodoros. www.fotometria.gr
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The 100mm f2.8 macro is superb.
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In my view, the top R lenses are :
19mm 2.8 latest version
28mm 2.8 latest version
60mm 2.8 Macro
100mm 2.8 Macro
180mm 2.8 APO
That would be a good start.
also
280mm f/4 APO
70-180 f/2.8 APO
The latest versions mentioned by hasselbladfan can be tricky to distinguish from older versions. Except for the very oldest models, the metering cams and ROM contacts are not a reliable indicator because newer cams and ROM contacts can be added to an older lens.
For the 19mm f/2.8, the latest version has built-in filters. For the 28mm f/2.8, the latest version has a built-in rectangular hood (vs. a clip-on hood). Leitz or Leica doesn't matter.
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Isn't this thread in the wrong sub-forum? Leica R ain't Medium Format!
Ray
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Isn't this thread in the wrong sub-forum? Leica R ain't Medium Format!
Ray
You're right. It should be under the 'highly subjective opinions based on limited personal experience' forum.
Oh, wait, that's where everything should be. :o