280/4 Apo Telyt R

[dkCambridgeshire]

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280/4 APO Telyt R lenses are so scarce and sought after that they are seldom seen offered for sale. However, without directly advertising the UK M********* dealer, if you are looking for this lens there is a used example which has been on offer for two weeks at £2995.

 

Could be the ultimate in resolution for your DMR or 4/3 or µ4/3 camera.

 

dunk

Edited August 14, 2010 by dkpeterborough

[topoxforddoc]

£3k is a bit steep, even if they rarely come up. I'm glad I bought mine 3 years ago for 1600 Euro!

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[lct]

Sounds expensive at first glance. Got a mint rom last december for EUR 2,500 with 1 year warranty from a pro dealer in Germany. FWIW.

[masjah]

Sounds expensive at first glance. Got a mint rom last december for EUR 2,500 with 2 years warranty from a pro dealer in Germany. FWIW.

 

They do seem to be quite expensive at present. I think SHPhoto in Germany had one for €4k + 20% VAT for EU residents. Mind you, I always thought they were an expensive dealer!

 

Dunk, as a matter of interest, can you be a bit less cryptic as to the identity of the UK dealer? Or maybe I'm being a bit slow!

 

(OK Dunk, sorry, I've just realised, "M*********" refers to the dealer's location, not the name!)

Edited August 14, 2010 by masjah

[Ivar B]

One is available in the used section also. I know the seller personally.

 

I sold my own 4/280 to a buyer in France some months back for Euro 3000.

[lct]

Il prices go on climbing this way i'll begin to believe in the 'Leica solution'.

[Ivar B]

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Il prices go on climbing this way i'll begin to believe in the 'Leica solution'.

 

The 4/280 has always been expensive and the lens was much more expensive new, but I cannot recall the exact price. Apparently the Leica designes saw this lens as one of their best achievements. Sad indeed there is no really good solution whereby this lens can currently be used.

[topoxforddoc]

Sad indeed there is no really good solution whereby this lens can currently be used.

 

Ivar,

 

Existing DMR users still think the lens is great - in fact it's stellar. I know some former DMR owners have now migrated, but someone will have to wrench my 2 DMRs out of my clutches. If you can accept its limitations (eg no High ISO) then the DMR exploits all the R glass superbly.

 

Best wishes,

[glenerrolrd]

Whats wrong with using the Leitax conversion to a Nikon mount ? The new version is chipped and transfers the aperture of the lens without going thru the manual setting of the lens. Its stopped down metering and focus but the lens is a F4 lens and its generally f4 -f5.6 for normal use.

 

I used an 67mm 180/2.8 preApo and it was stunning on a D3X . I would certainly like an R solution but more so for the fast primes than the telephotos.

 

I found a 280/4 for $3000 in LN condition thru a dealer in Texas a few weeks ago. They are quite hard to find and often premium priced.

[lct]

Whats wrong with using the Leitax conversion to a Nikon mount ? The new version is chipped and transfers the aperture of the lens without going thru the manual setting of the lens. Its stopped down metering and focus but the lens is a F4 lens and its generally f4 -f5.6 for normal use...

Same for FF Canon with (solid) AF confirm adapters. Slight vignetting at f/4 that's all.

[wildlightphoto]

Whats wrong with using the Leitax conversion to a Nikon mount ?

 

No auto diaphragm and no DMR image quality. Same for using the lens on a Canon.

[glenerrolrd]

No auto diaphragm and no DMR image quality. Same for using the lens on a Canon.

 

Doug

 

You know I have the DMR as well . I think it would be a close test against the D3X for overall IQ with the DMR having better color and the D3X better DR and overall sharpness and much better higher ISO .

 

As I mentioned the auto diaphragm is much less important on a telephoto where my preferred aperture would be between f4 and f5.6 .

 

I will be surprised and a first day buyer if Leica provides a solution that feels like an R replacement.

 

You have clearly mastered the craft with the DMR and this lens but the D3X and Leica R glass is pretty fantastic IMHO as well.

[jaapv]

Not much difference between DMR and D3x regarding high Iso I would say; The DMR is good at its real max, 800 (I would not vouch for its push-1600) and the D3x seems to stop at 1600, at least according to the Nikon website.

[wildlightphoto]

... the auto diaphragm is much less important on a telephoto where my preferred aperture would be between f4 and f5.6 .

 

YMMV. It's important to me.

[glenerrolrd]

Jaap Doug

 

This is one of those in the "eye of the beholder" discussions. Since I have both cameras and a choice of nikon,leica R and zeiss glass ..I have compared the results over a period of time. In Florida I shoot the same beach area almost every day in the winter dawn and dusk ...I have direct comparisons .

 

Higher ISO...the DMR starts to lose its IQ at ISO 400. You may find it acceptable but you can see the difference between 200 and 400. As with any ISO discussion ..if you can nail the exposure perfectly you can get excellent results but if you have areas that are underexposed by a single EV then you get noise that degrades IQ. Really depends on the skill of the photographer and the type of subject matter. But if I have the light I shoot at 200 and maybe 100 because you can see the difference. The D3X is a full EV better and is more tolerant to underexposure ...its excellent at ISO 400 and if you can nail the exposure and maybe overexpose 1/2 stop at 800 and 1600. Also keep in mind that the file size is 2X as big so the apparent noise is even less.

 

Stopped Down Focus and Metering....this is never good and always irritating but less important in a telephoto for general purpose photography. It all depends on what you are shooting and how. I use a 280/300 to get closer to the subject and rarely to flatten DOF or change perspective. I would normally just set the lens at 1/2 stop down from F4 and use it there unless I needed the speed for faster shutter speeds. Obviously if you shoot at f8-11 then this is a real pain in the butt and I would completely agree not a good solution. This is what kills the fun of using a 80/1.4 on the D3x ....not everything needs or deserves shooting wide open.

 

The DMR is a beautiful piece of equipment and capable of creating wonderful images but its also only 10MPs and way behind the D3X in almost every other category . So I think the D3X may be better than Leica s next generation R solution..time will tell and of course it all depends on what you enjoy shooting. At a minimum its a decent alternative for using R glass.

[jaapv]

Well Roger, I must confess I rarely find cause to shoot the DMR beyond 200, so you won't find me disagreeing with you, although, 400 is still good imo and 800 acceptable since the final firmware update. Wildlife at bad light is very often a futile exercise from the esthetic point of view, at least in my hands, anyway. I hear what you are saying, but the dilemma is that I would have to rebuild the lenses, making them unusable on the DMR were I to take a D700 for the high-Iso work. I still wait what the future will bring whilst enjoying my dated gear

[wildlightphoto]

Stopped Down Focus and Metering....this is never good and always irritating but less important in a telephoto for general purpose photography. It all depends on what you are shooting and how.

 

Yes it all depends on what you're photographing and how. Stop-down metering isn't as much a PITA as stop-down focussing. It's why I sold several otherwise exceptional long lenses. IMHO there's not much point to a red-dot solution if there's no advantage over adapting R lenses to fit N or C bodies.

 

I use the DMR almost exclusively at ISO 400, where the image quality has been adequate to render gallery owners speechless.

[bocaburger]

It's too bad there aren't enough fans of the R system to make it profitable for Leica the way the M system is. I really liked mine (had R8 at the end, plus a slew of lenses including the 280 f/4 APO), but I had to save my pennies for the M8 and so passed on the DMR at the time. Figured I could always pick one up used, never counted on Leica making just a small quantity of them and then abandoning it, and eventually the entire system. I can't say I'm unhappy with my Canon stuff though. Haven't left any gallery owners speechless () but I doubt the decisive factor there is my camera system.

[glenerrolrd]

Well Roger, I must confess I rarely find cause to shoot the DMR beyond 200, so you won't find me disagreeing with you, although, 400 is still good imo and 800 acceptable since the final firmware update. Wildlife at bad light is very often a futile exercise from the esthetic point of view, at least in my hands, anyway. I hear what you are saying, but the dilemma is that I would have to rebuild the lenses, making them unusable on the DMR were I to take a D700 for the high-Iso work. I still wait what the future will bring whilst enjoying my dated gear

 

Jaap

 

I agree on rebuilding the lenses..I don t even like to think about it . So we keep waiting.

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[mmradman]

Hello,

 

Hoping you may be able to help.

 

I just got myself APO Extender-R 1.4 (model 11249) to use with APO 280f4 on R8 body. Lens is ROM version while extender is not.

 

Lens on its own meters correctly on R8 while combination Lens+Exttender tends not to.

 

Camera meter reads increased F stop instead of opposite; when fully open at f4 instead of f5.6 (f4 + one stop) it reads f3.4 and with lens stopped down at f22 instead of f32 it reads f19 - roughly one and half stop undrexposure.

 

Only saving grace is that i could use lens as 400f5.6 on Nikon DSLR with Leitax conversion applied to the convertor.

 

Your advice much appreciated.