Confusion Circle Posted March 16, 2007 Share #1 Posted March 16, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello! I was wondering how good optically the Leica Telyt 400mm f5.6 and 560 mm f5.6 R are. How old would they be, and would they be worth buying with a Nikon adapter. There is this set that is on sale locally, and I am interested. thanks in advance! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 16, 2007 Posted March 16, 2007 Hi Confusion Circle, Take a look here How good are these lenses?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
zapp Posted March 16, 2007 Share #2 Posted March 16, 2007 Hello! I was wondering how good optically the Leica Telyt 400mm f5.6 and 560 mm f5.6 R are. How old would they be, and would they be worth buying with a Nikon adapter. There is this set that is on sale locally, and I am interested. thanks in advance! Novoflex has sold the two Leica heads fror quite some time - forever I would almost say. The design is old, check one of the Leica lens compendia for the quality especially related to new lenses. Erwin Putts has a lens compendium pdf without figrues online that you may find at Erwins Photosite Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
telyt Posted March 16, 2007 Share #3 Posted March 16, 2007 These lenses date from the mid-1960s and at their time they were about as good as it gets. Newer lenses like the f/6.8 Telyts will show higher microcontrast and less flare, and modern complex optical formulas will give you better corner sharpness and color saturation (possibly at the cost of more flare). Newer lenses are also likely to have a closer minimum focus distance. These photos were made with these lenses: Green Heron, 400mm f/5.6 Telyt Black-backed Woodpecker, 560mm f/5.6 Telyt Western Bluebird, 560mm f/5.6 Telyt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted March 16, 2007 Share #4 Posted March 16, 2007 Hey when the rally car is parked wheels up you can get close with a thirty five:D .... Love the avatar. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted March 16, 2007 Share #5 Posted March 16, 2007 The pictures attached by Doug iluustrate well the principal value of the "long" telyts, that I also have experienced with both 400 & 560 : superb color rendition and sharpness AT CENTER IMAGE : this, in my opinion is also the limit of this kind of lenses, clearly developed for sports&wildlife, in which there is typically a specific subject the photog tries to keep well centered in the frame; let me explain: they are 2-elemnts lenses, and if you know something about lens design and the basics principles owed to Gauss, with two lens only you can not afford the correction of all the abherrations that are intrinsic into an optical system (chrome, astigmatism, spherical, coma...) : it's a question of MATH: you have, with two elements, too few parameters to be managed for optimizing all the abherrations: in the telyt 400/560 the Leitz decision was to admit a degree of spherical abherrations : if you shot to a subject at infinity that is by nature not limited to "center image" (my case, pictures taken in high mountains) you see clearly an out of focus at the corners, by contrast without any problem of loss of luminosityor color fidelity: this behavoior can be very well adjusted working on the diaphragm: telyts close to 32 and, for what I have tested directly, are a rare kind of lens that does not decrease in quality when you stop down COMPLETELY (I think this is owed to the fact that lenses are of course LARGE in diameter : f32 does not mean "small hole" and diffraction takes few account); of course, closing to 22/32 means tripod mandatory, and a well stable one: to get good results in paysage with these lenses one has to consider tripod a mandatory add-on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lambroving Posted March 16, 2007 Share #6 Posted March 16, 2007 These lenses date from the mid-1960s and at their time they were about as good as it gets. Newer lenses like the f/6.8 Telyts will show higher microcontrast and less flare, and modern complex optical formulas will give you better corner sharpness and color saturation (possibly at the cost of more flare). Newer lenses are also likely to have a closer minimum focus distance. Damn, those are good !!! You forgot to mention how few glass-to-air surfaces... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
telewatt Posted March 16, 2007 Share #7 Posted March 16, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) yes, this Telyt's are realy great lenses..I use the 6,8/400 mm on my DMR, and I love it.. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! regards, Jan Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! regards, Jan ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/18963-how-good-are-these-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=203427'>More sharing options...
spydrxx Posted March 16, 2007 Share #8 Posted March 16, 2007 I've been using the M mount (Visoflex) Telyts for a couple of years on my Nikon D100 as well as my Leicaflex SL2 and M8. It is pretty hard to best Doug Herr's masterpieces...but as far as the lenses go...they produce excellent results. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted March 16, 2007 Share #9 Posted March 16, 2007 Very cost effective solution for long focus lenses ... and unlikely to depreciate in value much ... I have a 560mm f5.6 and would not part with it ... And just bought a Gitzo carbon fibre tripod to support it ... And with the Leica 'telescope ocular to R' adaptor gives a 44.8 x magnification telescope ... With the 400mm would give 32 x magnification telescope. And check this link Nature Forum: Novoflex tele (leica telyt) Dunk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Confusion Circle Posted March 17, 2007 Author Share #10 Posted March 17, 2007 Hey when the rally car is parked wheels up you can get close with a thirty five:D .... Love the avatar. LMAO! Wow! I wasn't expecting so many replies so soon! Thank-you, everyone. So I'm guessing that $400 CDN is a good price for this set? They are supposedly is great condition. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted March 17, 2007 Share #11 Posted March 17, 2007 LMAO! Wow! I wasn't expecting so many replies so soon! Thank-you, everyone. So I'm guessing that $400 CDN is a good price for this set? They are supposedly is great condition. <cough> <splutter> How much??? Run, don't walk, to the seller and relieve him of these lenses. If you don't like them let me know and I'll give you $350 CND for them :-) When you refer to a Nikon adaptor what exactly do you mean? Are you hoping to use the lenses on a Nikon camera with an adaptor? If so I don't think you'll be able to do this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Confusion Circle Posted March 17, 2007 Author Share #12 Posted March 17, 2007 <cough> <splutter> How much??? Run, don't walk, to the seller and relieve him of these lenses. If you don't like them let me know and I'll give you $350 CND for them :-) When you refer to a Nikon adaptor what exactly do you mean? Are you hoping to use the lenses on a Nikon camera with an adaptor? If so I don't think you'll be able to do this. Here is his ad in a local camera forum: "Leica Telyt 400mm f5.6 and 560 mm f5.6 plus adaptor for Nikon cameras (including digital) and/or adaptor for Leica R. I used these lenses on a D70 with very good results. In good condition, 560 has minor scratches on front lens that are not visible on photographs. $475 CAD." It seems the lenses can be used on a Nikon SLR. I do not have an R camera as of yet, just the M6. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
telyt Posted March 17, 2007 Share #13 Posted March 17, 2007 Here is his ad in a local camera forum: "Leica Telyt 400mm f5.6 and 560 mm f5.6 plus adaptor for Nikon cameras (including digital) and/or adaptor for Leica R. I used these lenses on a D70 with very good results. In good condition, 560 has minor scratches on front lens that are not visible on photographs. $475 CAD." My truck's fuel tank is full, with enough caffeine I can be there in less than a day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_peter_m Posted March 18, 2007 Share #14 Posted March 18, 2007 My truck's fuel tank is full, with enough caffeine I can be there in less than a day. I am closer It never hurts to have a spare set Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted March 18, 2007 Share #15 Posted March 18, 2007 Visoflex versions of these lenses have a shorter barrel than the R versions (since the Visoflex-plus-M-body is deeper than the mirror box of an SLR). Thus they can have a short tube adapted to the back and still focus to infinity on a Nikon (or with different tubes, a Leica or Canon or Pentax reflex body). In fact the first 400 Telyt I ever actually handled was a Viso version adapted for Nikon. The 5.6 Telyts actually come as a 3-piece set: One focusing tube (Televit) with gun-grip and "trigger" and sometimes a shoulder stock, and two lens heads, which can interchanged on the front of the focus tube. The adapters for SLRs were after-market machine-shop products,and it sounds like this seller has both R and Nikon adapters. Regardless - a very good price. A 560/tube set with no 400 head and no adapters usually runs about $800-$1000 US. As mentioned, one characteristic of these lenses, which are in effect fancy two-element magnifying glasses stuck at the end of a 400mm or 560mm barrel, is that they have curvature of field. When the center is sharp, the corners are focused in front of the subject and are blurry, and vice-versa. A cropping digital camera will not only increase the apparent focal length, but will also crop off the blurry corners - so they will actually perform slightly better on such a body than they did for film (and they did pretty darn well on film!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvaliquette Posted March 21, 2007 Share #16 Posted March 21, 2007 As mentioned, one characteristic of these lenses, which are in effect fancy two-element magnifying glasses stuck at the end of a 400mm or 560mm barrel, is that they have curvature of field. When the center is sharp, the corners are focused in front of the subject and are blurry, and vice-versa. A cropping digital camera will not only increase the apparent focal length, but will also crop off the blurry corners - so they will actually perform slightly better on such a body than they did for film (and they did pretty darn well on film!) Is that really true? While it is correct that the DMR will "see" a smaller part of the projected lens image than the full frame, the final picture will be magnified proportionately more. If the curvature of field is spherical, the impact of that curvature of field should be the same with a full-frame (film) image or a DMR image (1.33 crop factor) for the same final display dimensions. Only the apparent focal length will change. Guy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
telyt Posted March 22, 2007 Share #17 Posted March 22, 2007 If the curvature of field is spherical, the impact of that curvature of field should be the same with a full-frame (film) image or a DMR image (1.33 crop factor) for the same final display dimensions. Only the apparent focal length will change. It's not just field curvature that affects the corners, there are other aberations as well. Since the DMR 'sees' a smaller angle of view the areas where the aberations are more noticable are outside the DMR's field of view. Confusion Circle... have you purchased the lenses yet? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Confusion Circle Posted March 22, 2007 Author Share #18 Posted March 22, 2007 I hope to attach the lenses onto my Nikon F4s (and possible future Nikon DSLR) for bird photos. Telyt: No, I have not bought them yet...the seller has just replied to my e-mail and I am going to set up a time to meet up with him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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