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Why no APO 1.4x or 2x M extenders?


algrove

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John

One would think they would reintroduce this with an APO design. I bet every Leica M owner would get one for his/her kit if it proved to be as good as the R extenders. Never saw one and frankly did not look in Wiki because I had never even heard of one existing. Thank you for the enlightenment.

 

Have you heard if they are any good?

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Guest Marc G.

Same thing with zoom lenses, why would they introduce something that only works for the latest M240? The reason for an extender is for tele lenses and the M system is simply not for tele lenses, except for the EVF+adapter solution.

 

I think it wouldn't sell very well. Only 2 focal lengths of the native M system are suited for this, the 90mm and 135mm. I don't see any reason for Leica to do this.....:rolleyes:

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I have these in R, but was just curious if anyone has seen extenders for M lenses. Did Leica ever make any M extenders?

 

Not Leica, but Komura

https://www.google.de/search?q=komura+telemore95+for+leica&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=y_8mUuP3LYfVtAbB9YCwDA&ved=0CFYQsAQ&biw=1918&bih=992

 

Where is Leica M-teleconverter? What is the quality of the Cambron 2X LSM/M teleconverters?

 

Only seen it on ebay and read some comments in different rangefinder forums.

Seems that nobody real got satisfied with that extender because of low quality in handling and resolution.

 

Don't think that an extender 'one fits for all' could reach the high qualitiy standards of Leica-M besides the difficulties with a rangefinder.

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Did Leica ever make any M extenders?

No, they didn't ... apart from the prototype 1.5× extender mentioned by John chiaroscuro_NZ. Two reasons: (1) For most focal lengths, there are no framelines in the viewfinder for the resulting focal length. (2) For the lens + extender combo, the rangefinder accuracy required will increase but the rangefinder accuracy provided will decrease.

 

Back in the late '70s, Komura offered a 2× tele extender for Leica M, complete with viewfinder goggles. The unit looked similar to today's Macro-Adapter-M for the Macro-Elmar-M 90 mm lens, but with glass elements inside. Image quality was mediocre, and so was the handling. It was no commercial success. Today it's rarely seen in the used market because hardly anybody bought it back in its day.

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  • 8 months later...

Still, with the current EVF or LCD focusing, having a 2x APO extender for M would be nice in combination with 135 APO as long the IQ remained good.

I understand this wouldn't be the happiest solution, but I'd gladly own one.

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No, they didn't ... apart from the prototype 1.5× extender mentioned by John chiaroscuro_NZ. Two reasons: (1) For most focal lengths, there are no framelines in the viewfinder for the resulting focal length. (2) For the lens + extender combo, the rangefinder accuracy required will increase but the rangefinder accuracy provided will decrease.

 

Back in the late '70s, Komura offered a 2× tele extender for Leica M, complete with viewfinder goggles. The unit looked similar to today's Macro-Adapter-M for the Macro-Elmar-M 90 mm lens, but with glass elements inside. Image quality was mediocre, and so was the handling. It was no commercial success. Today it's rarely seen in the used market because hardly anybody bought it back in its day.

Actually image quality is not too bad, especially in the centre, but it introduces quite some CVA. I do manage to focus the 270 mm combo more or less reliably (helped by DOF because the max aperture is halved ;))- but very slowly. Mine has no goggles, but a separate viewfinder.

The viewfinder that came with it is quite unique with moving framelines.

I have not come around to trying it with the EVF, preferring R lenses for longer glass, but it might be fun one day.:)

 

I don't think Leica will ever produce something like this, as they appear to regard the EVF/LV as an auxiliary focusing system. Justly so, imo.

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