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Is there a non-Leica lens that compared to the 280mm f4 APO?


JeTexas

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I know, it's blasphemy to say that I'm considering other brands of lenses, but I'm looking for a really good telephoto that won't give me any fringing when shooting wildlife. There seems to be overwhelming agreement that the R 280mm f4 APO was the best telephoto Leica ever made. However, that lens is now averaging $6,000, and I really have no idea how it performs on a digital body when it comes to green fringing around the outlines of birds and things, which I definitely get with my M 135mm f2.8 and my R 400mm f6.8.

 

So is there any modern lens currently made that is comparable in sharpness and quality yet meant specifically for digital?

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I haven't used all of Nikon's telephotos, nor Canon's, but I have used some and neither Canon's nor Nikon's 300/2.8's that I have used match the 280/4 Apo (quite). No fringing; nothing on FF cameras nor on m43, which have much higher pixel density.

 

I don't think I'd buy it now, but the 280/4 APO stays, as far as I'm concerned. That said, it's almost as heavy as Canon's 300/2.8.

 

Henning

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I used to have a Canon 600/4 and 500/4.5 - both excellent (but too heavy!!!) and my guess is that the latest versions from Nikon, Canon and others will be very good indeed too, and with AF and full electronic integration, and distinctly better than their 'older' designs (I've had some of those too). Whilst I'm sure that the 280/4 APO remains a fabulous optic, I'd say that functionality is compromised relative to to other, newer offerings, but it depends what you are intending to do and what system you have or would be prepared to buy.

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Which digital body?

 

Right now I'm shooting these lenses on a Sony NEX-6. I'm leaning towards the Nikon lenses as they kept the aperture control on the lens up until the G series. With Canon you have to buy an expensive adapter for aperture control unless you go all the way back to the FD lenses, which really can't compare to the Leica lenses I already have.

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Right now I'm shooting these lenses on a Sony NEX-6. I'm leaning towards the Nikon lenses as they kept the aperture control on the lens up until the G series. With Canon you have to buy an expensive adapter for aperture control unless you go all the way back to the FD lenses, which really can't compare to the Leica lenses I already have.

 

Thanks. The reason I asked is, if on an M-240, seek out an Olympus OM 300mm F/4.5. I don't know how that would work on Sony.

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... There seems to be overwhelming agreement that the R 280mm f4 APO was the best telephoto Leica ever made. However, that lens is now averaging $6,000, and I really have no idea how it performs on a digital body when it comes to green fringing around the outlines of birds and things, which I definitely get with my M 135mm f2.8 and my R 400mm f6.8.

 

I have seen the fringes when using the 400mm f/6.8 Telyt. The only time I've seen color fringes when using the 280/4 APO is when I combine it with the 2x APO extender. All the photos on my website made in the last two years (and most for the last ten years) were made with the 280mm f/4 APO. It's such an important part of my work that I bought a backup copy.

 

Photographs of North American birds and mammals by Douglas Herr

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I agree with Doug, I have never seen purple fringes on my 280/4. I don't have as much experience with the 2x APO or the 1.4 APO extender (I have both) but, I haven't really noticed fringing with these extenders either.

 

Rick

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The Canon 300/4.0 L is close to the 280 APO. Erwin Puts remarks on this, noting that Canon needed far more elements to get there.

From personal experience i think he is right.

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The Canon 300/4.0 L is close to the 280 APO. Erwin Puts remarks on this, noting that Canon needed far more elements to get there.

From personal experience i think he is right.

 

Not what I hear. In personal correspondence another photographer who has used both lenses described the Canon 300/4 (as well as one of the Nikon 300/4 lenses) as a 'cruel joke' compared with the 280.

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I'd say the current Canon 300 f/4 IS L USM, a full redesign from the older non-IS lens, is very, very sharp and clear, and no longer to be grouped with Nikon's 300s (or Canon's other pre-IS designs such as the 400 f/5.6). In fact, with a 1.4x converter, it is STILL (marginally) sharper than the 400mm prime alone.

 

No fringing in the plane of focus, but sometimes some green edges around background blurs.

 

However, there are other factors, such as color rendering and overall contrast, that will differentiate it from the Leica APO, which I have tried only in a store, briefly.

 

In my second magazine issue for 2013, I used the Canon IS 300 with the 1.4 converter for the tele shots in the rugby story (some with additional cropping). Loved the resolution, but the color and contrast took a lot of tweaking and saturating to match my Leica-M9 wider shots.

 

(The pelican story, OTOH, was with Nikkors, and are a little "rougher" in contrast and detail. Although hardly a "cruel joke".)

 

ColoradoSeen - 2013

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Yes, I meant the IS version. I never compared the two directly, as I used the APO Telyt on film and the Canon on an 10D and 1D, but it never disappointed. On the contrary, the quality was such that the 100-400L was such a sad successor in comparison that it only lasted two months before being returned to the shop.

As said, my experience tallys with Erwin’s opinion in his Leica Lens Compendium

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... I meant the IS version. I never compared the two directly, as I used the APO Telyt on film and the Canon on an 10D and 1D,

 

Not a very useful comparison. BTW the 300mm f/4 IS is not as good as the earlier non-IS Canon 300/4; numerous users of the earlier lens switched back to the pre-IS lens after 'upgrading' to the IS lens.

 

the quality was such that the 100-400L was such a sad successor in comparison that it only lasted two months before being returned to the shop.

 

The first version of the 100-400L has a spotty reputation at best, and the images I've seen that were made with the 100-400L have horrible color fringing and other optical artifacts. I'd only use that lens if there were no other choice.

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FWIW, color fringing is pretty easy to fix in post processing.

 

I don't know much about Canon, but I have a nice range of long Nikkors, mostly longer AIS versions and they tend to have a bit of CA with higher pixel density cameras, but they clean up nicely and are sharp.

 

Of the Nikkors I've shot, the 200 f2 VR is a lens in it's own caliber and equal to be the best of my Leica glass both in sharpness, BOKEH and CA control.

 

I understand that the new Nikon 400 and 800mm lenses are phenomenal as well, however you pay for that.

 

JCA

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FWIW, color fringing is pretty easy to fix in post processing.

 

JCA

 

With the Leica (Minolta) 80-200 f4.5 and the Leica 400mm f6.8 the color fringing is sometimes so bad that when I clean it up, it actually leaves a noticeable gray outline, which makes the photo just as bad.

 

It all depends on light intensity and angle of the sun because sometimes they're great, but usually I have to remove at least a little bit of purple and green.

 

Incidentally, I have been looking at samples from the Sony 70-200 f4 OSS since I'm using the NEX-6 body, and the colors and bokeh look a whole lot like what I'm already getting with the Leica 80-200 f4.5.

 

Were the Canon FD L series anywhere close to the newer Canon L lenses? I'm really trying to avoid having to buy an adapter with electronics in it.

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