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Leica 135/3.4 APO Telyt M


SJP

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I did not find a thread about this lens so here goes. A store in NL has this on sale used/mint-as-new, no box, no lens case, no UV/IR, without 6 bit coding for about 2000 euro (new = 3000 euro?). This may be acceptable/negotiable but as a M8 user I am on the fence. I tried focussing wide open (OK,OK 3.4) and that seemed to be about 50% hit-rate (sharpness, motion blur, not framing composition etc.), probably better is achievable with some practice.

 

I liked the test shots I took but.... basically I do not use my 90 mm all that much, even longer may remain unused in my bag for most of the time except when a nearly extinct animal unexpectedly appears in the distance. I could imagine pairing with my MATE as a 2 lens daytime combo.

 

Any comments about the 135 APO telyt lens? Does anyone have some example images esp. on M8?

 

I liked its relatively compact build & low weight (easy enough when compared to chrome 50/1.4 ASPH). It is a relatively rare beast.

 

Another possibly more intelligent option is to bite the M(240) bullet and use an R adapter + live view/e-finder and some 2nd hand R lenses for the occasion I need something long.

 

 

 

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Mmmm, I was afraid someone would say that, but this is faster than I had feared :)

OTOH I checked the first 10 pages of goodies in this subsection and did not find a thread, so I plead 'not guilty'

Edited by SJP
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Superb lens but not made for the M8 which has no 135mm framelines. Combined with the 1.33x crop factor and the 0.68x VF magnification, the base length of the M8's rangefinder does not allow for high hitrates below f/5.6 with 135mm lenses, unless one uses a magnifier or an Elmarit 135/2.8 with goggles. The latter lens does very well above f/3.5 on my M8.2 (http://tinyurl.com/qchogvg) but the goggles are not comfortable to say the least. Now it is an inexpensive lens as well as the Elmarit-R 135/2.8 which is the same lens basically and can be used on the M240 via an adapter. 

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I have some on the M8 - I don't know where to find them in a hurry, as I only had the lens coded after I switched to the M9 when the code became known. I can safely say that, given a good focusing technique, the lens is perfectly usable on the M8 with stunning results. I had no problems hitting focus @3.4 without magnifier. Admittedly the M9 is a tad more forgiving in this respect. I used to overrotate the lens to bring up the 90 mm framelines and guesstimated the framing someplace between those lines and the RF patch.

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I had the 135 APO but decided it wasn't worth the cost difference over my f/4 Tele-Elmarit.   For the amount of use that focal length gets from me, even my 1960 Elmarit would be perfectly fine.   I never got to using the 3.4 on an M8 as I sold it before, but the f/4 lenses are absolutely no trouble on an M8.  I have an old accessory zoomfinder that goes to 180mm, but I found using the same framing technique as Jaap to be less hassle. 

 

Btw if you do get an M240, you don't need R lenses and adapters to use 135 on it.  Any M or adapted LTM lens can be used with the OVF or EVF. 

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Regarding 135 use (any 135) on an M8: Indeed, no framelines. But one can use the RF patch as a fair guide for aiming and framing. The 135 image area will be about 3x the width and height of the RF patch. Focusing will be a challenge, especially since a 135 becomes a "180mm" on the M8, and the M8 was built before Leica realized how much they needed to tighten the specs for digital cameras. I usually shot the 135s at f/8 whenever possible, to get some leeway through DoF.

 

The attached image was shot on my M8 with a 135 Tele-Elmar in 2006.

 

Regarding the 135 APO-Telyt per se: Marginally better resolution than the much less expensive Tele-Elmar or Elmarit. Quite a bit less color aberration (thus the APO designation). Quite a bit more contrast.

 

On the M9, I've determined that 135 is my preferred long focal length, so I bit the bullet recently and got a virtually new "demo" APO-Telyt 6-bit-coded - as much for the reduced weight (40% less than the goggled f/2.8, 11% less than the lightest Tele-Elmar) and slightly larger aperture (over the f/4) as for the absolute image quality. But it is pricey if 135 is a focal length that won't get much use (not my case), and the aperture is irrelevant if one will have to use f/8 most of the time anyway.

 

I tried the APO in 2007 (when a used one was about 950 euros) on an M8, and on that camera (guessing framing, and shooting everything at f/8) - the benefits of the APO just weren't worth the extra cost. I mostly stuck with a 90 (effective "120mm") and got f/2.8 (Tele-Elmarit), real framelines, and a 228g lens in the bargain.

 

If you can live with chrome lenses (I can't), the 1960 135 Elmar (no "tele" in the name) is light and sharp and f/4. A good choice for an "occasional" lens.

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Edited by adan
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I shoot mine all the time on both M9 and A7.mod. It's the best 135 ever made. Unless you need faster LOL. I have a bunch of others also, 135/2.8, which I use for events, and the nice and very good Canon 135/3.5

 

17440214638_64c059bccc_b.jpgL1031320 by unoh7, on M9.

 

15002579225_4a0646d806_b.jpgL1019116 by unoh7, on Flickr

 

Focus is not easy but if you shoot the lens alot you learn. Handling is much better than Tele Elmar or of course the Elmarit. A 'good deal' is about 2300USD

Edited by uhoh7
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the 1960 135 Elmar (no "tele" in the name) is light and sharp and f/4. A good choice for an "occasional" lens.

Indeed.  I have one.  Remarkable performance for a 55 year old lens.  And it has it's own tripod attachment, which I find gives it more stability than the T-E or APO cantilevered out front.  That was especially true in the film days with the far-off-center tripod attachment of the camera bodies.  And took all the stress off the rather iffy one of the M8 and M9.  

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Actually my 135 lenses get little use any more since I got the 80-200 4.0 R on the 240. For lightweight I just got a mint 75-150 Olympus Zuiko, which is away to Will van Manen to remove a thick layer of dust from the inside.

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Actually my 135 lenses get little use any more since I got the 80-200 4.0 R on the 240. For lightweight I just got a mint 75-150 Olympus Zuiko, which is away to Will van Manen to remove a thick layer of dust from the inside.

The 135 APO and 80-200 R lens are world-class optics.  It will be interesting to hear your opinion of the Oly when comes back from cleaning.  Might consider one myself.  I have the 70-210 R lens, a remarkable optic in its day and a bargain in today's market, and significantly lighter than the 80-200 but still a fairly chunky piece to haul around.

 

Frankly, I can crop a 90 Summicron or Elmarit shot down to an effective 180mm FOV on the M240 and still end up with a larger file than a 135mm shot un-cropped on an M8, and much of the time that's what I end up doing.

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I used to have the Olympus lens back in my film days, ages ago before I even moved to Leica. In my recollection it was a sharp and contrasty lens with as main drawbacks focus shift when zooming and rather extreme distortion at both the short and the long end. I this digital age the last should not be much of a problem and the first is minor too.

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