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Anyone use the 135mm APO-Telyt?

Alnitak

By Alnitak
in Leica M9 / M-E

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ahl

ahl

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Hi Jeff,

 

The 135 Apo & M9 are a truly great combination that I use with the 1.4 magnifier.

No problems at all focusing wide open, just remember to use faster than normal

shutter speeds. It is easy to forget how forgiving the M cameras are with hand-holding

slow shutter speeds: you just cannot get away with it with a 135.

Originally I thought I could not focus it on the M8 : until I put the camera on a tripod and solved the problem of camera shake.I realised I wasn't as good as I thought.

The 135 Apo is rather undervalued secondhand and therefore there are some bargains about

until everyone catches on to how good it is.

I hope you find one. Alain

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adan

adan

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1) I use the older 135 f/4 Tele-Elmar. It runs about a stop behind the APO in resolution/contrast (best @ f/5.6 whereas the APO is best at f/4).

 

2) The "f/8" recommendation (for all 135s, not just the APO) from Leica has to do with focusing capabilities of the .68x digital M viewfinders. Realistically, a 135 on a rangefinder requires an extra 40-50% finder magnification, via either internal design (M3 body, .85x M6/7/P), external eyepiece magnifier, or the goggles of the f/2.8.

 

There actually is a reason why Leica left the 135 lines out of the original M2 - the wide-angle built-in finders that can frame 35 or 28 lenses really aren't optimum for focusing a 135 above f/8.

 

3) There is no such thing as a 6-bit code for any 135 except the f/2.8 - i.e., there is no particular pattern of white and black that the M8 or M9 will ever recognize. When you choose the lens from the M9 manual menu, you are choosing it by name, not by a number.

 

An analogy would be a person in a small town with a street address, but no telephone. They can be contacted by writing their name and address on a postal envelope, but that does not mean they have a secret, hidden, "unlisted" phone number. As far as the telephone system or directory is concerned, they are undefined or non-existent.

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scott kirkpatrick

scott kirkpatrick

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The current LEICA APO- TELYT-M 135mm/f3.4 will not be available in a 6-bit coded version. (From Leica M9 FAQ).

So there is no way to read the code on a real lens, but since there is the possibility to manually set the APO Telyt from menù, may be there is a binary code for it which can be red on the exif data. I could not find it but somebody more clever than me might do.

Cheers,

Ario

 

Aha! They may or may not have assigned one of the 63 8-bit codes to that lens (after all it is one of the currently manufactured lenses) but they aren't going to paint it on the back, so an M8 or M9 will never recognize it that way. I would guess that they haven't given it a code, either. Sandy McG or Carl Bretteville can tell us whether the 6-bit value appears anywhere in the EXIF, or only the string with the lens name and its product codes. My impression is that only the text string is found there.

 

scott

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chris_tribble

chris_tribble

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Aha! They may or may not have assigned one of the 63 8-bit codes to that lens (after all it is one of the currently manufactured lenses) but they aren't going to paint it on the back, so an M8 or M9 will never recognize it that way. I would guess that they haven't given it a code, either. Sandy McG or Carl Bretteville can tell us whether the 6-bit value appears anywhere in the EXIF, or only the string with the lens name and its product codes. My impression is that only the text string is found there.

 

scott

I think this is the story. I had my 135 adapted for use with the M8 (so that it brought up the 90 framelines) and the coding for the 2.8 135 worked fine so there was a means of picking up the focal length in LR. For the M9 I have a mount which brings up the 135 framelines - so that's good news - but apart from manual selection I have no way of coding the lens to write the correct exif data. A marginal annoyance in the end - I know that it makes no difference to the image...

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Alnitak

Alnitak

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I think they have caught on. Neither KEH nor Ffordes list any 135 APOs today.

 

scott

 

I spent most of yesterday searching everywhere, including eBay and its virtually impossible to find a second hand 135 APO-Telyt online. By pure chance, just as I was logging on to post a "Want to Buy" ad on the Fred Miranda classifieds, someone listed one for sale, and I jumped on it. :D

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Doc Henry

Doc Henry

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The current LEICA APO- TELYT-M 135mm/f3.4 will not be available in a 6-bit coded version. (From Leica M9 FAQ).

So there is no way to read the code on a real lens, but since there is the possibility to manually set the APO Telyt from menù, may be there is a binary code for it which can be red on the exif data. I could not find it but somebody more clever than me might do.

Cheers,

Ario

It's correct

I agree with Ario

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Doc Henry

Doc Henry

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I think this is the story. I had my 135 adapted for use with the M8 (so that it brought up the 90 framelines) and the coding for the 2.8 135 worked fine so there was a means of picking up the focal length in LR. For the M9 I have a mount which brings up the 135 framelines - so that's good news - but apart from manual selection I have no way of coding the lens to write the correct exif data. A marginal annoyance in the end - I know that it makes no difference to the image...

Hi Chris,

Not need to encode 135 mm lens because on M9, we can select :

"detection lens 135mm"

Best regards

Henry

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gwelland

gwelland

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I did manage to locate a second-hand one last night in excellent condition for a very good price, so I will have it in hand on Monday. Looking forward to using it. Thanks for all the information and help!

 

Jeff,

 

I think that's called serendipity. :D

I took this with that (now your) particular lens with my M8 btw:

 

CrownPointMoonrisepartialII-1k_original.jpg

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xjr

xjr

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The 75mm f2 Asph has no competition !

The 90mm f2 Asph has no competition !

The 135 APO is also looking for a competitor !...but again cannot find one !

I wish I knew how to download photos on the forum !!!!!!! Can somebody sent idiot-proof instructions in non-computer terms for a mac-user ?

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luigi bertolotti

luigi bertolotti

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The 75mm f2 Asph has no competition !

The 90mm f2 Asph has no competition !

The 135 APO is also looking for a competitor !...but again cannot find one !

I wish I knew how to download photos on the forum !!!!!!! Can somebody sent idiot-proof instructions in non-computer terms for a mac-user ?

 

30 years ago I had a Jupiter 11...:p... nowadays you can easily find one around 50 Euros...

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noah_addis

noah_addis

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I don't want to hijack the thread but also didn't know if this was worthy of a new one...

 

How does the goggled 135/2.8 compare to the current apo-telyt?

 

I'm thinking about a 135, but it would be a very, very low-percentage lens for me, and the 135/2.8 seems to go for a very attractive price.

 

Will the goggles make focusing easier wide-open?

 

BTW, the only times I may use it are for distant landscapes, aerials, etc. where it would be stopped down to probably F/5.6, or maybe weddings/portraits where a touch of corner softness is not a huge big deal.

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Alnitak

Alnitak

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Oh yes, an infeasibly big tripod, Arca swiss head and teeny little M camera & cable release stuck on top.

 

Good to know that you don't have to use a colossally big tripod. :D

 

Glad that serendipity brought your lens and me together, and can't wait to have some fun with it next week! I love the shot you posted.

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Riccis

Riccis

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I don't want to hijack the thread but also didn't know if this was worthy of a new one...

 

How does the goggled 135/2.8 compare to the current apo-telyt?

 

I'm thinking about a 135, but it would be a very, very low-percentage lens for me, and the 135/2.8 seems to go for a very attractive price.

 

Will the goggles make focusing easier wide-open?

 

BTW, the only times I may use it are for distant landscapes, aerials, etc. where it would be stopped down to probably F/5.6, or maybe weddings/portraits where a touch of corner softness is not a huge big deal.

 

Noah:

 

The 135/2.8 is a nice lens but I struggle to focus it in a fast paced shoot... I am also not a fan of the googles as it makes me feel I'm looking thru a peephole rather than a viewfinder. IMHO, if you are planning to use it in situations where you can take your time focusing you can make it work, otherwise I'd stick with the 135 APO and a magnifier.

 

Cheers,

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