Digilux 3 and R Glass

[panganibanMD]

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I've been debating whether or not to take the leap into the world of R glass on my Digilux 3. If I end up taking the plunge, I'll likely get the Novoflex adapter and I have my eyes on a couple different lenses. Since there are a number here that use R glass on the Digilux 3s, I was hoping that you guys could answer a few questions for me.

 

1. I've read a few threads about stop down metering, but I don't quite understand what it means or how to do it. What exactly does stop down metering entail?

 

2. In searching for R lenses, I've seen some labeled as "3 cam." I'm not sure what that means. When looking for an R lens to use on my Digilux 3, should I or should I not be getting the "3 cam" version?

 

3. What is your favorite R lens to use on your Digilux 3? I know that it's a matter of personal preference, but I'm just curious to know what people's opinions are.

 

Thanks in advanced for your help.

[nrj]

I use r lenses on a panasonic L1 (same as Digilux 3) with a fotodiox adapter. My lenses are r cam only and work well. I have the 28/2.8 first version which becomes a normal lens - it gives a very fine image with rich colour and differentiation in tones. The 50/2 becomes a short telephoto and is very sharp with a lot of 'sparkle'. I've printed out to A2 size with very satisfying results from RAW.

[graeme_clarke]

I have the Leica adapter that was part of an offer when I bought the camera. Any 3 cam or ROM lenses fit. You don't need ROM lenses, which are more expensive - they only communicate with the R8 or R9.

 

There's no difficulty with stop down metering and, as you don't have autofocus either, its a slow process best done using a tripod :

 

On the camera set the shutter speed dial to A, set to manual focus and live view

Open the aperture ring on the lens to maximum;

Focus using the rear screen especially if using longer lenses - and remembers all 35mm lenses effectively have double the focal length so a 50mm becomes 100 - its best to use the magnifyer facility to help get sharp focus (if you use a smaller aperture at this stage the live view is dim and harder to focus)

Close the aperture down to the size you want

Shoot

 

Hope this helps,

 

Graeme

[TonyMCS]

The NOVOFLEX adapter is excellent quality, although not the cheapest..

 

Stop down metering using Aperture priority as per Graeme's reply.

 

Focus at maximum aperture to get clearest view, then STOP DOWN to the required aperture before exposure.

 

You can focus using the viewfinder, but it takes care with small DoF - the green focus confirm light can sometimes be imprecise so trust your eyes - don't forget the viewfinder diopter adjustment.

 

Remember to set the "NO RELEASE WITHOUT LENS" option in the CUSTOM menu to OFF otherwise the camera thinks no lens is attached (no electrical connection to Leica-R or other non 4/3 lenses) and will not fire the shutter. See page 87 in the manual.

 

I use:

19/2.8 v2 gives a useful 38mm equivalent FOV.

28/2.8 with built in rectangular hood a great lens with nice "natural" angle of view.

Macro 60/2.8 great for close ups and as a medium telephoto also a 90/2 non APO.

 

Tony

[Paolo.Battista]

On my Digilux 3 I use these R lenses.

 

Cron 35

Elmarit 35

Cron 50

Macro-Elmarit 60

Lux 80

Macro Elmarit APO 100

Elmarit 135

APO Telyt 180 f:3,4

Telyt 250 f:4 (last version, with closest minimum focus distance)

APO Telyt 280 f:2,8 (non modular, with dedicated APO converter 1,4x)

 

All of them works fine, it's much easier to use longest lenses since manual focusing without liveview for faster shots it's tricky with shorter lenses.

Anyway, all of them give wonderful results, specially if compared to modern zooms that have a lot of resolution but lack tonal and chromatical capabilities (maybe the Elmarit 14-50 f:2.8-3.5 is the only exception).

 

My favourits: all the Cron, the Elmarit 135 (yes, it works great in digital).

The three APO are spectacular, but this is quite obvious...

Hint: consider to buy a used Olympus E-3. It works great with R lenses since it is an evolution of the 4/3 systems, it has a spectacular viewfinder that will let you increase the well focused shot hit rate, and you find it used for cheap since Olympus is struggling in deciding what to do with its 4/3 strategy. Ok, it's not a red dot camera, but for use with manual focus lenses you should try it and it has the nearest implementation of image processing to the Digi 3.

 

My best regards.

 

Paolo

 

Forgot: I used even the Telyt 560 f:6.8 of a friend of mine's. It gives wonderful results too.

[roguewave]

If you do a search on the Forum, yo will find several very informative threads that detail almost everything about using the R glass on the D3.