Leica R8 glass

[adan]

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That's a good set - eventually slip in a 50 f/2 or f/1.4 for lower light, and you can probably go forever. Add burgundy leather to your R8 and you'll have the setup Leica sold as the "Aztec" kit in the early 80's

 

Leica Aztec outfit | Christie's

 

A bit late - my objection to the push-pull Leica /Minolta zooms is that I found them very unergonomic for mounting and un-mounting. There was no firm place to grip the barrel for twisting, unless the zoom ring was extended and even then, the exposed inner barrel was smooth and slippery.

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[Hanson Leatherby]

Thanks for the feedback! I think I jump to the negative when I get my rolls of film developed. I would have tried portra but calumet was all sold out due to the Kodak panic buying! Ill get a box of portra and some slide from somewhere.

[Hanson Leatherby]

When I say jump to the negative I mean emotionally. Not actually jumping towards my negatives... that would be odd

[Hanson Leatherby]

For anyone who would like to see, here is a link to my best test shots from my first roll on the R8. They are all from the Elmarit 28 mm f2.8

 

Would love anyone to have a look!

 

 

Coffee, Pie & Lollipops - a set on Flickr

[dave_d]

Very nice looking photos for just a test. Love the first one of the group. Keep testing.

[Hanson Leatherby]

Thanks! Ive got a roll in already and Im looking for the next subject matter. Im going to shoot some portraits for a Blues musician next week and may take a few with that and the M9p

[gbealnz]

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Apologies for regurgitating this thread.

I am in the throes of pulling the trigger on an R8, can't work out if I am doing the right thing or not.

Those pictures, the test roll you posted, they are wonderful, very very nice.

Like most have said, not too many clunkers on the Leica line up.

Gary

[urs0polar]

R8 is a great camera, I have one. Just get it. The quality of build and so forth makes you want to pick it up and use it. If you can get a motor winder or motor drive for it, even better, though the camera by itself is great too.

[Torquinian]

I have an R8 and a selection of lenses. One thing to check is the weight. I have a 80-200mm f4 Vario and it mostly stays at home because it is so heavy. Now that modern film is so fast, I use a 60mm Macro-Elmarit as my standard lens.

[Hanson Leatherby]

Hello all! I am still playing with the R8 and have bought a version 1 250 telyt r f4 1971 by walter mandler. I have not yet run a roll of film to test this yet but have been trying it on my canon eos 2d (the camera I kept to test R glass).

 

So far I have found the long minimum focusing distance a bit annoying, and the weight is tough hand held.

 

I have put the camera on a tripod and tested it on the canon shooting a row of books and the results are ok but haven't really blown me away.

 

I wondering if anyone has any experience with the 250 f4 version one with the round non moving tripod mount?

 

I wanted to know if the version two is optically a better choice.

 

I also wanted to know what lens of roughly this focal length is going to be in the running with my M glass (35 summon apsh f2, zeiss planar 50 f2 etc).

 

I want to do speech headshots and I want excellent quality, and I think I may have to trade this 250 f4 version one for something else in the near future.

 

Does anyone have any advice on the lens I bought and what lens is a great one if I should step up?

 

Thanks!

[Hanson Leatherby]

I meant to write canon eos20d as the test camera

[wildlightphoto]

I have put the camera on a tripod and tested it on the canon shooting a row of books and the results are ok but haven't really blown me away.

 

I wondering if anyone has any experience with the 250 f4 version one with the round non moving tripod mount?

 

I wanted to know if the version two is optically a better choice.

 

I also wanted to know what lens of roughly this focal length is going to be in the running with my M glass (35 summon apsh f2, zeiss planar 50 f2 etc).

 

I want to do speech headshots and I want excellent quality, and I think I may have to trade this 250 f4 version one for something else in the near future.

 

Does anyone have any advice on the lens I bought and what lens is a great one if I should step up?

 

Thanks!

 

No experience with version 1, but I wasn't blown away by the image quality of version 2 either.

 

In this focal length range your best bet is one of the APO lenses. Most affordable is the 180mm f/3.4 APO-Telyt-R, which has a long minimum focus distance (for its focal length). The 280mm f/2.8 APO is quite a step up from the version 2 250mm f/4 in image quality, and if you want to be blown away by what the lens can do there isn't anything better than the 280mm f/4 APO-Telyt-R.

[Hanson Leatherby]

Thanks for that. I think the 180 apo tely r sounds like a good one.

 

I have 135 2.8 and the 250 f4 and my 135 tele elmar M lens and would consider selling these to fund the step up.

 

Always a little nervous about buying on ebay but it seems like these lenses are rare at local camera shops

[Torquinian]

I have had an R8 for several years. As my interests include nature photography i have a 60mm Macro-Elmarit as my standard lens. I used to have a 80-200 f4 zoom but I sold it as it was too heavy to carry about.

[rogera]

I have a wide array of Leica R lenses that I use with my R9 and my DMR. I still love film and the conversion is super easy! I must say by far my 3 favorites are the 28mm 2.8 and the 28-90 and the 35mm 1.4. The 28-90 was very expensive but I absolutley love it. I found the 35-70 not to my personal liking. That of course is due to my inabilities not the lenses. In any event, if you intend on personal photos, the 28 and the 35 are great! For a zoom, I swear by the 28-90.

[roguewave]

The best lenses in the R system are 1) 80 Summilux (Mandler's vey best R system lens), the 35 Summilux ( a close 2nd) and the 24 Elmarit. Obviously, I'm speaking to non Tele lenses.

 

The 80 Summilux is not any easy lens to get the most out of it. When I bought my first one, I took over 1000 test images (using my DMR) to undersatnd and master all the rendering capabilities, strengths & weaknesses at each f stop and various shutter speeds. There's a world of difference between using a lens like a 80 Summilux and a 180 apo Tele lens. First, you need some sort of tripod to use the tele, for good results. From the images I saw on your Flickr sight, the 80 & 35 Summiluxes are your best investment, with the highest rewards.

[BobbyR]

If you can save your money and get the 70-180 zoom lens, it is as good as it gets.

 

If you ever wish to have a short zoom lens, the Angenieux 35-70 is excellant.

 

I have an R8 and R9 and these are the only two lenses I have.

 

I greatly regret that that Sigma did not manufacture their 120-300 lens in Leica mount, although, as good as it is, I would never replace the 70-180 with anything.

[BobbyR]

If you can save your money and get the 70-180 zoom lens, it is as good as it gets.

 

If you ever wish to have a short zoom lens, the Angenieux 35-70 is excellant.

 

I have an R8 and R9 and these are the only two lenses I have.

 

I greatly regret that that Sigma did not manufacture their 120-300 lens in Leica mount, although, as good as it is, I would never replace the 70-180 with anything.

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I do offer a small apology as I did not know that the 70-180 seems to be going down the price path of the 35-70 f2.8 lens.

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I do offer a small apology as I did not know that the 70-180 seems to be going down the price path of the 35-70 f2.8 lens.

 

A lot of the high end R glass has gone up in value a lot in the last two years esp the rare lenses e.g. 280/4 APO, 180/2 cron, 70-180/2.8.

 

Charlie

[farnz]

Hi, Hanson,

 

I'm the gent you met at the Chap Olympiad with the M9-P and IIIf, with which you took my photo.

 

One thing to bear in mind with the Leica-R system is that the 1.4x and 2x APO extenders are excellent and can help you extended your lenses range although at the expense of maximum aperture of course. The 1.4x APO extender doesn't work with all of the R lenses but I believe the 2x APO does (cams notwithstanding); perhaps unsurprisingly, APO lenses get the most out of APO extenders.

 

There are also (non APO) Leica-R extenders to be had quite cheaply but my experience with them hasn't produced stellar results unfortunately.

 

Pete.