Do wide R lenses need specific microlenses like M ones?

[jaay]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Using wide M lenses via adapters on Sony Nex produces problems with colour shifts and sharpness falloff - is it the same with R lenses, or will they work perfectly with any sensor due to their SLR design?

[doubice]

........ will they work perfectly with any sensor due to their SLR design?

 

Correct. All retrofocus lenses will work fine. At least that has been my experience.

 

Best,

 

Jan

[mmradman]

What lens and which model of NEX?

 

Wide modern SLR lenses are are usually retrofocus or inverted telescope design which allows rear element to be moved further away from film/sensor plane than RF lenses - this in turn allows light rays to hit sensor plane perpendicularly or almost perpendicularly.

 

Recently there was good demonstration of Elmarit R 19mm V2 on M9, coded as M 21mm f2.8 by Jamie Roberts.

[Paolo.Battista]

Not in my experience.

The 19 Elmarit (II version) works terribly on sensors with serious pixel density. In fact, Leica himslef when manifacturing an adapter for converting R lenses to the old 4/3 sensors (only 7 megapixels) limited the compatibility to lenses starting from 35 mm focal length up.

 

Tried some lenses on Ricoh GXR M module (with the appropriate conversion adapter) and they worked much better.

[mmradman]

Not in my experience.

The 19 Elmarit (II version) works terribly on sensors with serious pixel density. In fact, Leica himslef when manifacturing an adapter for converting R lenses to the old 4/3 sensors (only 7 megapixels) limited the compatibility to lenses starting from 35 mm focal length up.

 

Tried some lenses on Ricoh GXR M module (with the appropriate conversion adapter) and they worked much better.

 

You said it yourself, poor performance on 4/3, better on APS-C, so how about bigger than APS-C?

 

It seems bigger the sensor better the performance. It has been already demonstrated here on LUF that R19mm V2 works well on M9, it works well on full frame DSLR's providing it can be mechanically fitted; Sony Alpha 900/850 and Nikon D3/D700 with some rear shroud surgery.

[lars_bergquist]

I have used Olympus OM wides on the M9 with good results – a 24mm and a 16mm semi-fisheye! The long back focus of these lenses make them more nearly telecentric, so rays hit the peripheral pixels at a steeper angle.

 

LB

[Paolo.Battista]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

You said it yourself, poor performance on 4/3, better on APS-C, so how about bigger than APS-C?

 

It seems bigger the sensor better the performance. It has been already demonstrated here on LUF that R19mm V2 works well on M9, it works well on full frame DSLR's providing it can be mechanically fitted; Sony Alpha 900/850 and Nikon D3/D700 with some rear shroud surgery.

 

The M9 has a pixel density like a 4/3 sensor of less than 5 Mp, plus has the microlenses on the sensor and various software patches in order to correct some effects like color shifts on the edges.

The behaviour on higher density FF sensors (like the one in the D800) combined with the absence of the microlenses could more problematic.

[guidowi]

Not in my experience.

The 19 Elmarit (II version) works terribly on sensors with serious pixel density. In fact, Leica himslef when manifacturing an adapter for converting R lenses to the old 4/3 sensors (only 7 megapixels) limited the compatibility to lenses starting from 35 mm focal length up.

 

Tried some lenses on Ricoh GXR M module (with the appropriate conversion adapter) and they worked much better.

 

Paolo,

my experience with the 19 Elmarit VII is a very good result on DMR/R9 as well as with Canon EOS 1 DS III shooting with live view because of the mirror interference.

[mgcd]

Paolo,

my experience with the 19 Elmarit VII is a very good result on DMR/R9 as well as with Canon EOS 1 DS III shooting with live view because of the mirror interference.

 

That is correct, it works superbly on the R8/DMR.

[jaay]

thank you for the replies. I am building an R lens system for a sony alpha 65 with a view to then using it on the full frame alpha 99 (hopefully to be announced in september).

 

The reason for the asking is i had an M9 and then started using the lenses on a Nex 5N and found focussing, composing, exposure a dream to do - however extended use in varied conditions showed issues with nearly all lenses: wide angles consistently have softer left hand sides of the images at certain angles and distances, even at f8 you get no real depth of field like on the M9 and GXR (which must again be down to the microlenses). So the truth is you can only get optimum results on a sensor specifically designed for the RF lenses. I am sure ricoh will update the GXR and Leica will release something in september - but neither will be full frame

The next iteration of NEX will have more pixels on the same size sensor so the problems will only ever get worse - and if we experience these on APS-C then a full frame NEX (if it ever exists!) would be even worse.