Something Cheap and Long

[Peter H]

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Thanks Jaap. That's a very persuasive argument!

[Peter H]

This shot was made with the 400 f/6.8 (cropped to about an 1100mm equivalent). The R version on a 5D2, but the Viso version is the same glass.

 

Cost me £195 ($299) in bare form (no shoulder stock, no box).

 

One point about the V-Lux - you'll get less background separation with the small sensor. For 3x the price.

 

Wonderful.

 

The problem is one of availability really. I'm not very good at being as patient as I expect I'll have to be.

[adan]

The problem is one of availability really. I'm not very good at being as patient as I expect I'll have to be.

 

[NZDavid]

David, have you any experience of the V-Lux? I wonder whether it might be a good thing to have sitting around for a quick shot of something far away that a viso set-up might be a bit slow to catch.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Worth a little investigation I think.

 

Sorry Peter, I'm afraid I don't. I do think it would be worth checking out. Perhaps try one out and look at some reviews. It's certainly a lot lighter for occasional pictures and grab shots. Those pics above wit Visoflex set up look superb, but that's a lot of hefty kit to lug around the countryside with you.

[Robert_M]

Since getting an M9 about 1.5 years ago, I've been thrilled with the results for most of my photography. But I remained very curious about the possibilities for long focal length options. I've been spending considerable time (and probably way too much money) on exploring the options available for Visoflex lens connections. I've regularly searched ebay, web classified, and web resellers for available equipment. The following is my take on items I've tried, with the goal of feeding my long focal length lust.

 

200mm:

 

The Telyt 200 f/4 is readily available at low prices. This lens is relatively light in weight and easy to use. It is fun to play with but I'm not impressed with the performance for far field imaging. I do have a nice mountain ridge horizonat home, with clear air (at about 10 km distance) to test my optics with. The excellent tele-elmar 135 f/4 (penultimate version) and the 135 f/3.4 APO Telyt do about the same for resolution with cropping. However, this 200mm lens is a good entry to playing with the Telyt range (at low cost).

 

I did also pic up an old 200mm f/4.5 at low cost. Fun to play with but of limited performance compared to the above. I will say that it is compact and light weight. The necessary visoflex will dominate the weight concerns with this one.

 

 

280mm.

 

I have the version 3 lens and I will also lavish praise on this one. Jaapv and others have already described it's performance and I can only agree. In my addiction to find field useful performance, I've also acquired a focorapid unit and recently a televit focus unit. The helicoil focus which comes with the 280/4.8 is slow and not optimal in use. The focorapid is a great addition and weighs about the same as the standard focus unit. But the televit unit is extremely agile with this lens (even though it is heavier than the other focus options). This lens is not that hard to find if you search around on ebay or on-line sales. There are usually several available. However, my preferred focus options do involve a greater search and patience to find.

 

I have not tried the 280 vers 2. I hear it is disappointing in comparison to ver 3. However, I can not confirm.

 

300mm

 

If one patiently searches the used market, there are a couple of inexpensive 300mm options from non-Leica sources.

 

1) 300mm f/5.6 from Novoflex using their 1st follow focus system. Since it is a LTM flange, it is easy to find spaces to adapt to the Visoflex. There are not as many of these compared to the 400mm Novoflex options, but is is a reasonable lens. Worth considering if you find one. Not as good as the Leica 280 ver3 but then I found mine at under $100. It delivers decent quality (do figure on cropping out the corners) and ease of use.

 

2) 300mm f/5.6 Kilfitt. Good lens and way too overlooked by the community. It uses aluminum components where necessary to keep the weight down. High quality German optics firm from the 1950-70 era. I recently got one at dirt cheap price and had to recondition a little. But it performs very well. It is comparable to the 280 ver3 Leica. But I've only been comparing in the far field so far and do not yet have enough experience in close focus to comment yet.

 

 

400mm

 

The Telyt-V 400mm f/6.8 from Leica is the best entry into this long focal range. It is very lightweight for the focal length, easy to handle and has great color reproduction. It is readily available if you search ebay or on-line used equipment resellers. It is intended for wildlife sports and spots where the subject is in the center of the field. The simple optical design does have field curvature so it is not the lens if you need a focal plane across the image. For my uses, that doesn't matter, since my interest in a long focal length is for the central image.

 

Novoflex 400mm double f/5.6: Readily available for decades over several follow focus systems (versions a, b and c). It is not as good as the Leica 400/6.8. I'm disappointed in comparison.

 

Novoflex T-Noflexar 400/5.6 triplet version. This was available with the B and C follow focus systems. This is a lens of similar quality to the Leica 400/6.8 offering. Highly recommended. It has a flat focal plane, so in that respect is better than the Leica offering. To me, the tradeoff is much lighter weight and very slightly better color fidelity of the Leica 400/6.8 versus flat focal field and better corner resolution of the T-Noflexar 400/5.6. Each has a use. It is difficult to make a choice (now that is not really a problem, is it?).

 

That is my abbreviated take on the offerings. My recommendation: dive in and feed your desires. Of all the Leica lens ranges, experimentation with the long lens range is actually the least costly. Go figure....

 

RM