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Fast telephoto lenses on the Leica.


Lax Jought

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I was looking at the Leica website and saw that their fastest telephoto lens is the 90mm f/2. 

 

I had a look at the Camera Quest website and saw that the fastest Voigtlander M mount lens is the 75mm f/1.8.

 

Are there any other alternatives or is that it for fast teles on the Leica?

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Hi jaapv!  I was hoping to use my M8.2 with a tele to maximise my telephoto reach.  And the reason why I was looking at fast teles is because (1) a lot of my photography occurs in low light events/concert/music, and (2) the M8 has poor ISO. 

 

The Summilux 75/1.4 would give me the equivalent of a 100mm lens, and a 90mm would give me the equivalent of a 120mm.  Is that the best possible reach that I can expect from a fast Leica lens?

 

 

 

 

The Summilux 75/1.4

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There are older 85mm F1.5 lenses around, the Canon 85/1.5 is under $800 with patience. Don't expect miracles from 1950s super-speed optics, but sharp enough.

 

With the M8: are you shooting Raw mode and using M8RAW2DNG for low-light, or using DNG/JPEG?

 

Some comparisons here:

 

http://www.leicaplace.com/threads/1081/

Edited by fiftyonepointsix
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I have the Canon 100/2: Great lens, can be found for under $400 with patience. Planar formula lens with a long and very smooth focus throw.

 

This is with the M Monochrom at ISO 10,000, wide-open, and at 1/180th second. Skater was moving fairly quickly. "follow-focus and Pan", RF spot kept on the intersection of the shirt/jeans.

 

19032709440_612b1dd14c_o.jpgL1005484-Edit by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

 

I've pushed the M8 to ISO5000 equivalent at the skating rink.

Edited by fiftyonepointsix
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Thanks everyone for your responses!  I had not considered Canon lenses and in fact was not previously aware of them.  I was aware of a Canon 50mm f/0.95 but never looked into it or looked into how it could be mounted on the M, I assume it's an old standard LTM mount adapter but I will look into it.

 

 

Canon 100mm f2 with LTM.

LUF member MENOS demonstrated use of M8 with Canon 100 f2 covering motor racing in all light conditions - 24h Le Mans.

 

I'm going to look this up, I will be very interested to see the Leica, especially the M8, used in this context, thanks.

 

 

 

There are older 85mm F1.5 lenses around, the Canon 85/1.5 is under $800 with patience. Don't expect miracles from 1950s super-speed optics, but sharp enough.

 

With the M8: are you shooting Raw mode and using M8RAW2DNG for low-light, or using DNG/JPEG?

 

Some comparisons here:

 

http://www.leicaplace.com/threads/1081/

 

I am aware of the M8 raw method but have never properly tried it.  It's been a while since I looked into it but I think I did not look into it very much back then because my M8.2's sensor was starting to fail anyway, and also I think it had something to do with a workflow that was not easily adapted with Lightroom, I think I would've had to go through a couple of extra steps to make it work.   The other reason, if I recall correctly, is that it slowed down the photography process and that I had to remember to go through the steps to get back to raw access every time I shut the camera off.  The way I work is I always shut the camera off after I take a shot, this is mainly to preserve battery life through the day. 

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If you are looking at Canon lenses, you may also want to consider the 85/1.8. Canon's best tele (along with the 100/2) IMHO, although relatively rare and on the expensive side.

If you don't mind the weight, the Nikkor 85/2 was also made in LTM and is a good performer for its age.

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If you are looking at Canon lenses, you may also want to consider the 85/1.8. Canon's best tele (along with the 100/2) IMHO, although relatively rare and on the expensive side.

If you don't mind the weight, the Nikkor 85/2 was also made in LTM and is a good performer for its age.

Wait a minute, are we talking about old out-of-production Canon lenses, or the current EF mount ones?
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Hi jaapv!  I was hoping to use my M8.2 with a tele to maximise my telephoto reach.  And the reason why I was looking at fast teles is because (1) a lot of my photography occurs in low light events/concert/music, and (2) the M8 has poor ISO. 

 

The Summilux 75/1.4 would give me the equivalent of a 100mm lens, and a 90mm would give me the equivalent of a 120mm.  Is that the best possible reach that I can expect from a fast Leica lens?

 

Just replace the M8 with a M240.

That will solve the ISO issue, and simultaneously give you a higher resolution than the M8 at the same sensor crop level.

With much higher ISO performance, comes the ability to use slower lenses, such as the 135/3.4 (if you can manage focusing it with thee RF).

The M240 will also allow you to use fast reflex lenses focused in Live View.

 

My very personal equation: low-light + reach = Canon 1Dx + fast tele.

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Wait a minute, are we talking about old out-of-production Canon lenses, or the current EF mount ones?

Old ones, of course...

I don't see how you could reliably use the modern ones on an M8.2...

The Canon RF lenses are typically in LTM mount and need a LTM to M adapter.

The RF Nikkors are easier to find in their native S-mount (adapters do exist for Nikkor to M, but tend to be expensive), although smaller batches of most lenses were made in LTM.

Edited by Ecar
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the Canon LTM mount 100mm f2 is a great alternative if you can find one. Very happy with mine.

 

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Edited by jaques
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The Nikkor lenses from the 1940s and 1950s are fairly easy to find in Leica thread mount. I have two Nikkor 8.5cm F2 lenses in Leica mount, $300 for each. Two- as the last one bought is from 1949. Both perform quite well, the Nikkor 8.5cm F2 is the lens that caught the attention of David Douglas Duncan. The lens is chrome over brass and the optics are hard-coated. They have fared well over the decades.

 

19626167659_84a768cc34_o.jpgG1005878 by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

 

Wide-open on the M Monochrom, ISO 10,000.

 

I understand the inconvenience of M8RAW2DNG, I tend to leave the M8 powered up- usually will go a tens of minutes between "button Dances".

 

14470625147_c35caeb74b_b.jpgskate4_ISO2500 by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

 

This is the M8 using M8RAW2DNG, ISO2500 equiv, 1/60th and F1.4. Minolta 50/1.4 SLR lens custom converted to RF coupled M-Mount.

Edited by fiftyonepointsix
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Definitely not EF lenses.  LTM lenses are all early 1970s and older for long abandoned Canon RF cameras, Nikon ones are even older.

 

 

Old ones, of course...

I don't see how you could reliably use the modern ones on an M8.2...

The Canon RF lenses are typically in LTM mount and need a LTM to M adapter.

The RF Nikkors are easier to find in their native S-mount (adapters do exist for Nikkor to M, but tend to be expensive), although smaller batches of most lenses were made in LTM.

 

Just checking, I've never looked at these old Canon lenses before and am not very familiar with them, so this will be new for me. 

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