Leica APO-TELYT-R Lenses on SL

[jaapv]

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I love the SL 90-280 zoom. It's so much better than my Canon 70-200 zoom I used to own. But 280 is not long enough for birds, it's ok for elephants in Africa LOL

No it ain't. You need a 28 mm for those

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[turbonetics]

280/2.8 with 1.4x and 2X adapters gives you 400mm, 560mm and 800mm. 

 

The 280/2.8 apo is a fine lens and the specific apo adapters do not influence the performance adversely. I was really surprised at how good it was......

 

The modular telyt's don't come cheap ...... and production was in the low thousands so they are not plentiful ...... plus you are looking at lugging about 6.5kg. 

 

are you telling me you want performance better than this ? ....... taken with the crappy old 280/2.8 apo

 

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it looks like the photos u posted here are shot under very good lighting and close distant.

any decent lens would be able to yield such result under such circumstances.

but for shooting birds that are more than 15m really need a good and long prime lens especially when birds are under shade.

[meerec]

being a bird photographer and coming from canon, I fully understand what u are thinking.

but alternatively I would strongly suggest u to consider the 600II pair with a 1Dx/1Dx2 and a back up 5DsR.

not sure how long would Leica come out with a suer tele lens but even though, they would probably start off with the most common 300mm first so anything longer we would have to wait even longer.

Turbonetics – thanks for comments. I'm not keen on more investments into Canon. I shoot still with 1D4 which is 1.3x crop and when I combine it with 1.4x or 2x extenders, my EF 300/2.8L II glass gives me a very good reach in a small package to carry, and reasonable cost. I've had the 1D4 for quite 7 years now, excellent body.

 

Yeah ... I don't expect Leica to make super teles at all in fact. Doubt there will be extenders for the APO 90-280 zoom, which is great for its focal range.

[meerec]

the kestrel fledgling was with x2 and x1.4 stacked ...... so 800mm at f8 ........ 1250/sec at iso 800 ....... it was very windy and my tripod is a bit flimsy and needed my camera bag hung underneath to stabilise ......

 

the robin photos are about f4/5.6, mostly 200-500 iso ...... can't recall if I used the x2 or x1.4 extender.

 

I have a lot of others of birdies and things in the garden ...... all are equally good ...... apart from the size (because of f2.8) it seems an excellent lens .... easily holding it's own with lenses 30 years younger.

 

 

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Thighslapper, my hat off again – all of these are excellent shots. I like your lens a lot :-)

Need to think it through.

[meerec]

No it ain't. You need a 28 mm for those

That depends on the skills of the driver of the safari jeep ... LOL

[meerec]

it looks like the photos u posted here are shot under very good lighting and close distant.

any decent lens would be able to yield such result under such circumstances.

but for shooting birds that are more than 15m really need a good and long prime lens especially when birds are under shade.

Agree

[thighslapper]

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it looks like the photos u posted here are shot under very good lighting and close distant.

any decent lens would be able to yield such result under such circumstances.

but for shooting birds that are more than 15m really need a good and long prime lens especially when birds are under shade.

 

.... bear in mind these are cropped ...... often by a lot.... and not in sunshine (mostly absent in the UK)

 

anyway, I dabble in a bit of everything so my combo is flexible, affordable and does what I need .... and is not that bulky. I would never use this on the M but on the SL it's a breeze. 

 

I agree that if you are serious about this business you need big, fastish, pricey lenses, live in camouflage gear and be prepared to freeze your balls off sitting around watching b*gger-all for 99% of the time. Not my idea of fun. 

[ramarren]

Lovely photos. 

 

It's obvious from even a quick test of static subjects that my ancient Telyt-R 250/4 and 2x Extender-R can't compete with these lenses. 

I probably should just sell the old 135, 180, and 250 off and buy the 90-280. 

[meerec]

Lovely photos.

 

It's obvious from even a quick test of static subjects that my ancient Telyt-R 250/4 and 2x Extender-R can't compete with these lenses.

I probably should just sell the old 135, 180, and 250 off and buy the 90-280.

 

 

Go for it, the 90-280 is fabulous, provided you don't need reach beyond 300.

 

It's been a good and informative discussion, thank you all. It has convinced me that I shall stay put with my Canon 300 that gives me 800mm f/5.6 with excellent speed and IQ. And it's small and a light package for what it can achieve. Not a small feat at all.

[jaapv]

Lovely photos. 

 

It's obvious from even a quick test of static subjects that my ancient Telyt-R 250/4 and 2x Extender-R can't compete with these lenses. 

I probably should just sell the old 135, 180, and 250 off and buy the 90-280. 

Or the APO-Telyt 280-4.0, which is the best 300 ever built. The Canon equivalent is close, but loses out in transparency, as it uses far more lens elements to get up to a similar specification.

[meerec]

Or the APO-Telyt 280-4.0, which is the best 300 ever built. The Canon equivalent is close, but loses out in transparency, as it uses far more lens elements to get up to a similar specification.

 

? Which Canon equivalent is close? Do you mean Canon EF 300 f/4L ? Highly doubt it. OTOH the EF 300 f/2.8 L II is to die for but much bigger and heavier. A lot.

 

Can someone tell me more about the APO-Telyt-R 400 f/2.8 modular lens? How does it fare against the Canon 400/2.8 super tele?

[Likaleica]

Or the APO-Telyt 280-4.0, which is the best 300 ever built. The Canon equivalent is close, but loses out in transparency, as it uses far more lens elements to get up to a similar specification.

 

Extremely expensive, and rare.

[ramarren]

Go for it, the 90-280 is fabulous, provided you don't need reach beyond 300.

 

It's been a good and informative discussion, thank you all. It has convinced me that I shall stay put with my Canon 300 that gives me 800mm f/5.6 with excellent speed and IQ. And it's small and a light package for what it can achieve. Not a small feat at all.

 

 

I'm sure it is, and I'm also sure that I only very rarely use anything longer than 180-200mm. But, now that I'm retired, I have to plan for such things a bit more deliberately than in the past. It's harder to just casually spend $5000 for a lens because I want to try it out. 

[Likaleica]

You're talking about stacking the M and R adapters.

Thighslapper was talking about stacking the 1.4x and 2x extenders as I understood.

280 focal length is covered by my SL 90-280 zoom so for that reason alone id not buy the Telyt-R 280.

I still need someone to show me some nice pics with the Telyt-R 280 and the extenders … Please.

 

Actually, I had stacked M and R adapters and stacked 1.4x and 2.0x apo extenders R.  Important to get the apo extender R on the 2x.  The 1.4 is apo.  The wolf was both extenders stacked, very dim light.  The turkey was a 2X apo extender R.  Frankly, I have found the 90-280 to be a great lens because it is possible to crop heavily and still get a good image.

[meerec]

Extremely expensive, and rare.

 

Yes I've seen a few 400/2.8 on eBay recently, mint condition, and they go on par price-wise with the brand new Canon 400/2.8 super tele. Crazy prices.

[Likaleica]

Yes I've seen a few 400/2.8 on eBay recently, mint condition, and they go on par price-wise with the brand new Canon 400/2.8 super tele. Crazy prices.

 

jaapv was talking about the 280 f/4, purportedly the sharpest R lens Leica ever produced.

[meerec]

jaapv was talking about the 280 f/4, purportedly the sharpest R lens Leica ever produced.

 

Yep, I realised it, my follow on comments were there because 300 it's not enough reach for me. And given the 280R's pedigree one cannot compare it with EF 300/4. I've seen some 280/4 R on eBay for $6,500 recently :-(

[wildlightphoto]

Having used the 280/4 APO on the SL and on the Sony a7II (with and without 1.4x APO extender)  I'd suggest that a camera to use an 800mm modular Telyt ought to include sensor stabilization, even if the subject and camera are static.  When using magnified focus (which is a very reliable way to achieve accurate focus) with a lens of this focal length the weaknesses of your camera's support and the benefits of stabilization are obvious.

 

Optically the 280/4 APO with 1.4x APO-Extender-R is fabulous, and with the 2x APO-Extender-R it's quite good, however stacked extenders make focussing difficult because the focussing ring's pitch isn't extended along with the focal length.

 

SL with 280/4 APO:

 

 

a7II with 280/4 APO:

 

 

 

a7II with 280/4 APO and 1.4x APO-Extender-R:

 

 

 

Quite frankly I cannot distinguish between photos made with the 280/4 APO and with or without the 1.4x APO Extender even at the pixel level, but the difference between sensor stabilization and no stabilization is quite apparent even at 280mm.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[helged]

Interesting discussion!

 

Somewhat off, but nevertheless: Can anyone tell if Nikon G (telephoto) lenses can be used on the SL by means of the (non-auto focus) Novoflex SL-Nikon adapter?

 

I undetstand that the focus will be manual and that there will be no image stabilisation, but how to set the aperture? Does the blue ring on the Novoflex adapter set the aperture on the lens?

 

Post: I see that Nikon G lenses have a mechanical adjustment mechanism of the aperture (in contrast to the newer E-lenses), implying that the mentioned Novoflex LET/NIK should do the job.

 

Best wishes for the New Year!

[ramarren]

Interesting discussion!

 

Somewhat off, but nevertheless: Can anyone tell if Nikon G (telephoto) lenses can be used on the SL by means of the (non-auto focus) Novoflex SL-Nikon adapter?

 

I undetstand that the focus will be manual and that there will be no image stabilisation, but how to set the aperture? Does the blue ring on the Novoflex adapter set the aperture on the lens?

 

Post: I see that Nikon G lenses have a mechanical adjustment mechanism of the aperture (in contrast to the newer E-lenses), implying that the mentioned Novoflex LET/NIK should do the job.

 

Best wishes for the New Year!

 

 

Yes. And Happy New Year back!