Leica Telyt 400/6.8 Visoflex Lens on M240?

[roverover]

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Curious. Just discovering the retired Visoflex system and lenses. I have been looking for a longer focal length lens for my M240.

Has anyone got knowledge or experience fitting a TelyT 400/6.8 lens on an M240?

 

Is an adapter needed or can the lens direct-mount on an M240. I see there were also 2 versions of this lens offered, were the mounts different?

...it seems some of them advertise for M and some are R mounts?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

 

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[a.noctilux]

Telyt 6.8/400mm is modular system along with Telyt 6.8/560mm.

 

They share same optical cell, long focus achromat doublet for lightness, but 2 mounts:

- for Visoflex use, it's called (even not marked as such) Telyt-V  6.8/400

- for R use, it's simply Telyt-R 6.8/400

 

I'd use Telyt-R with M240 + R to M adapter.

 

When I use Telyt V with M (same lens in Visoflex mount) and Visoflex, the very corners have vignetting.

 

Take care of curvature of field also: center sharp but in field not so sharp as more modern design like a Telyt-R 4.8/350mm or the best of Leica long focus lenses the Apo-Telyt-R 4/280 (even with Apo-Extender 280 x 1.4, almost same framing as 400mm).

[jmahto]

I have used it on M240 with EVF2. It can be used only for wild life since center is very sharp but sides and corners are soft. The Leica R2M adapter (I have R version) also vignettes badly in corners and you should expect to crop a little. Due to all these issues I don't use it on M240.

 

But I do love this lens and use it on Nex6 where it is much easier to focus. It has wonderful front and back bokeh and center is very sharp (I have shot Saturn with rings visible with it on Nex6).

[luigi bertolotti]

I have the Visoflex version, which can be mounted on M240 via the Novoflex LEM/VIS : all is OK, with no vignetting (on the contrary, a very slight vignetting is present with the Telyt 400 5,6, and on the 560mm 5,6, too).

 

When you find one of those Telyts for sale, usually the seller does specify if is a R or Visoflex version : they are good lenses, with a residual spherical aberrhation which leads to the behavior  described in the above posts.. so, not so good for landscape or achitecture.  The focusing system is simple, but not so effective in usage with the EVF... personally, I prefer the knob-operated focusing of the Televit device which is used on the previous Telyts 400/560 f 5,6 (which are heavier than the 6,8s)

 

You can find some details on those lenses in the Wiki section - Visoflex : be aware that the page on 560 f 5,6 depicts also a lens that isn't a Telyt 560, but an old Novoflex tele.

[wlaidlaw]

I have the whole 400/560/televit/Visoflex 3/shoulder stock outfit for sale in its own alloy air case, with various filters if you are interested. Both heads were cleaned about 3 years ago and have not been used since. I bought the more compact Zeiss modular Tele-Tessar 300/600/1200mm kit which I mainly use or the 90-280 on my SL. I also had made a Visoflex replacement adapter, so on the M240, you can use the lens kit without a Visoflex. The Visoflex 3 has both chimney and prism finders. PM me if interested. 

 

Wilson

 

 

 

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[jmahto]

Adding to what I wrote in post #3, the following is from this lens on Canon 40D (APS-C crop sensor). My experience is that APS-C is better suited for this lens since soft sides and corners are cropped away. I also found it many times easier to focus on optical finder of a DSLR (such as Canon) than on M240 (a real pain due to EVF delay and magnification required) or Nex-6 (still magnification required but at least there is less delay in EVF).

 

All in all, it is a wonderful lens for subjects that do not require corner to corner sharpness. It has a wonderful smooth bokeh. I am still searching for the perfect body for this lens.

 

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[roverover]

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I have the whole 400/560/televit/Visoflex 3/shoulder stock outfit for sale in its own alloy air case, with various filters if you are interested. Both heads were cleaned about 3 years ago and have not been used since. I bought the more compact Zeiss modular Tele-Tessar 300/600/1200mm kit which I mainly use or the 90-280 on my SL. I also had made a Visoflex replacement adapter, so on the M240, you can use the lens kit without a Visoflex. The Visoflex 3 has both chimney and prism finders. PM me if interested. 

 

Wilson

 

Thank You Wilson, that is a beautiful piece if kit, but far more than i want to get into. I am mainly looking for 1 longer Focal length lens to use with my M240 and TL camera's, which is more of ancillary lens for me for some hobby outdoor and lunar photos.

[roverover]

Telyt 6.8/400mm is modular system along with Telyt 6.8/560mm.

 

They share same optical cell, long focus achromat doublet for lightness, but 2 mounts:

- for Visoflex use, it's called (even not marked as such) Telyt-V  6.8/400

- for R use, it's simply Telyt-R 6.8/400

 

I'd use Telyt-R with M240 + R to M adapter.

 

When I use Telyt V with M (same lens in Visoflex mount) and Visoflex, the very corners have vignetting.

 

Take care of curvature of field also: center sharp but in field not so sharp as more modern design like a Telyt-R 4.8/350mm or the best of Leica long focus lenses the Apo-Telyt-R 4/280 (even with Apo-Extender 280 x 1.4, almost same framing as 400mm).

 

Excellent info, thank you, i am learning quite a bit from all the answers.

[roverover]

Adding to what I wrote in post #3, the following is from this lens on Canon 40D (APS-C crop sensor). My experience is that APS-C is better suited for this lens since soft sides and corners are cropped away. I also found it many times easier to focus on optical finder of a DSLR (such as Canon) than on M240 (a real pain due to EVF delay and magnification required) or Nex-6 (still magnification required but at least there is less delay in EVF).

 

All in all, it is a wonderful lens for subjects that do not require corner to corner sharpness. It has a wonderful smooth bokeh. I am still searching for the perfect body for this lens.

 

exp_sm_20130216yard_bird_400mm-9925.jpg

 

Thank you for sharing your insights - i had also planned to also use a longer focal length lens with my Leica TL, so perhaps the 400/6.8 lens might be a somewhat low cost solution.

[jmahto]

Thank You Wilson, that is a beautiful piece if kit, but far more than i want to get into. I am mainly looking for 1 longer Focal length lens to use with my M240 and TL camera's, which is more of ancillary lens for me for some hobby outdoor and lunar photos.

I want to point out that 400mm is not long enough for detailed lunar shot. The following is the complete frame on M240 for this lens. You can still see lots of crater details in 1:1 zoom, however to get a decent crater definitions you need somewhere around 1000mm. I use APO X2 extender with this lens making it 800mm. Then it gets difficult to focus etc. Overall it depends on what you consider satisfactory for your needs but if you haven't played with long lenses then be prepared to tame your expectation and be ready for the learning curve.

 

400mm full frame on M240

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400mm 1:1 crop

 

800mm  full frame on M240 (with APO X2 extender)

 

800mm 1:1 crop

[spydrxx]

It can be a bit unwieldy at times, and difficult to focus in low light, but it is a good lens where your subject is centered in the shot and you want a background or foreground fading quickly.

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