M to L Apo-extenders

[Sully]

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I would love to see Leica make a 1.4x and 2x extender for M lenses going directly to the L mount.

 

A small 1.4 extender would be great for the Sl camera (135mm goes to 189mm) or a 2x extender

 

(135mm goes to 270mm).  Loss of one or two F stops is not as bad as it used to be thanks to the

 

better sensors in Leica cameras.  Shooting at ISO 400 looks good in the SL.  But shooting the 

 

same shot at IS0 1600 still looks just fine.  The same extender would also help the CL.

 

The 135mm lens on a CL has an FOV of a 200mm lens equivalent.  With a 2x extender it would

 

have an FOV of a 400mm.  The same wonderful CL sensor at ISO 400 will still look pretty good

 

at ISO 1600.  It would also be a cute trick if Leica could squeeze Image Stabilization into an

 

extender.  Oh, never mind stabilization, just make the extenders now.....Stabilized bodies later.

 

Ciao,  Sully

[ramarren]

I would much rather see 1.4x and 2x extenders for SL lenses.

 

There's very little point to these for M lenses, IMO, and my understanding is that the wide variety of different lens designs in M-mount means making one that performs and fits more than just a few lenses quite a difficult, even impossible, thing to do well (the small mount diameter and resulting small exit pupil makes it quite difficult).

 

Extenders for L/SL series lenses should be a priority in any case. I'd love an APO-Extender-SL 1.4x that was optically matched to the SL90-280, for instance. I already have 1.4x and 2x extenders for R lenses, and R lenses at 90, 135, and 180 mm: I almost never use the extenders anymore because the SL90-280 is a better performer throughout and the only combination that's useful for general purpose and distance shooting is the 180+2x extender. (An extender is often quite useful for more options in macro work still.)

 

A 1.4x extender with the SL90-280 would net a 392mm lens on the SL, and a 588mm eFOV on the CL, with image stabilization; that would be great for my photography. 

[Sully]

ramarren,

 

I agree with you about needing extenders for the SL zoom lenses.  However, I use a lot of M lenses on my SL and CL, so, I

would really like to have M extenders.  I think the Leica designers and engineers are smart enough to make the extenders.

Marketing them?.... Costs?...  All I know is that I'd much rather walk around with an Apo-135 M lens and an extender than a 90-280mm beast.

 

Ciao,  Sully

[Dao De Leitz]

... M to M APO-Extender -M  (Link to images in the German-speaking part of the forum.) 

[ramarren]

ramarren,

 

I agree with you about needing extenders for the SL zoom lenses.  However, I use a lot of M lenses on my SL and CL, so, I

would really like to have M extenders.  I think the Leica designers and engineers are smart enough to make the extenders.

Marketing them?.... Costs?...  All I know is that I'd much rather walk around with an Apo-135 M lens and an extender than a 90-280mm beast.

 

Ciao,  Sully

 

 

We're the opposite.

 

The reasons I can shoot comfortably with the SL90-280mm lens at full tele length is that a) it's fast enough, and it has outstanding image stabilization. If it didn't have the latter, I'd have to carry my tripod too, at which point the size of the 90-280 is irrelevant. 

 

Just a difference of opinion ... I've been down this road many times with various folks. For me, personally, a 180mm lens is as long as I'm ever going to hand-hold with good results and no IS. For that purpose, I have an Elmar-R 180/4, which is very light and compact, does an excellent job. It works well with the 2x telextender too, and is a lot smaller than the 90-280 ... but then I need the tripod and all the weight and space savings is lost.