Leica Apo elmar S 180 mm on SL

[TDR]

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I've been looking for a long prime lens for my SL. There aren't any yet in the SL line. The 90-280 is a great lens, but it is too big for me to carry around for the documentary work that I do. I wonder if the 180mm S lens would work on the SL. It would be an expensive option, but I'm just thinking now about how practical it would be. Would it have full auto-focus and the same auto exposure that the SL lenses have? And would it be effectively a 180 mm lens on the SL?I'm assuming that one needs an S to SL converter. Can anyone help me out with these questions? 

 

Thank you.

 

Tim

[LD_50]

The S lens would require the very expensive S to L adapter, which adds some length and weight to the setup.

 

It would retain AF and auto exposure but would of course not have the OIS present in the 90-280.

 

If the 90-280 is too large and you don’t need AF, I would look to R lenses. Or perhaps a Canon or Nikon adapted if you need AF.

[darylgo]

Yes, you're correct about AF and focal length. It's extremely sharp and my copy focuses accurately with AF. If you don't require AF there are several Leica R 180mm that are small and sharp.

[TDR]

Daryl, Are you using the lens on an S or on an SL?

 

Tim

[darylgo]

My reply about accurate AF is on the SL. It is more accurate AF on the SL than on the S.

[Andrew Gough]

I am kinda curious about this as well, any users of the S adapter?

[scott kirkpatrick]

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I've used the 120 S macro on my SL with the S to SL adapter, as have others.  There is a thread about this.  The consensus is that AF is slow but accurate.  Most of these lenses that you find used have had an upgrade or at least a trip to Leica for service on the AF actuators (and should say so in their online documentation).  And the manual focus feels as mechanical and smooth/predictable as it gets. 

[JeffWright]

I've been looking for a long prime lens for my SL. There aren't any yet in the SL line. The 90-280 is a great lens, but it is too big for me to carry around for the documentary work that I do. I wonder if the 180mm S lens would work on the SL. It would be an expensive option, but I'm just thinking now about how practical it would be. Would it have full auto-focus and the same auto exposure that the SL lenses have? And would it be effectively a 180 mm lens on the SL?I'm assuming that one needs an S to SL converter. Can anyone help me out with these questions? 

 

Thank you.

 

Tim

 

 

I have the S to SL adapter and use it with many of my S lenses. The S lenses function as if native SL lenses except that their autofocus is much slower. The 100 Summicron and the 180 are not terribly bad, but not nearly as fast as the native lenses. The 120 is laughably slow and loud, I usually just manual focus with it. The S to SL is just an expensive metal tube without optics, so the lenses function at their stated focal lengths.