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Not sure if this has been covered elsewhere. I just bought the R to L adapter and picked up for $400 a mint condition Elmarit R 180mm f2.8. Per the serial number the lens was made in 1969. I took the attached picture with this lens hand held at 1/2500 f2.8 ISO 8000 as indoors.

I was quite surprised at the clarity and bokeh as there was chairs in the background.

I would appreciate any comments on experience with other R lenses on the CL.

Thanks

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Nice Safari shot! :lol:

 

I only use one R lens on the CL, and am very happy. The Vario-Elmar 105-280, if needed with 1.4x adapter. The excellent ISO performance is very helpful to prevent motion blur.  The results are in the same league as the 90-280 SL. I did try my fisheye-R but the effect was quite lost on the crop, obviously.

 

I stack the L-M adapter with a coded Novoflex LEM/LER. I find it most practical to keep the M mount as hub of the system. That the ROM is not recognized is neither here nor there.

 

You can find a variety of R shots in the "long Lenses" thread.

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R lenses are my primary lens system for the CL. I stack the R Adapter M onto the M Adapter L for access to all R (and M) lens profiles ... it does make a difference.

 

What I shoot with most of the time are the Elmarit-R 28 and Summilux-R 50. I use the 19, 90, 180, 60 Macro and 100 Macro as well. Great lenses, all of them.

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R lenses are my primary lens system for the CL. I stack the R Adapter M onto the M Adapter L for access to all R (and M) lens profiles ... it does make a difference.

What I shoot with most of the time are the Elmarit-R 28 and Summilux-R 50. I use the 19, 90, 180, 60 Macro and 100 Macro as well. Great lenses, all of them.

Thank you, is there a 180mm lens that you would suggest. There seems to be quite a few options. Speed is less important to me than weight and IQ.

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I would suggest the 180/3.4 Apo-Telyt. In my experience it is the best value for quality. A good alternative is the Vario-Elmar 80-200 4.0 (newest version), which is a stunningly good lens and still not too expensive, for the time being.

 

Just about any Leica R lens you buy will need a CLA. Mostly the glass surfaces will need  cleaning -it does wonders for image quality-  and they have all come to an age that lubricants start to gum up.

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Thank you, is there a 180mm lens that you would suggest. There seems to be quite a few options. Speed is less important to me than weight and IQ.

The one I have is the very light and modestly priced Elmar-R 180mm f/4. It’s the lens that the APO f/3.4 replaced. I bought it in 2013 for less than $400; it is pristine clean and very sharp. In very high contrast situations there’s a tiny bit of residual lateral chromatic aberration, easily cleaned up with post processing in a second. It even works very nicely on the 2x Extender- R.

 

I had a couple of the f/2.8 models but they are much larger and heavier. This is the one I kept and it’s a great fit to the CL.

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https://triumph.smugmug.com/Flowers/Leica-CL-Floral-Photography-with-Leitz-Wetzlar-R-Lenses/

 

Today I also picked up a 1966-era Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8; weighs a ton!

 

Here are 23 flower macro images I have made with the CL and the Macro-Elmar-R 100mm f/4 (non APO) lens, and the Telyt-R 350mm f/4.8 lens.

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Very nice!  Have you tried shooting this subject matter with Ektachrome 200?  These should be viewed large in a darkened room.

 

https://triumph.smugmug.com/Flowers/Leica-CL-Floral-Photography-with-Leitz-Wetzlar-R-Lenses/

 

Today I also picked up a 1966-era Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8; weighs a ton!

 

Here are 23 flower macro images I have made with the CL and the Macro-Elmar-R 100mm f/4 (non APO) lens, and the Telyt-R 350mm f/4.8 lens.

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I would suggest the 180/3.4 Apo-Telyt. In my experience it is the best value for quality. A good alternative is the Vario-Elmar 80-200 4.0 (newest version), which is a stunningly good lens and still not too expensive, for the time being.

 

Just about any Leica R lens you buy will need a CLA. Mostly the glass surfaces will need  cleaning -it does wonders for image quality-  and they have all come to an age that lubricants start to gum up.

 

Thank you, the lens I have is very heavy but was such a bargain at $400. Think I might sell it and get the 180/3.4 but will also look at the zoom you suggest.

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R lenses are my primary lens system for the CL. I stack the R Adapter M onto the M Adapter L for access to all R (and M) lens profiles ... it does make a difference.

 

What I shoot with most of the time are the Elmarit-R 28 and Summilux-R 50. I use the 19, 90, 180, 60 Macro and 100 Macro as well. Great lenses, all of them.

 

What type of R lenses do you use with your Adapters? 2-cam lenses, 3-cam lenses, R-only or ROM R lenses? Do they all fit? Obviously, you won't get any lens profiles on non-ROM R lenses, but do the others fit as well?

 

Best, Andy

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I had the APO version of the R 180 mm, but returned it due to the very long min, focusing distance, verses my style to use such lenses for flower macro work (flowers located in the middle of water features where I can't reach easily).  If the subject matter was small, I found the APO R 180mm lens to just not focus close enough.  Now I have the odler and cheaper version, 180mm f/2 non-APO, and it works good enough and focuses closer.

Thank you, the lens I have is very heavy but was such a bargain at $400. Think I might sell it and get the 180/3.4 but will also look at the zoom you suggest.

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What type of R lenses do you use with your Adapters? 2-cam lenses, 3-cam lenses, R-only or ROM R lenses? Do they all fit? Obviously, you won't get any lens profiles on non-ROM R lenses, but do the others fit as well?

 

Best, Andy

I have 3 R lenses (non-APO version of the 180mm f/2 1 CAM, non-APO version of the Macro 100 f/4, 2 or 3 CAM, and the Telyt-R 350mm f/4.8.  I use each of them on my M10 and my CL, with the correct Leica adapter, and it doesn't matter if the R lenses are 1, 2 or 3 CAM. They all fit onto the adapters, meter correctly and I use focus peaking to manually focus. None of my R lenses are recent issues, and so none have the electronic connectors.  I sought older used R lenses and paid just $375 for the 180, paid $400 for the excellent 100mm macro, and paid $750 for the excellent 350mm.

 

I have to stack 2 adapters onto the CL when using R lenses: the M lens to CL adapter fits onto the CL body, and the R lens to M adapter goes next, then the R lenses. But it fits and works fine. 

 

When using M lenses on my CL, then I need only the M to CL adapter.

 

As far as gaining or not having lens profiles, the CL menu allows for the use to select the specific R lens, event the oldest one like my 1966-era 180mm f/2, and I assume the camera makes some adjustment.  The M10 menu gives M and R lens selection options also, plus Auto setting that works if the R lens has the electronic connectors.

Edited by Stonewall Brigade
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What type of R lenses do you use with your Adapters? 2-cam lenses, 3-cam lenses, R-only or ROM R lenses? Do they all fit? Obviously, you won't get any lens profiles on non-ROM R lenses, but do the others fit as well?

 

 

All versions of R lenses fit and work fine on the two-adapter stack (R Adapter M stacked onto M Adapter L). In this case, all R lens profiles are selected manually using the CL menu commands. 

 

For the R Adapter L, Leica recommends against 1- and 2-cam lenses on it, same as they did for the R8 and R9 bodiesstating that the cams could damage the electrical contacts in the mount needed for ROM lenses. However, another user on one of these forums presented a convincing argument that this was practically impossible and that the 1 and 2 cam lenses work fine on this adapter too. The R Adapter L automates setting the correct lens profile for any ROM-equipped R lens.

 

All of my R lenses, but two, are three cam lenses. The two that aren't are 1 and 2 cam lenses. They all work fine on the two adapter stack with the CL, and since the CL format is smaller than the SL format, there is none of the vignetting that I used to see on the SL at high magnifications with the bellows or with very long tele focal lengths. 

Edited by ramarren
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  • 5 months later...

to revive this thread, and I apologize for my ignorance, but I'm jumping in, in medias res, and without experience.

It seems as if most who are using R-mounts with their CL (which I am about to buy) stacks 2 adapters, R to M, and M to L. Of course, Leica makes a very expensive R to L and Novoflex a significantly less expensive one. 

I'm assuming that those who choose the double stack do so because they otherwise use M lenses on their CL, and so can just keep that on. But is there any other advantage to that over the Leica R to L or the Novoflex R to L? 

thanks.

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I use the R to L adapter but agree it makes much more sense to buy the 2 adapters separately. I have the Novoflex M to L adapter for some M mount lenses and I actually find it causes some lenses to focus at infinity better than the Leica adapter. It seems to me best to try both and see what works best for the lenses you have. 

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The two Leica Adapter stack works well with all my R lenses and give access to all lens profiles. Not sure if that's true for other R to M adapters. The R Adapter M also includes a very nice detachable tripod mount to take the load off the CL body. 

Whether these are use advantages I could not say, but these mount adapters are typically very nicely made and have the feel that I prefer. I tend to use the CL with either just R lenses or just M lenses: this does the number for me. 

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My R lenses are almost all ROM-equipped, so I work with either the Leica R to L or the M to L.  I use them on both SL and CL,. On the SL some telephoto R lenses (180, 280, ...) show vignetting from the M mount constriction that occurs with the pair of mounts.  The R to L also has a nice tripod foot.  I don't find that I use R lenses on an M, so the R to M Novoflex is in a drawer somewhere.

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7 hours ago, bags27 said:

to revive this thread, and I apologize for my ignorance, but I'm jumping in, in medias res, and without experience.

It seems as if most who are using R-mounts with their CL (which I am about to buy) stacks 2 adapters, R to M, and M to L. Of course, Leica makes a very expensive R to L and Novoflex a significantly less expensive one. 

I'm assuming that those who choose the double stack do so because they otherwise use M lenses on their CL, and so can just keep that on. But is there any other advantage to that over the Leica R to L or the Novoflex R to L? 

thanks.

I find the advantage of an active R adapter that transmits the ROM data quite limited, so I am not prepared to pay the high price, but the M adapter offers considerable advantages. So the most cost-effective combination is stacking the Leica M adapter with a dumb eBay R adapter.

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