Jump to content

Olympus now join the wide range travel zoom club - Time for Leica to wake up and smell the coffee


Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

A few years ago, I got the “kit” zoom, 18-200, with my Nikon D300.  The range was impressive, but I was never very satisfied with the IQ. I was not very comfortable to shoot with D300 anyway; even with my old MF Nikkor lenses that I love using on T and CL.

Would this Olympus be any better?..... A chacun son gout!

 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, jaapv said:

Interesting - the combo GX9-Vario Elmar 100-400 handles perfectly. And that is a more compact body than the CL.

Leica only needs to add O.I.S to longer zooms.

As does the CL + Super-Elmar-R 15mm...

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

...

Leica CL + Super-Elmar-R 15mm f/3.5 :: ISO 3200 @ f/5.6 @ 1/30 sec

Link to post
Share on other sites

.....and even more the CL + R adapter L and 80-200 V-E R. 

My brother used to use the Nikon 18-200 on an APS/crop sensor Nikon DSLR. He has changed to a Sony A7 III with their 18-200 and says it is much better than the Nikon for IQ. I am sure anything Sony can do on optics, Leica could do at least equally well and given that the Sony is a FF lens, a Leica equivalent for APS-C should be no bigger even allowing for OIS. I think the Sony is IBIS only not dual like the new Panasonic L mount lenses. Depending on how big it feels, I may well buy their 70-200 f4 lens for the CL, as I feel I might be waiting a VERY long time for a Leica wide range travel zoom. The Panasonic tele zoom also would be very good on the SL, or SL2. Unless you are very strong, the Leica 90-280 is really a tripod/monopod or braced against a solid object/bean bag over a car window, type of lens. 

Wilson

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I have a friend who takes good enough photographs but who would say that he is not a photographer. He takes images when travelling which please him and which he can post online and generally enjoy but he isn't 'into' photography as such. I'd say that some are quite good, and he does use one of these long zooms because it is convenient, he does not have to remove it and so keeps dust of the sensor and because its an 'all in one solution'. Clearly such lenses have their place. My point? Well only that out of many people I know with cameras (a lot) he is the only one to go down this route. I have no problem with such gear but I do wonder whether the market is actually quite small

Link to post
Share on other sites

I am sure Leica could have a word on the quiet with one of their larger dealers like B&H or Adorama and ask how well the Sony long range zooms sell in comparison to their faster narrower range zooms. For the CL at least, I cannot see Leica's user base being dramatically different in approach to the Sony A7III or R owners. 

Wilson

Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

The SL 90-280 will give you 135-420 on a CL, with superlative image quality and OIS.

It really is quite portable and easy to handle.

My Butler manages to carry it with my other camera gear and the picnic hamper without too much complaint, even on the steepest of inclines. 

It's a delight to use once he's got it fixed to the tripod for me and a glass of bubbly poured. 

  • Haha 7
Link to post
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, thighslapper said:

The SL 90-280 will give you 135-420 on a CL, with superlative image quality and OIS.

It really is quite portable and easy to handle.

My Butler manages to carry it with my other camera gear and the picnic hamper without too much complaint, even on the steepest of inclines. 

It's a delight to use once he's got it fixed to the tripod for me and a glass of bubbly poured. 

Have you trained James to do the half press of the shutter button, so that is is all ready pre-focussed for you? 

Wilson

  • Haha 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

m43 and Olympus especially, has a habit of making really good super zooms. The 12-100 Pro is currently the best long range zoom on the market bar none (really really sharp throughout its range) and even their super cheap 14-150 is actually a very good and capable lens. I have zero doubt the new 12-200 will be punching above it's weight optically. And it'll be nicely matched with cameras with IBIS, flippy screens and high res mode. DoF control will be limited and it'll be quite slow wide open. However these won't matter for it's intended purpose.

Will it match the Leica primes? Probably not. But since both Olympus and Panasonic have prime and zoom lenses the equal of the CL ones it doesn't matter. You can have your cake and eat it too.

Gordon

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

The biggest problem I have with zooms, and it may be just me, is that I instinctively pre-visualise before taking a picture.  So if I am travelling with, say, the TL23 attached, I know what sort of image it is going to give me when I am out and about.  If I put a zoom on, I have to think about the focal length as well.  That's not the way my brain works.  I know it sounds daft.  If I go out with a longer focal length attached, I pre-visualise at that focal length, so why can't I adjust my mind during the day? 

That may be one of the reasons I have always liked my M cameras.  I tend to only work at the near-normal focal lengths M cameras provide.  Even when I had R cameras I would leave the zoom at home, or just use it at one setting, such as its widest or longest.

As Wilson says, there are some specific occasions when you do need something different and don't want to be changing lenses -- due to the environment or a need for speed.  For those times, I am content to come home with a picture in my head rather than on the sensor.  The one that got away.  Quite often I go back the next day with a different fixed focal length and the opportunity is still there, anyway.

This is before considerations such as IQ, weight, size, limited aperture etc.

Just my 2p. worth.

Edited by rob_w
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Dave in Wales said:

Wide range zoom = compromise.

Certainly. 🙂

I'm like rob_w ... I find it difficult to work with *any* zoom.

But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate them when I have a good one and learn to use it appropriately. One of my favorite zoom lenses of all time has been the Olympus Zuiko Digital 11-22mm f/2.8-3.5 ED: That single lens has made more excellent photos and money than most any other single piece of equipment I've owned, used on Olympus E-1, E-5, E-M1, Panasonic L1, LUMIX G cameras. 

I find with a good zoom like that I simply regard it as four lenses in one, set one focal length per my whim of the day, and shoot with it at that setting all day long. I have never used any ultra-zoom but two that gave me good results, and those were the built in Zeiss lens on the Sony F707 and the built in Leica lens on the Panasonic FZ10. Both of those made hundreds of saleable (and sold!) photographs, despite being only 5 and 4 Mpixel, JPEG-only cameras with eensy little sensors. 

Nowadays, I most often just carry one camera and one prime lens, usually in the effective FF FoV range from a 35mm to a 75mm. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I had the 12-100 and both 12-40 and 40-150 pro zooms 

All fab but not leica

Sometimes miss them but not very often

Were there to be an lmount  ois super zoom I'd be tempted and then leave it at home most of the time 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Am 14.2.2019 um 14:13 schrieb Louis:

A few years ago, I got the “kit” zoom, 18-200, with my Nikon D300.  The range was impressive, but I was never very satisfied with the IQ. I was not very comfortable to shoot with D300 anyway; even with my old MF Nikkor lenses that I love using on T and CL.

Would this Olympus be any better?..... A chacun son gout!

 

I totally agree with the wish for a TL3 with integrated viewfinder. In theory the Cl is it but in real life I have never felt the same "relationship" to the Cl as I did when using T/TL bodies.

Link to post
Share on other sites

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Dave in Wales:

Wide range zoom = compromise.

I never flet that way when using the 12-100 m43. To me it looks like some of the newer wide range zooms are better than medium priced small range zooms and close to primes (expect speed).

Link to post
Share on other sites

Please remember there is always just a little to do for the person behind the viewfinder ! Attachment is 240mm R Apo Telyt (420mm equivalent with CL here, in relatively poor light, iso 3200, 1/500 second . I have a great deal to learn using this piece of equipment , it is considerably less effort to carry attached to a monopod from the lens barrel, and I don't consider its second-hand price of £2,400 a great deal. There are many excellent old R lenses out there at similar price and incredulous quality and performance .

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Link to post
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, tom0511 said:

I never flet that way when using the 12-100 m43. To me it looks like some of the newer wide range zooms are better than medium priced small range zooms and close to primes (expect speed).

Back in the day the optimum for a zoom was reckoned to be 2.5:1 to  3:1 max for good IQ.

The 18-56 is 3:1 and the 55-135 is 2.5:1......Coincidence, I think not, Leica is getting it right IMVHO

The 12-200 is 16.6:1....WOW, have things really improved that much whereby we can expect the same sort of IQ, I think not.

I rest my case..... Wide range zoom = compromise.

As an aside, anyone remember the old Nikkor 80-200 f4 from way back, it had a single push/pull/twist ring for zooming and focusing, what a pig she was to use :rolleyes:

Edited by Dave in Wales
Link to post
Share on other sites

You are always better with shorter range zooms for iq....thats why I shoot the 11-23 and 55-135.   the hole in the middle is filled by my 35 TL which blows the zooms away for iq but to be fair, it is exceptional.

for compactness I use an X1 which (allowing for its foibles) stunning.

 

for silly big zoom travel camera...well the c-lux fits the bill. 

 

I guess the conclusion is no one camera or lens can 'do it all'.    

 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 2/17/2019 at 1:43 PM, thighslapper said:

The SL 90-280 will give you 135-420 on a CL, with superlative image quality and OIS.

It really is quite portable and easy to handle.

My Butler manages to carry it with my other camera gear and the picnic hamper without too much complaint, even on the steepest of inclines. 

It's a delight to use once he's got it fixed to the tripod for me and a glass of bubbly poured. 

Take it one step further. Sit comfortably in your chair with iPhone and FOTOS app and direct your butler to take pictures. I don't see greatest film directors (or music conductors) actually doing the shooting (or playing instruments). Why should you? :D 

Link to post
Share on other sites

On 5/6/2019 at 12:08 PM, Dave in Wales said:

Wide range zoom = compromise.

Worse actually. In the case of the 12-200 M. Zuiko, horrible would be the correct term. I got on the list and received a new one right out of the gate just so I could try it. The 14-150mm M. Zuiko that's been out for many years already is a better lens in that system.

Olympus already has their high-end travel zoom, the 12-100mm (24-200mm equivalent in 35mm FOV terms ) f4, with in-lens IS that pairs with the already high-end body IS to give incredible image stabilization, and the optics are superb. The 12-200 isn't even in the same zip code with the 12-100mm f4, in any way you can look at it. The sample I have is so mediocre I'm tempted to send it back to Olympus under warranty and ask them to confirm it is really up to specs because, if it really is....wow....and that's not in a good way.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...