caissa Posted August 19, 2019 Share #1 Posted August 19, 2019 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) Sony has added an excellent zoom 200-600mm for the alpha cameras. At a reasonable price. Will anyone soon offer a similar lens for the SL or the Lumix cameras ? I wonder what is currently the best choice (regarding price/value) of a tele lens for sports or wildlife/birding ... Until now adapted canon lenses were often a reasonable choice. But Canon has no 200-600 zoom lens ... Edited August 19, 2019 by caissa Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 19, 2019 Posted August 19, 2019 Hi caissa, Take a look here Tele for SL ?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
caissa Posted August 19, 2019 Author Share #2 Posted August 19, 2019 Is the Nikon 200-500 another option ? How well is it adapted ? Any experiences ? (With Novoflex AF adapter ?) Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicaiste Posted August 19, 2019 Share #3 Posted August 19, 2019 The Sigma’s long zooms (Canon mount) with their L adapter seems to be the best solution. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caissa Posted August 19, 2019 Author Share #4 Posted August 19, 2019 Do you mean the Sigma 150-600 ? The contemporary or the sports version ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeinzX Posted August 19, 2019 Share #5 Posted August 19, 2019 Be careful, if you use a SL. I am not so sure, that the Sigma adapter will work together with the SL. I.e. the MC 21 did it with the SL with firmware 3.4 but not more with 3.5. I do not know, if it does it again with the new 3.6. With the Panas there were no troubles. According to Leica, the adapters are not part of the L Alliance. Therefore better try it before buying, if possible. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caissa Posted August 19, 2019 Author Share #6 Posted August 19, 2019 Has anybody actually used the Sigma 150-600 Sport on the SL or S1R ? Or the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary ? Experiences ? Currently it looks as if it is easier to use it on a Sony or native on a Canon or Nikon. Hopefully sooner or later Sigma will offer a native version for L ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmradman Posted August 19, 2019 Share #7 Posted August 19, 2019 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) My take is that L system will be limited with native lenses to 280mm only for some time, Sigma has long lenses but adaptation to L mount will probably follow once they are done with 14 - 135mm prime range or they have full frame EVF camera in shops, that camera may well be Foveon sensor and probably optimised for landscape rather than action (human or nature). That will probably take long time. If you need fast responding AF camera with long prime or zoom than Canon, Nikon or Sorry have the tools in shops and not in Photo Rumours. Personal favourite, in terms of affordable system, compared to Leica, with affordable long primes and zooms is Nikon, either F or Z mount via FTZ adapter, lenses 300mm f4 PF, 500mm f5.6 PF and 200-500 f5.6 all very affordable compared to Leica. Even 500mm PF cost less than cheapest L Leica prime or 1/3 of Nikon’s own 500mm f4. Also all listed lenses will work with 1.4x TC, aperture will jump at f8 but cameras will still AF providing light is reasonable. Edited August 19, 2019 by mmradman Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caissa Posted September 13, 2019 Author Share #8 Posted September 13, 2019 (edited) By chance I stumbled across a note regarding the availability of Nikon Tele lenses. It shows the big difference in production numbers between Leica and Nikon (And Canon is said to be even more popular). It is about the new very handy 500 PF lens (a sibling of the PF 300mm, both are extremely small and light). The reporter claims that Nikon is in a sort of trouble because they produce only 1000 of these lenses per month and so cannot satisfy demand and generate very long waiting lists of several months. Leica cannot even produce so many SL (or soon SL2) bodies in a few months, not to speak of large lenses.... After reading that I think I will not wait anymore for a longer tele from Leica, but instead use a foreign camera firmly mounted to a foreign super-tele. (In order to optimize af). https://petapixel.com/2019/08/22/nikon-is-only-producing-1000-copies-of-the-500mm-f-5-6-pf-lens-per-month/ I was waiting for a 47MP SL2 for the improved cropping ability. But instead I could now leave out the SL2 and keep the SL several years longer and use a cheaper foreign brand for longer lenses. 500 PF plus 46MP camera is probably cheaper than SL2 and with a little cropping the 500 are equivalent to 750 mm in a small package. Edited September 13, 2019 by caissa Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thighslapper Posted September 13, 2019 Share #9 Posted September 13, 2019 I've just bought the x2 tele adapter for the Lumix S 70-200 which gets me up to 400mm ...... which on the S1R equates to what would be about 600mm on a 24mpx SL. There is minimal optical degradation. With up to 6.5 stops of IBIS+OIS and reasonable high ISO performance I'm not to bothered by the jump to f8. If the SL2 comes in with more mpx it may be a reasonably compact and lightish solution for an L mount medium+ telephoto combo as well. As someone who doesn't need a dedicated wildlife or sports lens this seems a reasonable compromise. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardC Posted September 13, 2019 Share #10 Posted September 13, 2019 25 minutes ago, caissa said: By chance I stumbled across a note regarding the availability of Nikon Tele lenses. It shows the big difference in production numbers between Leica and Nikon (And Canon is said to be even more popular). No surprise there. Nikon and Canon have been the default choice for super-tele work for over 50 years. One long-running joke was that Pentax, Olympus, Minolta, Rollei, etc, would show ultra-teles in their lens brochures, but the serial numbers (when visible) would be the same, year after year, decade after decade! It wasn't just because they re-used stock photos. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmradman Posted September 13, 2019 Share #11 Posted September 13, 2019 Leica have unparalleled reputation for quality optics however numbers produced are low. For example, my oldest lens is 1960 model and most current is mid 2010s, there is only 3 million difference in serial number covering time span of 55 years or about 55,000/year. By contrast Canon and Nikon each manufactured over 100 million lenses each, ranging from cheap and cheerful to truly groundbreaking and spectacular. At one time I had Nikon 300mm f2.8, AFS VR, spectacular lens, at 3 kilograms it was not easy one to live with especially as it was supposed to be pleasure pastime, gone long time ago, money from the sale went toward Leica M, real pleasure. With latest Nikon 300mm f4 PF at 0.75kg and 500mm f5.6 PF at 1.5kg seriously thinking to go back into long telephoto for fun of it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
michali Posted September 13, 2019 Share #12 Posted September 13, 2019 (edited) I've been through the same exercise. I've dealt with it as follows: I have a Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM lens which I use on the SL with a Novoflex EF to L adapter, for the times that I need extra reach for birds. It works OK in SAF mode, as well as with the 1.4x adapter, albeit a bit slower. Once you add the 2x adapter it's all fully manual. The Sigma MC-21 adapter works really well in SAF mode on the Lumix S1 and S1R, as well as with the 1.4x & 2x Tele converters, it's slower with the TCs . The Sigma adapter doesn't work at all on the SL. Only the Novoflex adapter works on the SL. Some people will tell you that Leica has a teleconverter, it's called a CL; I have a Leica CL and when I mount the VE 90-280mm L lens it gives me 420mm on the long end. I find this combination is more than adequate for my needs. I don't want to start mixing systems and investing in Sony, Canon, Fuji or Nikon bodies, been there done that. Edited September 13, 2019 by michali 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erudolph Posted September 13, 2019 Share #13 Posted September 13, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, thighslapper said: I've just bought the x2 tele adapter for the Lumix S 70-200 which gets me up to 400mm ...... which on the S1R equates to what would be about 600mm on a 24mpx SL. There is minimal optical degradation. With up to 6.5 stops of IBIS+OIS and reasonable high ISO performance I'm not to bothered by the jump to f8. If the SL2 comes in with more mpx it may be a reasonably compact and lightish solution for an L mount medium+ telephoto combo as well. As someone who doesn't need a dedicated wildlife or sports lens this seems a reasonable compromise. I also just got (last night) the 2x tele converter for the LUMIX S 70-200, primarily for use on the CL, in hopes of replacing the adapted Vario-Elmar-R 80-200/4. 600mm f/8 equivalent on the CL. Below shot with the LUMIX setup. 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! Edited September 13, 2019 by erudolph 8 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/300451-tele-for-sl/?do=findComment&comment=3819691'>More sharing options...
bags27 Posted September 15, 2019 Share #14 Posted September 15, 2019 On 9/13/2019 at 7:07 PM, erudolph said: I also just got (last night) the 2x tele converter for the LUMIX S 70-200, primarily for use on the CL, in hopes of replacing the adapted Vario-Elmar-R 80-200/4. 600mm f/8 equivalent on the CL. Below shot with the LUMIX setup. 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! a lovely composition, and I very much hope that you post more to reveal the degree of detail in close crops. My CL + R 80-200 f./4 + 2x APO extender is very (but I haven't yet felt it extremely) sharp. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erudolph Posted September 15, 2019 Share #15 Posted September 15, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, bags27 said: ...I very much hope that you post more to reveal the degree of detail in close crops. My CL + R 80-200 f./4 + 2x APO extender is very (but I haven't yet felt it extremely) shar f/8, 1/1250, ISO 500, full zoom, i.e., ~600mm FF equivalent. I must say that the Vario-Elmar-R 80-200/4 is a lot easier to focus manually... The photo is noisy because being backlit I pushed the shadows a lot. Sorry for not having something better at the moment. 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! Edited September 15, 2019 by erudolph 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/300451-tele-for-sl/?do=findComment&comment=3820221'>More sharing options...
bags27 Posted September 15, 2019 Share #16 Posted September 15, 2019 4 hours ago, erudolph said: f/8, 1/1250, ISO 500, full zoom, i.e., ~600mm FF equivalent. I must say that the Vario-Elmar-R 80-200/4 is a lot easier to focus manually... The photo is noisy because being backlit I pushed the shadows a lot. Sorry for not having something better at the moment. Thanks! That's very nice. And maybe a lot more could be won from that in post if necessary. I personally find most autofocus lenses difficult to focus manually, and often not very accurate at that distance. Every time I get frustrated with missing a shot with a manual lens, I try to remember that autofocus lenses (including the fantastic TL 55-135) misfocuses a lot on small objects at a distance. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clactonian Posted September 15, 2019 Share #17 Posted September 15, 2019 I have a Sigma 150-600 sport which I use on my D750. I'll give it a try on the SL with appropriate adaptors. Watch this space! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clactonian Posted September 17, 2019 Share #18 Posted September 17, 2019 On 9/15/2019 at 2:51 PM, Clactonian said: I have a Sigma 150-600 sport which I use on my D750. I'll give it a try on the SL with appropriate adaptors. Watch this space! Not a practical proposition as I only have a 'cheap' Nikon to M adaptor without electrical contacts. One would need a fully functioning Nikon to L adaptor and a very sturdy tripod. I did get some images despite having no control over the aperture but not worth posting here. Best bet is to wait for the Sigma L mount telephoto lenses. I could go back to Sigma and get the mount changed but I use the lens on my Nikon DSLRs at present. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkCambridgeshire Posted September 27, 2019 Share #19 Posted September 27, 2019 (edited) A budget price option worth considering is a Novoflex 'follow focus' mount with a Noflexar 'T' 400/5.6 … with a Novoflex R adapter plus R to SL adapter … which compatible with R 1.4 x and 2x APO extenders … and is capable of excellent imaging. Furthermore, the Novoflex follow focus mount has a built-in bellows which enables close focus. Try a forum SEARCH using 'Noflexar' to see the apparatus. dunk Edited September 27, 2019 by dkCambridgeshire Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicci78 Posted November 28, 2019 Share #20 Posted November 28, 2019 On 9/15/2019 at 8:31 AM, erudolph said: I must say that the Vario-Elmar-R 80-200/4 is a lot easier to focus manually... So what do you prefer ? CL + S Pro 70-200 f/4 + 2x TC ? or CL + Vario-Elmar-R 80-200 f/4 + APO-Extender 2x ? Does this rig usable handhold ? Or do we need a monopod for stable focusing ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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