Where have all the R lenses gone?

[dkCambridgeshire]

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8 hours ago, davidmknoble said:

Is it me or do all your links point to FFordes?

Just ONE link refers to Ffordes 

[OR120]

13 hours ago, davidmknoble said:

Is it me or do all your links point to FFordes?

Me too - they all point to FFordes.. when clicked on link

Edited April 22, 2021 by OR120
sp

[davidmknoble]

6 hours ago, dkCambridgeshire said:

Just ONE link refers to Ffordes 

No worries, every one that I clicked on went to Ffordes....  I manually typed them in my browser... thanks for the info!  was interesting to look.

 

[dkCambridgeshire]

9 hours ago, OR120 said:

Me too - they all point to FFordes.. when clicked on link

 

8 hours ago, davidmknoble said:

No worries, every one that I clicked on went to Ffordes....  I manually typed them in my browser... thanks for the info!  was interesting to look.

 

Apologies ... not sure why ... try these:

 

https://www.ffordes.com

http://www.peterloy.com/stock-list.php

 

https://www.apertureuk.com/pre-owned/leica/

 

https://www.reddotcameras.co.uk/251-r-lenses

 

https://theclassiccamera.com/product-category/used-leica/used-leica-r-mount-lenses/

 

[davidmknoble]

I have to LOL as well.  I didn't think I visited any of these before, till I found my Ffordes Photographic insert from a package I got recently! I ordered a -2.0 diopter for my R8 from them.  Great service nice selection, thanks again @dkCambridgeshirefor the UK list!

 

[eastwestphoto]

On 4/9/2021 at 10:19 PM, ChrisL said:

10 months ago when I bought my R8, together with a Leica R 35-70 f4 ROM zoom, there seemed to be a good selection of R lenses for sale from various sources in the US - some at affordable prices. Now it seems like there are none, except for a few expensive ones from Asia on EBay. What happened?

Photogs finally realized that a leica R lens on a adapter, for Sony, Nikon, Canon, fujifilm, Pentax digital mirrorless cameras was absolutely terrific resolution and snapped them up off ebay quickly. Also leica R glass was expensive in its days, so not as many were made. Thus the scarcity you realize. 

[hamey]

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14 hours ago, eastwestphoto said:

Photogs finally realized that a leica R lens on a adapter, for Sony, Nikon, Canon, fujifilm, Pentax digital mirrorless cameras was absolutely terrific resolution and snapped them up off ebay quickly. Also leica R glass was expensive in its days, so not as many were made. Thus the scarcity you realize. 

Yes I do agree, we R owners are lucky to have so many Camera brands that we can choose from, unlike those poor users of S and SL lenses.

I was very impressed with Mathphotographer review on the 100mm APO R lens attached  to the Fuji GFX, another system we can add for our beloved R lenses. (Thank you Fuji)

Long live Leica R.

[Brian C in Az]

On 4/9/2021 at 7:19 PM, ChrisL said:

10 months ago when I bought my R8, together with a Leica R 35-70 f4 ROM zoom, there seemed to be a good selection of R lenses for sale from various sources in the US - some at affordable prices. Now it seems like there are none, except for a few expensive ones from Asia on EBay. What happened?

Simple, there is a resurgence in interest in manual focus lenses on digital bodies. The mirrorless bodies adapt very well to working with the R lenses. The R lenses are superior to many new lenses. I would say the "worst" R lenses can still hold their own against many new lenses.

 

With a resurgence in interest and no new production, naturally, inventory goes down and prices go up. Some are fetching $3000 USD to $5500 USD, the Telyt modular units are demanding $7000 to $10000 USD depending on the particular model. Too bad Leica is too stubborn to do a limited production run of the Telyt modular system. I would wager they would sell everyone they make. There are several lenses that Leica should do a limited new production run, it would be easy money for them.

Crazy prices:

Leica Summilux-R 50mm F/1.4 E60 ROM Lens for Leica R #34480 C1

Pre-Owned · Leica R · f/1.4 · 50mm

$3,780.00

RARE Leica Summilux-R 80mm f/1.4 MF Lens ROM #3857612 "Mint/Pristine Optics"

Pre-Owned · Leica R · f/1.4 · 80mm

$3,750.00

 

Leica Summilux-R 50mm/F1.4 E60 ASPH Lens Yr.1999 Germany #419

Pre-Owned · Leica R · f/1.4 · 50mm

4.5 out of 5 stars.

6 product ratings- Leica Summilux-R 50mm/F1.4 E60 ASPH Lens Yr.1999 Germany #419

$4,299.00

 

Leica SUMMILUX-R 35mm f/1.4 Lens ROOM Mint

Pre-Owned · Leica R · f/1.4 · 35mm

$7,700.00

 

LEICA LEITZ 50MM F1.4 SUMMILUX-R E60 ROM + BOX 11344 #549

Pre-Owned

$5,400.00

[Alon]

It is well known that not all R lenses have the same greatness and they are in the hands of Cineast - Collectors and many art or nostalgic photographers.

 

I am an R lens collector myself and very much like the Leica Glow and the color rendering tonality.

 

I personally think that it is now a good time to acquire the top Leica R lenses as the price is on the lowest historical side.

I expect the price to go up in the near future.

 

Ohhh. I am not selling.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Alon

[a.noctilux]

Hello Alon,

⁉️

as old fan of Leica M and R for decades, I've never seen Leica Glow in any of R lens that I use.

 

Can you educate me, which of the Leica R lens(es) give(s) the Leica Glow ?

[Alon]

 

22 hours ago, a.noctilux said:

Hello Alon,

⁉️

as old fan of Leica M and R for decades, I've never seen Leica Glow in any of R lens that I use.

 

Can you educate me, which of the Leica R lens(es) give(s) the Leica Glow ?

Hello Arnaud

 

I don/t know which Leica R lenses you are using and how you are using them. I am not familiar with M lenses.

 

The Glow is not a given but appears in certain light conditions similar to having a swirly bokeh with the  Biotar 75/1.5 or  a Trioplan 100/2.8 and other vintage lenses.

 

 

My list of the top Leica R prime lenses in my collection are:

1- 15mm f/2.8 Super-Elmarit-R ASPH

2- 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R II

3- 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-R II

4- 75mm f/2 Elcan-R

5- 80mm f/1.4 Summilux-R

6- 90mm f/2 APO-Summicron-R ASPH

7- 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro-Elmarit-R

8- 180mm f/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R II

9- 180mm f/3.4 Elcan-R

10- 280mm f/4 APO-Telyt-R

11- 450mm f/5.6 Elcan-R

 

Are you using any of these lenses?

 

N,B. Not all lenses will manifest a Glow namely the 90AA - 100 APO - 280 APO - 180 Elcan and APO and Elcan 450

 

 

Here is a sample of the Leica R Glow shot with Leica R 50/1.4 Summilux II  E60

 

 

 

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Edited July 19, 2021 by Alon

[Farbenkreis]

Am 10.4.2021 um 04:19 schrieb ChrisL:

What happened?

... "maybe" the answer is really simple? ->

More and more photographers and filmmakers have recognized that R-lenses are excellent lenses that do not have to hide behind any other very good glass.

And it has already been said here that many User are now adapting lenses and the R-lenses are not just an "alternative", more likely -> A real qualitative choice. Greetings!

[a.noctilux]

@Alon

Thanks, so I 'see' (if not really convinced by the samples).

 

Out of curiosity again, I've never aware of Elcan R #4 and #11:

would you please (if you want to ...of course) talk more about the #4 75mm Elcan-R ( short Wiki talk)

and #11 450mm Elcan R (in Wiki we have nothing, only the name )

#9 could it be Apo-Telyt-R 3.4/180 'prototype' ( in Wiki ...) ?

Edited July 19, 2021 by a.noctilux

[adan]

5 hours ago, a.noctilux said:

#9 could it be Apo-Telyt-R 3.4/180 'prototype' ( in Wiki ...) ?

Somewhat more than a "prototype."

I though it was fairly common knowledge that the 180mm APO-Telyt-R began life as a part of a classified U.S. Navy contract to produce "high resolution small format camera systems" for intelligence gathering (high-rez photos of Soviet ships and aircraft encountered during USN ops, especially in the Mediterranean).

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180 APO-Telyt-R f/3.4 at f/3.4, Canon 5D2, full image and crop.

They included a Leicaflex SL camera, a standard Leica 35mm Summicron-R, and the specially-developed 75, 180, and 450 "ELCAN" lenses. Plus enlarging setups. The number of kits actually produced is vague (they were after all, top-secret). But probably on the order of 25-250(?) - the 450 perhaps as few as 10 (but that is guesswork).

The lenses were labelled ELCAN rather than Leitz or Leica. (And ELCAN still operates as a military optics contractor, under the ownership of Raytheon, and formerly Hughes Aerospace)

https://www.raytheonintelligenceandspace.com/capabilities/products/elcan

http://www.marcocavina.com/articoli_fotografici/Leitz_Apo-Telyt_180mm_glass/00_pag.htm

https://lhsa.org/2020/06/the-lens-in-the-rug/

Once the military contract was completed, Leica was allowed to produce the 180mm f/3.4 for the civilian market - renamed as the APO-Telyt-R. For whatever reasons (secrecy, weight, expense, producability, expected market) the 75 and 450 were not made in civilian versions.

Edited July 19, 2021 by adan

[Alon]

9 hours ago, adan said:

http://www.marcocavina.com/articoli_fotografici/Leitz_Apo-Telyt_180mm_glass/00_pag.htm

 

Thank you for saving me the explanation.

 

I did not know that Marco Cavina site is still live as he closed to my knowledge. He must have restarted it later.

 

The Elcan 75/2 became the 90AA.

 

I only have one of them and a couple of 90AA.

 

 

 

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[a.noctilux]

Thanks @adan very complete infos (as  usual 👍).

I'm very pleased with Apo-T-R 3.4/180mm rsults for so long, even when I add Apo-Extender-R x2, nice results from wide open,

in this case, no more vignetting as seen with the lens alone.

 

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serial number 'z-ed' , sorry I don't have box/manual/papers to show

...

concerning Leica glow, thinking twice, I may have seen in Summilux 75 or 80 wide open or a bit closed,

I use the two 'Mandler's' Lux with proud from so long I forgot those details.

 

as seen here the twin 'same-lens'

 

 for fun, 'twin' mounted on M

 

[wizard]

vor einer Stunde schrieb Alon:

The Elcan 75/2 became the 90AA.

How can a 75mm lens become a 90mm lens? That seems a bit odd to me ...

 

vor 26 Minuten schrieb a.noctilux:

... no more vignetting as seen with the lens alone.

In my view, that is the only real drawback of the Apo-Telyt 3.4/180mm lens. When using its full aperture, vignetting is in fact quite pronounced, whereas for example the Elmarit-R 2.8/180mm ver.II shows no noticeable vignetting even at full aperture. Which is why I tend to use the latter more than the former lens, the more so since my copy of the 2.8/180 is optically really very, very good.

[lct]

If "glow" means halos around highlights i'm not sure to have seen it out of my R lenses so far but i have no experience with the R 50/1.4. As for the R 180/3.4 its only disturbing drawback is its 2.5m MFD to me. Great lens otherwise.

[TeleElmar135mm]

vor 27 Minuten schrieb lct:

(...). As for the R 180/3.4 its only disturbing drawback is its 2.5m MFD to me. Great lens otherwise.

right Ict. That's realy a pitty. So I must often nunse a short extention tube. Not the finest solution but it works

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Peter Zapp]

Am 20.7.2021 um 11:26 schrieb a.noctilux:

I'm very pleased with Apo-T-R 3.4/180mm results ...

How or where you found the grip? I want support, but not as bulky as the shoulder stock.

The pistol stock, a misleading description, is difficult to find. Many tripod collars lack the complementary hole for the black pin next to the screw thread. On the a.m. shoulder stock the pin retracts.