Sharpest vintage tele zoom 70-200mm-ish

[wolan]

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Hi,

which is in your opinion the sharpest manual focus 70-200mm (with all the variants 70/80-180/200/210 etc), which I can use on my Leica SL?

Thanks.

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by wolan

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[rcusick]

At a reasonable price - 80-200 f4 r lens.  I just bought one for $1000 and am blown away.  Sharp but with mandler era rendering.  

[darylgo]

The 70-180mm R is very sharp, very big, not an easy handhold.  I'd be surprised if anything else is as sharp in a manual zoom.  The 90-280 is the lens to shoot on the SL, the ois adds to a very sharp lens.  

[BernardC]

11 hours ago, rcusick said:

At a reasonable price - 80-200 f4 r lens.  I just bought one for $1000 and am blown away.  Sharp but with mandler era rendering.  

In addition to the two Leica R zooms mentioned, you should consider the Contax Vario-Sonnar 80-200 f:4 and 100-300 f/4.5-5.6. Both are excellent, and slightly lighter than the Leica zooms. One downside is that they use push-pull zoom action, which I find less convenient than a separate zoom ring.

These zoom are all 20+ years old, so make sure to get one in good condition. They should be completely smooth, which is an indication that they haven't been dropped.

[wolan]

vor 20 Stunden schrieb rcusick:

At a reasonable price - 80-200 f4 r lens.  I just bought one for $1000 and am blown away.  Sharp but with mandler era rendering.  

Thanks for the tip, I am reviewing some pictures on Flickr and they are gorgeous. Does the front element rotate in this model?

Thanks

 

[rcusick]

17 hours ago, wolan said:

Thanks for the tip, I am reviewing some pictures on Flickr and they are gorgeous. Does the front element rotate in this model?

Thanks

 

No. It does not. 

[tom0511]

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I started with a 80-200/4.0 Leica R lens but I would now prefer a Pana 70-200 (I own the 4.0 version) or 70-300 with AF any day. AF is just very useful for a tele lens.

Sorry if I don't answer exactly your question. If its about sharpness and max. IQ I would go for the 90-280.

Why do you want to choose a MF only lens? IMO some of the good older R lenses are overpriced these days.

Edited November 2, 2021 by tom0511

[wolan]

vor 10 Stunden schrieb tom0511:

I started with a 80-200/4.0 Leica R lens but I would now prefer a Pana 70-200 (I own the 4.0 version) or 70-300 with AF any day. AF is just very useful for a tele lens.

Sorry if I don't answer exactly your question. If its about sharpness and max. IQ I would go for the 90-280.

Why do you want to choose a MF only lens? IMO some of the good older R lenses are overpriced these days.

Thanks. I plan to use the lens on my Leica Monochrome as well. The 90-280 is a super lens, but it is heavy and bulky. Sometimes I'd like to go out with all my gear fit in a small shoulder bag. I do not mind the manual focusing, 90% of my pictures are taken with vintage MF lenses anyway.

The Contax 80-200 f4 is a very good lens, but the problem is that I cannot use filters because of the rotating front element. The few pictures I have seen from the 80-200 f4 R are beautiful and have that vintage vibe I am always after.

 

Cheers.

 

[tom0511]

I understand. The 135/3.4 M or 135/4.0 is too short for you?

I have the 80-200 (once bought it as a small tele for my SL) I am not a fan on using longer lenses on the M.

[Stuart Richardson]

The 135mm tele elmar and apo telyt are sleeper lenses…extremely good and compact and usually inexpensive compared to most Leica lenses. I have the S 120mm and 90mm Apo M and still use the 135mm tele elmar at times for its quality and compactness. Just fyi…

[jaapv]

I think the best long telezoom in the R lineup was the 105-280. In my experience it comes very close to the Apo-Telyt 280/4.0.  I still have mine, despite some attempts to sell it.

[AZN]

I've had the Leica 80-200mm Vario-Elmar-R f/4 (ROM) for a couple of years now.  Big, heavy lens.  Cries out for a monopod, hopefully mounted via a lens-collar mount.  See the 2016 discussion at: 

You could also use the extra tripod mount which comes with the R→L adapter (similar to the one that comes with the M→L adapter), but IMO a collar mount which stays on the lens is more convenient.

Thing is though, the exif information for my lens says the max focal length is only 170mm (instead of the 200mm written on the barrel).

Optically it is an excellent lens.  With a 2x APO extender it can also have a reasonably long reach, although only in strong sunlight (!)

Don't use it very much though.  When I need to go long, then I use the SAL 70300G SSMII in APSC mode instead (on a Sony 7ARIV).  Heresy I know, but you use what you've got 😃

 

[michali]

13 hours ago, jaapv said:

I think the best long telezoom in the R lineup was the 105-280. In my experience it comes very close to the Apo-Telyt 280/4.0.  I still have mine, despite some attempts to sell it.

+1 fully agree, a great lens. I had both the 105-280mm & 280mm f4 & sold them after I purchased the VE90-280mm L. Other than duplication of focal lengths, my main concern was parts availability. I had an issue with the 105-280mm, it took 6 months to have it repaired due to lack of spares.

Many of these older lenses are great, but be aware if anything goes wrong, spare parts can be an issue.

[robb]

The 70-180 2.8 and 105-280 are very sharp.  But for the similar weight penalty, I’d just go with the SL 90-280 with af and is.

 

Robb

[cpclee]

The 80-200/4 R is truly excellent and compact.  It has the micro contrast and sparkling details of today's best lenses but the rendering is nevertheless full bodied and warm.  It's a bargain by Leica standards.  It was made on contract by Kyocera (parent company of the Contax brand) based on a design derived from the 70-180 APO Elmarit R.

[Andrew Gough]

Leica SL & R 70-180mm APO

 

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