100 / 2.8 APO Macro - an amazing lens and question

[Aram Langhans]

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Lately I have posted a few shots taken with this lens in the R lens thread with it mounted on my Nikon Z7ii.  I see others have, too.  What a lens.  But lately I have had the itch to perhaps purchase the Nikon Z 105/2.8 macro.  I tried it out in a store a few months back under no kind of controlled conditions, and it seemed to be fine.  I have compared the APO directly in the past with my father-in-law's latest version  105 Macro for F mount and there was no comparison with the Leica beating it out quite handily especially off center.  But I do have to admit that for stacking images, the touch focus and shoot feature of the Z7 has me interested.  It would be so much more convenient and then there is the weight consideration for my 73 year old back and knees, which is why I bought the Z7ii and dumped my D750 body and lenses.  I have noticed that the Z lenses that I do have are head and shoulders better than the comparable F mount lenses.  They are doing something right.

So, I guess my question would be has anybody made a comparison between a modern macro lens, like the Z mount or the Canon/Sony options vs the 35 year old Leica 100 APO?  I would find it hard to improve on the image quality, but if it was even almost equal, I might bite the bullet and buy the Z macro for the convenience of autofocus and stacking images with touch focus/release and also my 73 year old eyes could use the help at times.

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[LeicaR10]

Aram Langhans,  I use Helicon Focus with a R Apo 100.  I have not found a better solution with lenses and software.  Perhaps you use this already.  If not, you might give it a try and save yourself some money for another lens.  The Leica R 100 is stellar, IMO of course.  r/ Mark

Try:  https://www.heliconsoft.com/heliconsoft-products/helicon-focus/

[AZN]

On March 14th 2024, a presenter at the Leica SL3 launch in Sydney used a 100-APO-MACRO to demonstrate product photography.

 

Guess if it was good enough for Leica to show off their new camera, then the lens should still be pretty good 😃

 

[Stuart Richardson]

The lens is still great, and I am sure it has its own unique character. That said, for focus stacking it is not ideal. I used to have the 100mm APO R lens and it was my favorite on R mount. When I switched to the S system I got the 120m APO Macro which was even better. Now I am using the L mount and I have the 105mm Sigma Macro. That is on the same level. Lens design has come a long way in 30 years and Sigma in particular has pulled out all the stops with their art lenses. I still prefer the 120mm Leica for its character, but the Sigma 105 is superb and goes to 1 to 1 and has smooth quiet internal AF. I had a look at the MTF of the Nikon Z macro, and it looks extremely good. I think you can use it without any fear of a loss in quality. It is, truth be told, on the MTF at least, quite a bit sharper than the 100mm APO Macro from 30 years ago. It is not an exact comparison, but the Nikon is around 90% contrast out to the last third of the frame, where it dips down only to 60% in the very corners. That is at 2.8. The Leica is pretty similar, with a bit less contrasty snap, but slightly more even performance across the frame (meaning it is less sharp, but more even). Still, both lenses would be considered superb. I wouldn't hesitate to get the Nikon for the use you are describing, and just shoot with it and see how you feel about its character. Generally macro lenses are the best in any lineup, so it is hard to imagine that the Nikon would be anything other than excellent, since Nikon has a long history of making great lenses, and it is a flagship lens for their flagship system.

[AZN]

14 hours ago, Stuart Richardson said:

Lens design has come a long way in 30 years

Completely agree. It's off-topic, but some of my Sony GM primes/ zooms outdo the "heroic" R lenses from decades ago.

Guess one can always say, "Ah yes, but the R lenses have character…"

[trickness]

Just got  the ROM version of this lens and an R adapter L and wow, such a gorgeous lens and overall package. A Sigma would be way more economical but man, this setup is gorgeous.....

[dritz]

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Yep. Things just look natural. But I have no experience with another lens. I haven't seen the need for an open mind!

 

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[farnz]

On 4/30/2024 at 8:13 PM, dritz said:

Yep. Things just look natural. But I have no experience with another lens. I haven't seen the need for an open mind!

I tend to agree. 

Another advantage is that the 100/2.8 APO-Macro-Elmarit-R can be used with Leica's 2x APO-Extender-R to effectively give a 200 mm APO-Macro lens for extra reach.  I include an example shot with the 100 APO and 2x APO-Extender with a 100% detail crop that reveals astonishing detail in the crop.

For focus-stacking I have to concede that an AF lens would be more practical.

Pete.

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