Vario Elmar R 1:4.5/75-200mm lens on the SL, SL2 or SL3

[dryee]

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Anyone have comments about the Vario Elmar R 1:4.5/75-200mm lens on  the SL, SL2 or SL3.

This lens was made in Japan and I am wondering what the forum's user experience has been.  The zoom design is interesting and wondering exactly how one takes advantage of this telescopic zoom approach.  Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

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[adan]

Realistically, this 1978-84 lens is a "pretty good late 1970s Minolta zoom." Designed in Japan as well as made there, thanks to the existing Leitz/Minolta partnership that created the film Leitz/Minolta CL (and which also produced the R-system's 16mm fisheye and 24mm Elmarit-R).

Leitz farmed out a lot of the early R lenses, 1964-1990, to Japan, Angènieux in France, Schneider-Kreuznach (Super-Angulons 21/28, PC-Curtagon 35), and even (horrors!) Zeiss in Germany. Because they simply had not yet developed the design skills for certain SLR lenses (fisheyes, zooms, retrofocus wideangles, perspective-correction).

Leitz/Leica's prior 40-year photo-optics experience had been entirely with fixed-focal-length prime lenses that did not have to clear an SLR mirror. And they were playing catch-up in the SLR world, so they went to companies that already had the background.

I tried the 75-200 on a Leicaflex SL around 2003, and it was what it was. Better-than-average 1970s zoom for documentary work - but not the same as the APO-zooms Leica turned out on its own in the 1990s. Nice color rendering and tonality, that paired well with the contemporaneous 1980s Leitz Canada/Mandler M lenses.

Shot below is with Leicaflex SL and 75-200 f/4.5 wide-open at 200mm, on Ilford Pan F. Might be somewhat better, direct to a digital SL (skips scanning-generation losses).

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Edited August 13 by adan

[Shawn30]

 Not sure if you’re  still interested, but I have the 75-200 and use it on the SL2 and SL3. I like the colors and look of the vintage lens. It has pretty bad CA and flaring so more care has to be taken  than when using modern lenses.