farnz Posted October 21, 2006 Share #1 Posted October 21, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) I was mulling over which digital Leica to purchase next and it occurred to me that whatever I buy I will miss my D2's 28 to 90 vario-'cron. I love my D2 but, like others, I'm constantly frustrated by shutter lag and lack of a buffer. However I'm not aware of another single lens that offers both the versatility and speed of the 28 to 90 vario-'cron. Sooo ... (and for those of a nervous disposition look away now) I wondered whether it would be possible to in some way detach the vario-'cron from the D2 and attach, say, a 4/3rds mount or an M-mount so it could be used with a D3 or an M8. Am I ready to be assigned to the insane asylum (try saying that after 5 pints!) or could some D2 Dismantler-maester like Mark Norton kindly advise whether it is worth even considering and, if so, whether the focusing, zoom and aperture adjustments would work please? I accept that it is likely to be oh-so costly but if it yielded a 'transporatable' vario-'cron it might be worthwhile spending some of my bank's millions on! (And no, I don't own a bank.) Whad'ya think ... ? Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 21, 2006 Posted October 21, 2006 Hi farnz, Take a look here Am I totally nuts?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
wattsy Posted October 21, 2006 Share #2 Posted October 21, 2006 The lens doesn't have enough coverage for either 4/3 or larger sensors. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted October 21, 2006 Share #3 Posted October 21, 2006 Not to mention the fact that the lens to sensor distance would be greater for the other cameras, so no infinity focus, even if all the electronic contacts could be joined - which they couldn't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted October 21, 2006 Share #4 Posted October 21, 2006 The actual focal length of the "28-90" lens is 7mm - 22.5mm which tells you the "crop factor" of this lens is 4. Put another way, the lens has only to support an image circle of 10.82mm diameter, compared to the M8 image circle of 32.45mm. so that the lens only provides coverage for one third of the sensor diagonal of the M8. And that's before you get to the problems of mounting it, lens seat to sensor distance and the rest. So, to be frank yes, you are nuts! Keep the D2 intact, enjoy it for what it is and if you are buying an M8, you can get equivalent coverage with lenses in the range 21mm to 50/75mm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
miami91 Posted October 21, 2006 Share #5 Posted October 21, 2006 Hi Pete. Glad you're so fond of the lens on the D2 --- it is a good lens. But if you're thinking of buying a D3 anyway, it's stock lens (28-100 mm) should deliver just as well. Granted, its a stop slower, but this will be more than made up for by the far more usable 400 ISO+ sensitivities and the image stabilizer. I know there's people who think Leica went wrong in effectively ending the old Digilux lineage in order to introduce a dSLR, but I would expect the image quality of the D3 to far surpass the D2 --- Leica glass, 50% more pixels and a sensor 3x as large. Jeff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted October 21, 2006 Share #6 Posted October 21, 2006 Leaving aside the image circle - even if the Vario-cron could cover a larger sensor area, it is STILL a 7mm-21mm lens in terms of true focal lengths. On a larger sensor it would give only fields of view from superwide to "beyond fisheye" (no medium wide, no normal, no short tele). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
farnz Posted October 21, 2006 Author Share #7 Posted October 21, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) My D2 (especially) and I thank you for all your helpful and informed replies. I'll 'keep taking the pills' in the hope that I don't have similar brain storms in future! Anybody know how to glue a vario-'cron back onto a D2? (Just kidding ) Please consider this enquiry: case closed. Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamilsukun Posted October 21, 2006 Share #8 Posted October 21, 2006 The only hopeless expectation for us, the abandoned D2 users, is Lecia offering a software or hardware upgrade to D2 to minimize if not eliminate, the lag and buffer problems. Unfortunately, they seem to accept our Summicron being buried into history. Regards, Kamil Sukun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackart Posted October 21, 2006 Share #9 Posted October 21, 2006 Physical characteristics, lens and usability of D2 is so good, that only Venus engine should be replaced as repair-shop upgrade. I dont even need more than current 5 Mbit chip. -jaak Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted October 21, 2006 Share #10 Posted October 21, 2006 The only hopeless expectation for us, the abandoned D2 users, is Lecia offering a software or hardware upgrade to D2 to minimize if not eliminate, the lag and buffer problems. No chance of that, but that doesn't stop the D2 being a great camera with lasting value - to the owner if not the secondhand market. I've got 2 M8s coming but I'm keeping my D2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.