Sony A7 + Leica R lenses ...

[Godfrey]

The Leica R collection I'm using on the Sony A7.

Snapped with Olympus E-M1 + Macro-Elmarit-DG 45mm f/2.8 ASPH OIL​

I think I'm done. For a good long while. ;-)

G

 

[nlubis]

Wow. (that's all)

 

[NY_Dan]

humna humna humna faint

 

[jarski]

I think I'm done. For a good long while. ;-)

G

great collection! Sony looks pretty well balanced with all the lenses. have fun!

 

[okcomputer]

Godfrey, I've been very interested in that 19mm (Version 1) for my A7R. How is it? Are there any better lenses in this price range for the 18-21mm range, or is this tops?

thanks.

 

[Samouraï]

I'm terribly jealous. What would be the ideal kit, 3 piece? I know one of those 50mm Summicron-R's is based on a minolta design or something? And the 28mm 2.8 is quite poor (which I see you don't have). A Summilux 35/50/80 seems like the ideal, but are there any great lenses among the cheaper R lenses?

 

[Classique]

Wow what a collection.

By the way, what is that tripod collar attachment?

 

[Godfrey]

I'm terribly jealous. What would be the ideal kit, 3 piece? I know one of those 50mm Summicron-R's is based on a minolta design or something? And the 28mm 2.8 is quite poor (which I see you don't have). A Summilux 35/50/80 seems like the ideal, but are there any great lenses among the cheaper R lenses?

Oh, don't be jealous. It's just camera gear. I have a lot of it, too much in fact.

LOL! When I see reviews saying that a Leica lens is "quite poor" and I then test it, it usually turns out that "quite poor" means not up to the very latest Leica APO standards—and better performing than nearly anything else by any other manufacturer out there. ;-)

- The Summilux-R 50mm I is an all-Leitz design by Heinz Marquardt.

- The Summicron-R 50mm is an all Leitz design. Series 1 like mine was designed by Walter Mandler and manufactured in Wetzlar. Series II was designed by Walter Mandler, Garry Edwards, and Erich Wagner, manufactured in both Wetzlar and their Canadian facilities.

- The Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8 is considered one of the finest 28mm lenses made for a 35mm film SLR. There were two series of them too, the first designed by Rudolf Ruehl in Wetzlar.

- The Elmarit-R 24mm f/2.8 was designed by Minolta and is very similar (if not the same) optical formula as the Rokkor MD 24/2.8, which is a very highly regarded lens itself. The Leica version has a more robust lens mount and had to pass more stringent optical tests—I had the Rokkor MD many years ago, the Elmarit-R out-performs it. I took a chance on this, believing the poor press about it. The press is exactly as I said up above: it's a terrific lens. Leica sold this lens from 1974 to 2006 without ever changing the optical formula ... and it was the only 24mm in the R line. I would have expected a couple of designs if it was not up to snuff in performance, but they never saw the need.

What I've been using a lot of is the 24/50/90 kit. It makes for a nice size, relatively light kit of three excellent lenses at reasonable prices. These three focal lengths in R lenses would run, generally, about $1300-1500 now if you're careful about buying, very inexpensive for lenses of this quality.

I just received the 180/4—it's SO much smaller and lighter than the 180/2.8 I that I'm much more likely to carry and use it.

G

 

[Godfrey]

Godfrey, I've been very interested in that 19mm (Version 1) for my A7R. How is it? Are there any better lenses in this price range for the 18-21mm range, or is this tops?

The Elmarit-R 19mm version 1 is delightful, albeit quite bulky to carry around. I did some testing with this one a couple of weeks ago and found it to produce very very nice rendering across the board. There's some blue fringing on specular reflection borders not seen on film. The corners are a little soft until f/5.6-f/8, but that's the same on film. (Version 2 is smaller, lighter, much better behaved on film and digital ... but costs double to triple what version 1 does.) A good clean version 1 can typically be found for around $1400-1600.

There are a few exposures with the Elmarit-R 19mm in my "shooting with the sony A7" set on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdgphoto/sets/72157640840226983/

After I'd ordered this one, I happened across a near-mint Nikkor 18mm f/3.5 AI-S with hood for a very low price. I bought it too ...

This lens is smaller, lighter, and arguably as good a performer as the Elmarit-R 19mm, although it produces a very different rendering. To me, it's worth having both. You can see some results testing with it at:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/25268645/sonyA7-nikkor18mm/index.html

I've seen several of these with good optics and somewhat used cosmetics for under $450 on Ebay. There was a truly "as new" example being offered by a South African seller for $1000US. Quite a good lens for that kind of money!

G

 

[Godfrey]

Wow what a collection.

By the way, what is that tripod collar attachment?

🙂

I'm using Novoflex NEX/LER, NEX/LEM, and NEX/NIK mount adapters for Leica R, Leica M, and Nikon F lenses. The tripod attaching collar is a Novoflex ASTAT/NEX, which works with all of them. It helps balance the loads better and doesn't stress the camera body at all. Note that the Elmarit-R 180/2.8 has its own tripod mounting ... and ought to as it weighs nearly 3 lbs (1400g) all by itself. I wouldn't hang that heavy a lens on the ASTAT collar...!

G

 

[maitani]

And the 28mm 2.8 is quite poor (which I see you don't have)

the v1 r elmarit 28 is a very good and solid performer, on par with most of todays wideangles

the v2 (or v3 same optic w rom contacts) r elmarit 28 is in completely other league. new calculation. probably the best 28 ever made for any system. it has the same magic as 180 apo and 100 apo r lenses. you can recognise the lens by the built-in retractable hood, people know about this lens so it hits the used market seldom to never. and if at all for high prices.

 

[mfogiel]

So, where are the photos?

 

[Godfrey]

So, where are the photos?

A few are on my flickr account, see the link I posted earlier. Most are on my computer here. Between work and lens testing, I haven't had too much time yet to work on the projects I have in mind. But they're coming... 🙂

Can't do everything all at the same time. Putting this kit together and testing everything has been a big time sink.
G

 

[Vobluda]

Any pictures?
But no bricks and cats please.

 

[Godfrey]

Any pictures?
But no bricks and cats please.

See above.

G

 

[Godfrey]

some more photos ...

some more photos ...

A couple of folks asked where the photos were. A new set is now posted with photos from this morning's visit to Santa Cruz Pier.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2321046#post2321046

Enjoy!

G

 

[Samouraï]

Oh, don't be jealous. It's just camera gear. I have a lot of it, too much in fact.

LOL! When I see reviews saying that a Leica lens is "quite poor" and I then test it, it usually turns out that "quite poor" means not up to the very latest Leica APO standards—and better performing than nearly anything else by any other manufacturer out there. ;-)

- The Summilux-R 50mm I is an all-Leitz design by Heinz Marquardt.

- The Summicron-R 50mm is an all Leitz design. Series 1 like mine was designed by Walter Mandler and manufactured in Wetzlar. Series II was designed by Walter Mandler, Garry Edwards, and Erich Wagner, manufactured in both Wetzlar and their Canadian facilities.

- The Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8 is considered one of the finest 28mm lenses made for a 35mm film SLR. There were two series of them too, the first designed by Rudolf Ruehl in Wetzlar.

- The Elmarit-R 24mm f/2.8 was designed by Minolta and is very similar (if not the same) optical formula as the Rokkor MD 24/2.8, which is a very highly regarded lens itself. The Leica version has a more robust lens mount and had to pass more stringent optical tests—I had the Rokkor MD many years ago, the Elmarit-R out-performs it. I took a chance on this, believing the poor press about it. The press is exactly as I said up above: it's a terrific lens. Leica sold this lens from 1974 to 2006 without ever changing the optical formula ... and it was the only 24mm in the R line. I would have expected a couple of designs if it was not up to snuff in performance, but they never saw the need.

What I've been using a lot of is the 24/50/90 kit. It makes for a nice size, relatively light kit of three excellent lenses at reasonable prices. These three focal lengths in R lenses would run, generally, about $1300-1500 now if you're careful about buying, very inexpensive for lenses of this quality.

I just received the 180/4—it's SO much smaller and lighter than the 180/2.8 I that I'm much more likely to carry and use it.

G

Oh yes, it was the 24 I was thinking of in regard to the Minolta design and criticism. Thank you for the history lesson and the thoughts on some people's criticisms. I'll take what I hear in the future with a grain of salt; these are Leicas after all.

 

[zleica]

Here are few images taken with Summicron-R 35mm E55 (A7r).

 

[thompsonks]

I was thinking of trying one of the 28-70 or 35-70 R zooms and have tried to understand the differences between models, designs, and country of origin; but my question is which would be the best companion to the 40 Summicron M that's my basic A7 lens.

I usually use 35 Cron v4 on M9 and the 40 Cron on A7, and images from these lenses look consistent in fairly large prints. I'm interested in a supplementary zoom for A7 that would come closest to these in image quality - a 'classic' or traditional look, not highest resolution or highest contrast.

Any advice??

 

[Fuchs]

I was thinking of trying one of the 28-70 or 35-70 R zooms and have tried to understand the differences between models, designs, and country of origin; but my question is which would be the best companion to the 40 Summicron M that's my basic A7 lens.

I usually use 35 Cron v4 on M9 and the 40 Cron on A7, and images from these lenses look consistent in fairly large prints. I'm interested in a supplementary zoom for A7 that would come closest to these in image quality - a 'classic' or traditional look, not highest resolution or highest contrast.

Any advice??

Even if not from Leica, the Zeiss 35-70/3.4 for Contax is a terrific lens, and not as expensive