The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

D800/E and Leica R Lenses

robsteve

Subscriber
I'd like to add two comments regarding the images above:

Elmarit 2.8/28: you can see the strike marks caused by the mirror on the mounting ring of the rear element. The lowest one results when the lens is focussed at infinity. NB: in the image, the lens is *not* focused at infinity, but rather somewhere around 2m/6ft.

D800E: when the mirror is up, its edge is perfectly aligned with the outer edge of the foam damping strip attached to the frame of the focussing screen.
Ron:

On your 28mm, the rear shroud should just unscrew. Underneath it is the cam that works the focus shifting of the rear group.
 

robsteve

Subscriber
Some of the old dogs that shot many of them are here . Roger, Robert , Kurt , Woody, Mark and others and this all comes from late Canon days to we all moved to the DMR which we all loved. :grin:
I remember Guy's post on another forum asking about wides and I suggested the Leica 19mm. Back them I was shooting Leica film and had played around with adapters mainly to shoot high frame rates for sports with a Canon 1V.

I still have my 19mm, one of the last Leica R lenses that I have remaining. It is currently loaned to a neighbor who is using it on a RED Epic and he is amazed at how smooth and light the focus is, along with the image and colour quality.

Guy, Its too bad you didn't check the FS listings here, I would have given you a good deal on mine :) When you get your 19mm, you might want to talk to Roger about who modified his. The mechanism for the rear element is pretty delicate and I was told it might be easier to just take the rear ring and shroud off the lens to modify them off the lens.
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
FYI ...DAG modified my 19R and will be doing my 35/1.4R . He shaves the entire circle not just the edge and it looks unmodified ..which should help with resale . I also had a problem with one of the long screws and he took care of the mount as well . You do have to ship him you D800 though so that he can check the clearance on your body .
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Thanks Roger . When I get everything in my hands ill make a call. David from Leitax sent me some more info this morning. Seems like a really nice guy. Need to invite him here on our forum.

Maybe a new bible coming. Lol

Bad news for me with this purchase I did not get a long lens. I have nothing longer than 85 at the moment. Scary
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Btw I really like the idea of a new mount instead of those damn bolt on adapters. The bad news here is we still are in stop down mode, so for landscape type work they should be fine but PR crap I still have to use the AF. Now I would not mind a 28 or 28 shift.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Btw thanks everyone for chipping in to help. Robert I did see your ad and for some reason I did not think of it at the time. Need to bump that up btw
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Guy

The sleeper lens in the R mount is the older 180/2.8 67mm filter . The new APO is clearly better wide open but at f5.6 the older lens is superb . This was the lens that Leica came out with after the 180/3.4APO to satisfy the sports and reportage photographers . It has a short throw and is easy to focus . I used this lens for years shooting tennis . Its a great portrait lens because the character is more vintage Leica wide open . These were about $750 . It has a lot of the attributes I look for in a all around lens .

The only weakness is if you plan on shooting always wide open the contrast may be inadequate .
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Yea I seen one for sale and thought about it. I am in a quandary on this Nikon 135 F2 DC, Zeiss 135mm F2 or wait for the Sigma 135mm 1.8. Than I could always buy the Sigma 150mm 2.8 macro again. I have to decide what my use for it is as it is a two fold thing for me. Runway work and than landscape/portrait type work. The runway stuff I can always rent for the 2 big events I do every year but now we are talking of adding another event in Russia no less.

Okay I got to get on the road a all day shoot so my new Nikon 28mm 1.8 and my newer Sigma 35mm 1.4 will get a good work out today.
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
I ve used the Leica R system since the beginning and have had most of the R lenses at one time or another . Over the past year I put together my favorites and have modified the mounts with the Leitax adapters . Its important to me that the color and rendering have a similar look (as it is for cinematographers splicing together various clips ) . So I have settled on a system (leica R ) rather than the "best " at every focal length .

I use two D800E bodies together so that I always have two focal lengths available and I generally never have more than four lenses with me when shooting . So this may be different than most shooters and affect your favorite focal lengths .

My lenses that are adapted are as follows :

1. 19/2.8 Elmarit ...a favorite for street especially in cities like NYC which has great backdrops . It has floating elements and is superb up close .

2. 28/2.8 Elmarit ...best all around lens for street in the group . Floating elements superb at all distances . Not great for flat subjects due to curvature of focus ...but that doesn t affect street . I focus off the screen so the edges are sharp . Weakness is its not fast enough .

3. 35/1.4 summilux ...new to my system but I can t wait to have the speed and the wide open bokeh . Off to DAG for shaving .

4. 50/1.4 summilux 60mm....best 50 I ve found . Just a beautiful rendering highly recommended . My 2nd lens most of the time .

5 . 80/1.4 summilux ....wonderful bokeh wide open and super sharp stopped down . Not quite a Noctilux ..but similar in many ways .

6. 100/2.8 APO elmarit ... great all around lens . My lens has a very light touch and allows me to follow focus movement (important ) . No one complains about the IQ on this lens and it has a beauty to the rendering as well.

The set needs a 180 but I ve yet to adapt my 180/2.8APO as I may want to keep it for a future M system .

The key issue with the system is the requirement to focus and then stop down . And of course manual focusing . I have excellent eye sight and can focus even at night with good accuracy ...but I shoot a lot like an M shooter . Anticipate the location ...get close and then fine tune if I can . I am not running around trying to shoot everything wide open ...so I use the DOF of smaller apertures when I can .
 

Ron Pfister

Member
On your 28mm, the rear shroud should just unscrew. Underneath it is the cam that works the focus shifting of the rear group.
Many thanks Rob! That did the trick - much appreciated. I have now ground down the shroud and will paint it tomorrow. Photo to follow soon.

I owe you a glass (or cup) of your favorite beverage!
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Many thanks Rob! That did the trick - much appreciated. I have now ground down the shroud and will paint it tomorrow. Photo to follow soon.

I owe you a glass (or cup) of your favorite beverage!
He went beyond a pint. LOL

So I will have lens On Thursday . Putting on my mechanic hat. Hope my adapter comes soon. I have zero patience on waiting.
 

Ron Pfister

Member
19 mm that is. Also would love to hear of some filter adapter setup
Just found this: Duclos Lenses — Leica 19mm V.II 80mm Step-Up Ring

Sounds interesting. My initial thought was buying an additional shade (Leica may still have them in stock), removing the square plastic portion (probably of the old shade, not the new one), and attaching a suitable Lee adapter ring to it. I may take this route, still...

How are you 19mm users working with filters (if at all)?

TIA,

Ron
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
A small iPhone photo of the back of my 19 as shaved by DAG . He shaved the entire circle evenly and then applied some black paint that matches the lens . Great job ..can t tell it was modified at all .
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
I am not using filters or the hood on the 19 and it looks like an accident waiting to happen with nothing protecting that front element . The lens is very compact without the hood about the size of the 50 1.4 ..so its great for street shooting .
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Yea I'll leave the hood on unless I need a ND filter on location and maybe add a old 77mm filter without glass to the ND than just slip it on. Maybe that would work. My lens got held up in customs and needed a better description of it on the paperwork. So delayed till Friday but Roger that is very interesting on what DAG did. Looks like they took the shroud down to the inner ring than went a bit further. Hmmm

Thanks for posting this. Obviously it is the top half of the lens that needs the Mod so the mirror dropping back down does not get held up.But I agree doing the whole shroud evenly looks so much better. I did order the correct paint from Micro tools. I came within inches of buying a Dremel this morning but they make me nervous. LOL

The good news is I have done this once before so I feel pretty confident to do it. But Dag doing it is a good thought
 

robsteve

Subscriber
The good news is I have done this once before so I feel pretty confident to do it. But Dag doing it is a good thought
I think Dag is a good idea too. He probably takes off the shroud and the retaining ring to do them off the lens. The rear element and and retaining ring move with a very fine mechanism and if you tweak than mechanism, you will no longer have smooth or even working focus on the lens.

For filters, the only solution I ever found was one of the clamp on Cokin-P adapters. There are probably equivalents in other filter brands and I suspect the RED users have figured it out for use in cinematography.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/14101-REG/Cokin_CP499_P_Series_Universal_Adapter.html
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
For some reason if memory serves me which is rare but in any case . I remember I had to modify my 19mm hood for my Canon full frame body as I think it vignettes on full frame. Can anyone confirm this or not. See only half my memory is working here. LOL

My 19mm is a Rom version and should be here today
 
Top