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Leica R lenses?

danlindberg

Well-known member
I have never used Leica R and need a quick summery of the 'goodies' out of the following bunch. Which ones do you think will do well on a A7R?

R 35/2
R 60/2.8 macro
R 90/2.8
R 135/2.8
R 28-70/3.5-4.5
 

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
I only have one on your list, but I use 24 elmarit-R, 50 Summilux-R, 90 Summicron-R, and 135 elmarit-R. I am pleased with all of them on A7r. I prefer the 55 FE over the 50 lux for ease of use, but enjoy the lux for the look sometimes.
 

Ocean

Senior Subscriber Member
I enjoy using R35/2, R60/2.8 Macro and R90/2.8 on A7R and they all perform very well.
 

danlindberg

Well-known member
Great!! Thanks for your info.

Ocean, could you post some examples in this thread of the 35, 60 and 90! That would be great thank you :thumbup:
 

mjm6

Member
Yes
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Don't know.

Longer focal lengths are not going to have a problem at all on the a7/a7r.

Depending on the price, I'd probably pass on the zoom in favor of the 35-70 f/4 as that one is known as a great performer. Otherwise, you might be better served with the Zeiss 24-70 over the 28-70.

I believe the 28-70 is in the same performance level as the older 35-70 f/3.5 which was designed by Sigma for Leica. I think this lens uses the same barrels as that older lens, (not positive), and I think it was also designed by Sigma. By most people's measures, it is a competent lens, but expensive compared the others of equal performance. The newer f/4 35-70 is a step above that.

The 35/2 you want is the newer E55 version (with the retracting hood). The older one is fine, but not as good.

People love the 90/2.8... really nice bokeh in that one from most accounts.

The macro is a nice lens, but not as good as the 100M APO, and priced accordingly. I have the 60M, and it is nice.


---Michael
 
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danlindberg

Well-known member
mjm6, great info - thanks!

Just found someone not being happy with the zoom. Since I do not really like zooms anyway I am not going to investigate that one further.
 

scho

Well-known member
I have the 24 and 28 Elmarits plus the 35-70 f/4 Vario-Elmar mentioned above. The latter is really excellent and probably as good or better than some of the R primes in that range of focal lengths (except for speed). Both my 24 and 28 have very stiff focus and might need some CLA attention (any recommendations for people that work on the Rs?). My 24 has slightly soft corners on the A7R, but the 28 is sharp across the frame.
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
The better zoom is the 35-70/4 ……or the 28-90. The 35-70/2.8 is above $10K and the 28-90 above $5K but the 35-70/4 is still near $1k .

I use the 19/2.8;28/2.8;35/1.4;50/1.4(60mm) ,80/1.4 and the 100/2.8APO …I believe these are the best R lenses in that range of 19-100mm. The 35/2,90/2.8 and 60/2.8 are also excellent and more readily available .

The biggest advantage for my work is the consistent rendering of the set ..so that the aesthetic of the images is similar . I appreciate the Leica color,micro contrast and smooth bokeh and am less interested in “absolute best in class” resolution .

I would build my kit around the zeiss AF offerings ..just read that a 35/1.4 zeiss maybe coming this year .
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
I have the 24 and 28 Elmarits plus the 35-70 f/4 Vario-Elmar mentioned above. The latter is really excellent and probably as good or better than some of the R primes in that range of focal lengths (except for speed). Both my 24 and 28 have very stiff focus and might need some CLA attention (any recommendations for people that work on the Rs?). My 24 has slightly soft corners on the A7R, but the 28 is sharp across the frame.
I have always been happy with DAG for my Leica repairs and maintenance . The 24/2.8 is soft in the corners on any body …..when I used one I always stopped down to f5.6 ..then it performs well.
 

scho

Well-known member
I have always been happy with DAG for my Leica repairs and maintenance . The 24/2.8 is soft in the corners on any body …..when I used one I always stopped down to f5.6 ..then it performs well.
Thanks Roger. I'll contact DAG for work on the 24 and 28.
 

mazor

New member
Why use elmarit R lens on the A7, when you can use much smaller higher quality Leica M glass.

The only reason I would consider using R glass on mirrorless, is if you are going to use a focus reducer, since the A7(r) is a small body, the addition of a dumb Leica R to Emount adapter will add bulk.
 

Shac

Active member
Why use elmarit R lens on the A7, when you can use much smaller higher quality Leica M glass.
.
If you have a stable of R lenses and no M lenses - that's a pretty good reason for using them on the A7(r) isn't it?
 

Ocean

Senior Subscriber Member
I also think that Leica R lenses perform better than Leica M lenses on A7r. The R35/2, R50/2, R60/2.8, R90/2.8 and R180/3.8 APO are not too big and bulky on A7r.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I have never used Leica R and need a quick summery of the 'goodies' out of the following bunch. Which ones do you think will do well on a A7R?

R 35/2
R 60/2.8 macro
R 90/2.8
R 135/2.8
R 28-70/3.5-4.5
I bought the A7 specifically to use with a kit of six Leica R lenses I acquired last year with a pair of Leicaflex SL bodies. These are the ones I have:

Elmarit-R 24mm f/2.8
Summicron-R 50mm f/2
Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4
Summicron-R 90mm f/2
Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8
Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8

These are older generation Leica R lenses, the oldest (Summicron 50) dates from 1965 and the youngest (Elmarit 135) dates from 1981. ALL of them work beautifully on the A7; I suspect they would do the same on the A7r.

Also, testing with my four Nikkors (Micro-Nikkor 55/3.5 Pre-AI, Nikkor 50/1.2 AI-S, Nikkor-H 85/1.8 Pre-AI, and Micro-Nikkor 105/2.8 AI-S), all of them work very nicely with the A7.

Testing my M-mount lenses' performance on the A7 has not been so successful. The Color Skopar 21 and 28 do not work well, the Ultron 28/2 is *barely* acceptable at f/5.6, the Color Skopar 35 is "ok", the Nokton 50/1.5 LTM does not work well. The M-Rokkor 40/2 and Nokton 40/1.4 MC seem to perform pretty well, the M-Rokkor 90/4 and Hektor 135/4.5 work well. I suspect this performance will be exaggerated—both good and bad—with an A7r.

From that, it's pretty clear to me that the RF mount lenses present a challenge for the A7/A7r digital sensors that most SLR lenses do not. I think you will find that nearly all of the Leica R lenses, and most other SLR lenses, perform very well with both A7 and A7r where only a select few M-mount lenses can excel.

Of the lenses you listed, the one I have heard the most praise about is the Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm f/2.8. I've heard it referred to as one of the finest macro lenses ever made. I don't know if your 135/2.8 is the same as mine, but mine produces very beautiful rendering.

I love these Leica R lenses. They're big, heavy, beautifully finished examples of lens manufacturing. And even these ancient ones have that Leica Look™ that is the work of fairy dust from the Leica logo ... :)

G
 

mazor

New member
oh, I thought M lens performance would have been better on the a7 over the a7r. But I guess with all these issues, the longer flange distance R glass has its place.
 
About the 60 macro: at infinity, it must be stopped down to at least 5,6 to avoid a white nasty veiling. This is confirmed by Leica also: This is what they say

"Excellent image quality in the close-up range, outstanding sharpness and fascinating detail fidelity are a matter of course for this lens. Stopping the lens down by one or two stops results in superb results at greater distances as well. It is also flare-free, even under difficult lighting conditions. Vignetting and distortion are practically non-existent."

For general use the summicron r 50 is preferable, and is a light, low cost super lens.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Sergio, were there different models of the R60 macro? A Leicaphile friend of mine once told me that the R60 macro was one of the highest resolving lenses in the R line up … which sounds like performance that would stand up to 36 meg quite nicely. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

-Marc
 

Knorp

Well-known member
Three versions of R60ME with only physical differences between them.
For really excellent results stop down to f/5.6 for close-up and normal distances, according to Puts.

Kind regards.
 
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