Added the Leica R 180 Elmarit to my bag....

[Terry]

I picked up this lens from a forum member to add something long and fast(er) to my bag. It is extremely easy to focus on the G2. Supporting it with my left hand under the lens is no problem. For an f2.8 lens that gives me a 360mm field of view I'm very happy. I won't take it with me all the time but for instance I could have used the two stops last summer when shooting puffins with the 45-200 lens.

Here are some samples with the camera dangling precariously out my window. The cranes in the port are a good 3 plus miles away.

crop

Whoops guess the window washers screwed up going over the edge. Didn't notice this until I loaded the shot on the computer

crop

Think I would leave out the bridge?

Not the crispiest handheld at ISO 100 1/200

An ISO 800 crop - default LR 3 beta 2 settings

Some smooth transition to the OOF areas

 

[seakayaker]

Terry, some very nice shots with the 180mm!

. . . . . looking forward to seeing a few more photos posted with the lens.

Another opportunity to add a nice lens to the four/thirds collection.

Life is Grand!

Dan
~

 

[Godfrey]

Nice!

I had the Nikkor 180/2.8AI which is good quality but found that I hardly ever used it.

Nowadays, my long lens is a Pentax SMC Takumar 135mm f/3.5 which I can fit on the Olympus 1.4x teleconverter for a 190mm f/4.9 ... it's surprisingly good (if a stop and a half slower than the Nikkor). Happy thing is the Pentax cost me nothing: it was a gift.

Someday I'll get into a luxury purchase of the Olympus ZD 150mm f/2 ... I just don't use much more than 70mm very often.

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

Congrats with the new purchase, Terry !

I also own the Nikkor 180/2.8 ED and find that I hardly use it ever !
It's too long a focal length to shoot handheld in any light except very bright.

Or maybe, it's just my old shaking hands

C U,
Rafael

 

[bradhusick]

Super, Terry! These older Leica R lenses are real gems and their prices now are often hard to resist!
-Brad

 

[CPWarner]

I have a Canon FD 135mm F2.8 for much the same reasons. To have such a small fast small lens is awesome. I think that your Leica is a bit sharper though.

 

[Terry]

Thanks everyone. Not an everyday carry lens but will go in my bag this summer to Ireland. As I said last summer I could have used the extra stops taking puffin shots. In that instance I needed a longer lens to stay a repectful distance out of their nesting grounds. The 180 is WAY smaller and a lot less expensive than a 70-200 f2.8 for my Sony which I would use even less.

Puffin shots wer tripod based which then I only worried about puffi movement. Also, I will test out IBIS on the E-PL1

 

[bensonga]

Congratulations on the new lens Terry. These shots look quite sharp....hope to see more images taken with it soon.

Is it difficult hand holding this lens on the G1/G2 size body? I have the Nikon 180mm f2.8 lens (non-AI, non-ED) and have tried using it with my G1 a few times, but it is very difficult to hold. The Nikon lens so front end heavy and bulky on the small G1 body. I see that the second generation of the Leica 180mm lens weighs about 730 g whereas my non-AI 180mm weighs about 880 g. The physical dimensions of the Leica also seem to be a bit smaller, so I'm sure that helps a bit and it appears to be better proportioned.

I've actually had pretty good results with my Nikkor 200mm f4 AIS lens and it is MUCH easier to hold when mounted on the G1 than the 180mm f.28 beast.

Seems like the Leica non-APO 180 Elmarits can be found for a pretty good price these days.....might have to add it to my wish list.

Gary

 

[Terry]

Gary,
I find it pretty easy to hand hold the lens. Once upon a time I had that Nikon lens. and I didn't love the ergonomics even on my D700. I remember it as noticeably bigger than the Leica lens.

The other lens available was a 250mm f4 and that has a tripod mount on it. That lens was considerably bigger and heavier.

As far as I know there are three different 180mm lenses.
Oldest is the 2cam, then came the 3cam (for new bodies) and finally the APO. The cost goes up in the same order with the APO being considerably more expensive. Mine is a 3 cam.

 

[Godfrey]

The Nikkor 180/2.8 is a large and heavy lens, but it felt great on the F3/T + MD-4 setup. It was clumsy as heck on the G1 or L1 without a tripod mount. That's why I sold it.

On FourThirds, any lens this long *must* be tripod mounted, for me, to return the quality I'm after. I don't even like shooting with the 70mm without a tripod if I can't get to about 1/250-1/500 second (although I have in a pinch). The 135/EC14 combination needs a tripod as I want to shoot with it at least one stop down from wide open ... f/8-11 effectively.

Even with a tripod, framing and focusing accurately takes some effort once you're up in the 150+ mm range. That's when I think about getting a geared head. (And no, I'm not in the market for an A-S Cube ... ;-)

 

[RichA]

I picked up this lens from a forum member to add something long and fast(er) to my bag. It is extremely easy to focus on the G2. Supporting it with my left hand under the lens is no problem. For an f2.8 lens that gives me a 360mm field of view I'm very happy. I won't take it with me all the time but for instance I could have used the two stops last summer when shooting puffins with the 45-200 lens.

Some smooth transition to the OOF areas

It looks good. I've got the Contax 180mm f2.8 and it really works well.

 

[thomasl.se]

Gary,
I find it pretty easy to hand hold the lens. Once upon a time I had that Nikon lens. and I didn't love the ergonomics even on my D700. I remember it as noticeably bigger than the Leica lens.

The other lens available was a 250mm f4 and that has a tripod mount on it. That lens was considerably bigger and heavier.

As far as I know there are three different 180mm lenses.
Oldest is the 2cam, then came the 3cam (for new bodies) and finally the APO. The cost goes up in the same order with the APO being considerably more expensive. Mine is a 3 cam.

I'm thinking about getting this version of Leica 180 for my GF1, and figure I'll use it tucked down into a rice-bag, resting atop of bulwarks when at sea. If or when I find a nice deal on a 180 Elmarit v2, I'll also pick up a Leica 2x TC, and see how that works.

I'll only justify longer and super-longer tele withing a reasonable budget, and the AF on Panasonic's 45-200 would probably be useless anyway with a TC, maybe even with the x1.4.