Advice on long lenses

[ohdannyboy]

Wondering if anyone has advice on what kinds of long lenses to get (e.g., the Telyt series) for the M9.

Also, why doesn't Leica make any zoom lenses for the M range? Is it not physically feasible?

 

[GrahamWelland]

Actually Leica does make a zoom lens for the M series - the WATE is actually a zoom between 16-21mm, unlike the MATE which has fixed 28/35/50 stops.

As regards long lenses, the 135 APO-Telyt is an excellent lens, albeit similar in bulk to the 90 cron. For my personal travel shooting I stick with the 90/2.8 Elmarit-M although I do sometimes miss the APO-Telyt's range. On the M8 the APO-Telyt's crop factor made it an excellent telephoto too. One thing about the 135 is that you'll be composing and focusing pretty much within the focus patch.

 

[Leicadoc]

Before you look into a Telyt or 135, look at the older 135's from Canon and Nikon in LTM.
I have the Canon 135/3.5 and use a 1.25 magnifier.
Images from a nice one are extremely fine, and you can get one of these for a fraction of the Leica price...

 

[jaapv]

If you want to go beyond 135 mm on an M camera you need to work your way into the Visoflex system. Recently I found that the third version Telyt-V 280/4.8 is well able to compete with modern lenses, which surprised me quite a bit, as the versions 1 and 2 are very nice, but have a decided vintage look. As for zoom lenses, as the framelines do not zoom, a true zoom lens is not possible. The closest was indeed the three-focal length Tri-Elmar, now discontinued, and the non-frameline coupled Wideangle Tri-Elmar, which needs an external viewfinder.

 

[Brian S]

The Komura 200/4.5 is RF coupled, and is Leica Thread Mount. They pop up on Ebay, and in camera shows. Faster than using the Visoflex.

The later Canon 135/3.5 is quite sharp, better than the Nikkor 13.5cm F3.5 wide-open. Also smaller and lighter. The Leitz 135/2.8 with eyes usually goes for a cheap price for a Leica lens. Long lenses are not popular on a rangefinder camera.