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!

Leica R Leitax'd lense results

Jeffg53

Member
I make this post with trepidation, but, having received a lot of support over the years, I thought this might be of interest.

I have a:
50 Cron
19 Elmarit
100 APO Elmarit
180 APO Telyt
28-90 Elmarit

and the Zeiss Otus and 135. All the R lenses have been Leitaxed. A friend wanted to try pointing them at a brick wall to see how the R lenses handled a D800E. My threshold of pain is very low for such exercises but if anyone wants to see the results, please PM me. I have no interest in discussing the results at length.

As I have said many times before, I think that sharpness is overrated but seeing the results side by side are interesting. PM me if you want to see any of them.
 
Last edited:

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Jeff

I maybe be one of a few readers that actually uses many of the mentioned lenses on Nikon bodies . In my experience they are all great lenses more than capable of producing outstanding results . They are limited more by the skills of the photographer than any small differences in performance .

The Leica R and Zeiss lenses do however differ in how they render a scene and this is best understood by looking at images taken using the same sensor . Diglloyd has plenty of examples with these lenses on his website (a pay site ) that cover this in more detail than I ever need. These lenses are very expensive individually and together prohibitive for most photographers …so reviewing his website is well worth the expense . You do need to focus on the examples as DL conclusions can be overly caustic or judgmental .

With that said the new Zeiss Otus is in a different league from a technical perspective and yet has a superb aesthetic as well . It is however as large as the 24-70/2.8 nikkor and not a lot of fun to carry . I have one and rarely use it preferring the Nikon 58/1.4 AF for family shooting and the 50/1.4 (60mm) R when I am traveling with the D800/E .

Brick wall tests are actually quite hard to do properly (see Tim Ashley s blog) due to alignment and often put more emphasis on flatness of field than actual rendering differences . Direct application of the lenses to your photographic interests would probably be both more fun and insightful.
 

Jeffg53

Member
Direct application of the lenses to your photographic interests would probably be both more fun and insightful.
Roger,

I couldn't agree more. I much prefer to look at real world results. I gave up on Diglloyd years ago when he spent an hour trying out an H3D and then declared that a 5D was superior.

I haven't had the opportunity to work with my lenses a lot as yet. Buying the Otus was partially motivated by the thought that it would be my lens of choice from a helicopter. I would dearly love a while in Iceland with it.
 
Top