[Leica] Leica SL 90-280 Lens

[red735i at verizon.net (Frank Filippone)]

Mark.. according to what I have read, the new Nikon 70-300 will not work ( in what ways I now forget) with some Nikon bodies.....  ....
Best you read up on the limitations before you put down your hard earned cash.....

Found this...
    Not compatible: D1 series, D2 series, D40 series, D50, D60, D70 series, D80, D90, D100, D200, D3000, D3100, D3200, D5000, D5100.
    Meter off defocus issue: D3 series, D4 series, Df, D300 series, D700, D800 series, D810, D5200, D7000, D7100, D7200.
    Fully compatible with current firmware: D5, D500, D600, D610, D750, D850, D3300, D3400, D5300, D5500, D5600, D7500.

I do agree that, form a marketing perspective, to thank that a 4 pound lens is going to be popular for a 65+ to carry around all day, even in a camera bag.....  Maybe in my 30's, but that train has left..... 
I also believe that the target market for Leica is rich folk, which definitely leans towards OLD folk.  Old Folk cannot carry 4 pound lenses around all day without Ibuprofen.
This lens, (like the recent Thambar and 28 Summaron(?)), are statement lenses....  Specifically, the 90-280 availability ticks the box that says... long telephoto lens..... for a system that currently, after a year or 2 on the market (announced in October, 2015), has only 3 native lenses available.....

I have gone a different route... I will not purchase another DSLR.  I want mirrorless only.  Sony A7 family... Sony Lenses for normal range (16-70mm) stuff, with Nikon ( vintage) lenses to do the long work...  I just received a $100, 75-240mm Nikon lens that weighs 410 g ( 1/5th of the Leica glass in weight and 1/50th the cost....).  I could add a fancy D850 body, and still have $$ left over from not having bought the Leica lens, no less the SL body.  No, I do not think the image quality will be the same, but it fits MY needs, and uses my stable of vintage Nikon lenses.  The SL does not meet my criteria.  If they had made an adapter to fit the R lenses, and have the aperture blades controlled by the body, I would have bought one.  I was all set.   But they didn't.
Did I mention that I can also use ALL my great M lenses with my Sony.....?  Maybe some of the WA lenses are not quite up to snuff on an A7 compared to the M-whatever is the newest iteration, but the 50 1.4 ASPH is truly a spectacular lens, and it works just fine on the A7 family.....  ALL of these combinations are small, pretty light, and fully compatible.  They can be carried all day long without my neck and back aching....  If Nikon comes out with their rumored Mirrorless camera, I would be in line to read the specs and get one, pronto.

Of course, YMMV.  

Frank Filippone

Red735i at verizon.net

What I am getting is the just out AF-P NIKKOR 70-300mm  f/4.5-5.6E ED VR  $746.95 


The new out Nikon ?E? lens weights a pound and a half to the Vario-Elmarit-SL? s 4 pounds. It will not make as sharp an image as the $6000 Vario-Elmarit-SL but will have its moments as it?s got stuff like VR Rated 4.5 stops improvement so you can shoot a tree in the dark hand held with an less than a million iso and it?s got stuff no one has like an E Electronic diaphragm and AF-P: ?Stepper autofocus motor? faster and quieter lens  both of which which others don?t have yet. For the price of the Leica lens I can get eight of these. What I need is wool socks. Thinner ones. I can get those too then can stop my lenses form clanging in my bag.

I think where they went wrong with this Leica lens for the SL is making it a f2.8-4 which is the beginning of  making of a monster. Anybody walking around with a current 80-200 2.8 AF?  You?d have  to have arms like Popeye. You can settle for an f 4 or 4.5 when you?re out all day with it Some very mouthwatering and tele zooms that no one is embarrassed about using are not f2.8?s F 4 is the new f2.8.*   But Leica?s main focus now seems to be all about non-affordability.  I you could possibly in a million years afford it what good is it? It?s for people who drive Ferraris; Leica has said goodbye to serious pros long ago. A serious pro could afford the body but not keep up at all with the glass. And it?s all about the glass. And having a second body.


Mark William Rabiner