[Leica] Testing 70-200 range lenses on the A7II
Jayanand Govindaraj
jayanand at gmail.com
Sun Jul 1 18:55:15 PDT 2018
Frank,
I have the 70-200 f4 for a few years now, and it is a spectacular lens on
the bodies it was designed for. Many of my photographs taken with that lens
have won accolades in international open competitions. I am not one to make
life difficult for myself, I stick to native lenses for the systems I use,
for maximum compatibility and seamless ease of use, and guaranteed results.
YMMV, of course.
If you could occasionally show photographs that you have taken, instead of
pontificating endlessly on irrelevant technical trivia, I would be tempted
to take you seriously. In my memory of a decade on this forum, I do not
remember seeing a single photograph you have taken.
As for my photographs with this lens, there are a bunch in this
directory:Be my guest:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/antarctica/
Cheers
Jayanand
On Mon, Jul 2, 2018 at 12:38 AM, Frank Filippone <red735i at verizon.net>
wrote:
> Mark... read my report again... the Whiz-Bang Modern, designed with fancy
> computer programs, G lens, compared to a 15 year old, half weight, consumer
> grade cheapo AF ( not G, therefore AF by screw movement) lens did not do
> as well as it should have.
> The 75-240 lens outperformed its 10x more expensive younger brother, by
> quite a bit.....
>
> Then again, if you own a body that does not have mechanical AF ( the older
> AF system), you have but one choice.... the G lens.
>
> Could have been the sample I had??????? I found quite a bit of difference
> in quality with the 3x 75-240 lenses I own..... I picked the best....
>
> Frank Filippone
>
> Red735i at verizon.net
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: LUG [mailto:lug-bounces+red735i=verizon.net at leica-users.org] On
> Behalf Of Mark Rabiner
> Sent: Sunday, July 1, 2018 8:59 AM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Testing 70-200 range lenses on the A7II
>
> I just got the new cutting edge for Nikon AF-G 70-200 F4. This lens is so
> gorgeous I almost don’t care that the pictures it makes are also as
> gorgeous.
> With F4 meaning it's not less professional than an f 2.8 in this case. A
> Canon does have a full line of top run f4's not just 2.8's.
> Well I hoped it would be a lot lighter. I got a Kirk Tripod collar ring
> with Arca swiss spec quick release bracket built into it and it balances
> and revolves coolly beating out L brackets by a mile.
> And my first lens with VR vibration reduction which is like being
> weightless in outer space. I ain't in Kansas anymore.
> f 15th of a second at 200mm and be there! All bets are off!
> In real life we could never do this with a long lens.
> I’m getting a monopod for it. I'm too much of an old guy for this much
> weight having not kept up with my pull ups. I'm going to start doing
> exercises, really!
> A real professional feel and build.
> My other Nikon zooms zoom like toys compared to this. I've been too much
> of a cheapskate with this stuff in the past using consumer gear for pro use.
> Looking forward for your comparative results, Frank!
> I also have a cheap compact slow 70-200 which was probably made by someone
> other than Nikon. I wonder if I'll ever use it again and for what.
> Oddly enough the Internal Focusing and zooming blows me away almost as
> much as the VR which stands for vibration reduction.
> There is absolutely now swelling of any kind ever!
>
> AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR $1,399.95
> Approx. Weight 30.0 oz. (850 g)
>
> https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/camera-
> lenses/af-s-nikkor-70-200mm-f%252f4g-ed-vr.html#tab-
> ProductDetail-ProductTabs-Overview
>
>
>
> --
>
> Mark William Rabiner
> Photographer
>
> On 7/1/18, 9:42 AM, "LUG on behalf of Frank Filippone" <lug-bounces+mark=
> rabinergroup.com at leica-users.org on behalf of red735i at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Yes , more testing of legacy lenses against the current whiz bang
> wunderkinds….. I am trying to get a great optically, light weight kit
> of
> lenses for my A7ii, without spending a fortune.
>
>
>
> The lenses are
>
>
>
> Leica 70-210 F4 Vario Elmar Introduced in 1984…. !
>
> Nikon AF-D 75-240 F4.5-5.6 Introduced in 1999. Only 1 year of
> production.
>
> Nikon AF 70-210 F4 1986-1987 production
>
> Nikon AF-G 70-200 F4 Current lens
>
> Komura 85-205 F3.8 Not worth looking up….. Pre AIS.
>
>
>
> ( Sony lenses, 70-210 F4, are $1K used. The most expensive lens in
> the test
> set was $600. If I were to spend $1k on a lens in this range, it
> would be
> the Leica 80-200 F4. Supposed to be great!)
>
>
>
> Tests were done by photographing my notorious 45 year old natural grey
> cedar
> fence in the front yard, about 25 feet distance, in bright sun.
>
> Test settings were… 70mm ( or shortest), 135mm, 200mm and Longest
> focal
> length, if over 200mm.
>
> Test shots were taken at Wide open ( F4 or about F4), F8, and F16. All
> combinations of focal length and f stop.
>
> Focusing was done by the modern equivalent of ground glass, at
> selected FL
> and aperture. Some lenses had a noticeable amount of focus shift from
> change of aperture. With an EVF, this is a pretty trivial concern.
>
> The same adapter was used on all, the Fotodiox Pro Smart AF adapter (
> the
> one purported to blow up your A7 camera, which has never happened
> except
> once …. To someone else. It should be noted that ALL the Nikon
> lenses had
> full camera operable apertures through this adapter. However, AF does
> not
> work on any AF lens with Nikon body AF screw, and the G lens did not
> work in
> AF with this adapter.) The adapter is going off on Monday to be
> replaced
> by a new Fotodiox AF adapter that has a better track record for not
> blowing
> up cameras.
>
> Lenses were checked for IQ in the center of the frame….
>
> No IBIS, the camera was tripod mounted.
>
>
>
> Let’s get the worst one out of the way… The Komura was just not in the
> same
> class as the others. Even for the $9.00 I paid for it, it was
> terrible.
>
>
>
> Now the surprise winner…. The Leica 70-210 just was great…. Better than
> anything else by a pretty good margin.
>
> #2 was the Nikon 75-240, considered to be a lowly consumer lens ( lower
> quality than the Pro lenses..????).. and the lightest lens by ½….
>
> #3 was the Nikon AF-G Wunderkind be all and end all…. It did not hold
> up at
> any aperture of focal length to the Leica…. At the longer FL, beat out
> the
> 75-240 by a bit…. But its cost is greater by factor of 5, so it loses
> out
> on at least price / performance ratio…..
>
> The Nikon AF 80-200 F4, while considered a cult lens of superior
> quality,
> just did not cut it.. the faster lens performed quite a bit worse than
> its
> newer, lighter, and cheaper sibling….
>
>
>
> Ergonomically, all the Nikon lenses worked great with the adapter, for
> iris
> control. The Leica requires full manual operation….
>
> I do not need AF. I am lazy and like to have it, but do not need it.
>
> The non-G Nikon lenses require manual focusing…no big deal for
> accuracy, BUT
> the focus ring in on the outermost part of the lens and is hard to
> grab to
> focus. The G lens has a nice big wide focus ring.
>
> The best Nikon lens weighed in at 410g
>
> The Leica weighs 720g
>
> The Nikon G lens weighs 850g
>
> Plus the appropriate adpter.
>
>
>
> One last comment.. the Leica lens showed a bit of a color shift
> towards the
> blue. Certainly correctable, if it bothers.
>
>
>
> So there it is…. The Leica lens was the best optically ( but you knew
> that)…..
>
>
> Which will I bring to my next big trip?????? It gets down to more
> automatic
> features or better IQ.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Frank Filippone
>
>
>
> Red735i at verizon.net
>
>
>
>
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>
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>
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