Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/06/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On 01-06-1998 14:39 Lucien wrote: >Are you using the 70-180 for portrait hand held ? >Do you like it ? Lucien, Although the 70-180mm f/2.8 is a heavy lens (1,8 kilo) in combination with the R8 + winder (over 1 kilo), I found that it is possible to handhold this combination given that you have a stable hand, use a shutter speed of at least 1/250 (1/500 to be on the safe side), and have lots of light. Otherwise you'll have to use a tripod I'm afraid. It works well, as I found out in Edinburgh (check these "handheld" pics taken with Fuji Reala 100 ASA at my page on http://members.xoom.com/cyberplace/scotland.html with the exception of the night shot of Edinburgh castle which was done with the Leica table tripod and ball head), but in order to avoid your arms from being tired too quickly, you should only take it up to eyelevel when actually shooting. The results are amazing, this is a VERY sharp performer, and already wide-open. In fact, all of my pics with this lens have been taken at 2,8 - - 4 - 5.6. Focusing is quite smooth. One small remark though: both rings (focusing and focal length) are made of the same texture. You cannot distinguish them by feeling as is the case with some Nikon AI-S lenses with two different rubber rings. Maybe Leica could do something about that. I believe that the other Leica zooms have the same problem. The only major drawback to this lens is it's weight, not only in your hands when actually shooting, but also on your shoulders when lugging this beast around (especially together with some other lenses)... :-) And then, of course, there is the hefty price, even in Leica terms... But I'm really impressed! Pascal - -------------------------------------------------------- Check out: http://members.xoom.com/cyberplace/ - -------------------------------------------------------- Macintosh PowerBook G3 - it eats Pentium notebooks for lunch - -------------------------------------------------------- <<< PGP public key available on request >>>