[Leica] In defense of my (fat) Tele-Elmarit

[ISILVERMN@aol.com]

After reading post after post of comments denigrating the performance of the 
original "fat" Tele-Elmarit, I'd like to offer a few words in its support.

I bought mine new in February 1972, and have never been disappointed with the 
results.  Admittedly, I use it mostly stopped down to f/5.6 or lower, but it 
has seen its share of portrait use at full aperture.  And for my personal 
use, resolution in lines/mm is meaningless, whereas sharpness in actual use 
is.

As a sanity test, I pulled out a number of Kodachromes I took with it over 
the years, and they only served to confirm my recollections.  Sharp focus, 
accurate color rendition, and very satisfying bokeh (this before I even knew 
what the heck bokeh was!).  There is some flare evident on a few shots, but 
well within (my) acceptable range.

Structurally, it's also been up to par - no etching, coating separation, 
flaking, etc.  And while bigger and heavier than the "thin" T-E, it's still 
quite pocketable.

The point of all this is only that one should not be too hasty in trashing 
this lens.  Unless I managed to get the freak perfect example, and I'm 
generally not that lucky, I'd say try it under various lighting conditions 
and critique the results.  You may be pleasantly surprised.

Just my (rapidly deflating) nickel.

Ira Silverman