[Leica] 4/180 Elmar-R

[telyt at earthlink.net (Doug Herr)]

IME it's performance is much like the thin 180 Elmarit-R, which I used
briefly a few years ago.  Watch for flare when sunlight strikes the front
element.  Very nice bokeh, small and light enough to never leave behind, can
use ELPRO close-up lenses.  I wish it had a rotating tripod mount so I could
use the shoulder stock with it.

Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com



on 6/15/05 6:39 PM, Feli at feli2@earthlink.net wrote:

> 
> On Jun 15, 2005, at 6:16 PM, David Lee wrote:
> 
>> Hi Feli,
>> 
>> I think I have heard that the 180/4 Elmar-R is not as good a
>> performer as most other Leica R lenses.  I would appreciate your
>> feedback on its optical performance.
>> 
>> Best Regards,
>> David Lee
> 
> From what I have read it performs on about the same level as the
> 2.8/180 Elmarit-R (fat and thin versions).
> That would place it in about the same territory as the Nikon 2.8/180
> ED. All three of these lenses don't hold a candle to the other Leica
> 180's (3.4/180 Apo-Telyt, 2.8/180 APO Elmarit and 2.0/180
> APO-Summicron), but then again you also get what you pay for. ;-)
> 
> I also have the 2.8/180 Elmarit-R (thin). It's a nice lens. Medium
> contrast, sharp, with clean rendition of colors.
> It has good flare resistance and is very well made. It's optical
> fingerprint very much reminds me of the pre-APO/ASPH series of M
> lenses, like the 2/90 Summicron-M.  Here are two shots I made with the
> 2.8/180 Elmarit-R (thin) (uncropped):
> 
> http://www.elanphotos.com/ElanFotos/current_img/042305.0004.jpg
> http://www.elanphotos.com/ElanFotos/current_img/man.0001.jpg
> 
> I made 4000dpi scans of these and they are plenty sharp. Both were
> taken at f16 on Tri-X(@400)
> 
> The main reason why I got the 4/180, is due to it's compact size and
> low weight. I have fairly large hands and can almost make the lens
> disappear, when it's mounted on my R6.2. It will fit in to my Domke 803
> and I hope it will draw less attention, when I shoot on the street. The
> 2.8/180 Elmarit is just too big. I think the optical performance will
> be more than sufficient for what I am doing. Now, if I could just learn
> how to hold the damn thing as steady as Doug Herr does, I would be
> getting somewhere... ;-)
> 
> I'll let you know how it turns out.
> 
> feli
> 
> 
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