Leitz ElmaritR 3 cam 180mm f28 lens

[mlford]

I bought this lens for my Leica R-E SLR about 3 1/2 years ago with intention of buying a 2x extender-r substituting 360mm. However, I have read other sites that this lens is not that great compared to 180mm 3.4 Teleyt-R & the 180mm APO Elmarit-R.

I have used Fujichrome Velvia 50 film, at times it looked Ok, other times not. It seems not to have that contrast oomph compared to my Leitz 3-cam Elmarit-R, 90mm,f2.8.

I have thought about maybe a Leitz 3-cam 250mm Telyt-R or Leica 2X APO extender-R to add to the present lens. What is your opinion, what shall I do.

 

[angora]

I'm also thinking about this kind of combination, because I want to travel light and get acceptable results.
So that'll be 180 + extender.


Concerning the extenders, from what I've read, there's no doubt: the APO-Extender notably outperforms the previous version.
And is not much more expensive on eBay.

As I can't afford the APO-Elmarit, the choice remains between the Elmarit (remember that there are 2 versions of the Elmarit!) and the APO-Telyt.
The APO-Telyt is said to be optimized for infinite range, that's a plus. But it's also said to be prone to vignetting...

So I'll go for an APO-Extender + Elmarit 180 II (the one with a V-shape and without the tripod mount).


If weight was less an issue, I'd go for a Telyt 250. Converters always degrade quality, and we're not talking about recent lenses here
If I had money, I'd buy an APO-Telyt 280

Ask yourself: do you want a versatile lens? What about weight?
Good luck =)

 

[chris_yates]

I bought the same lens about 4 years ago and have been using the 2 x extender with it. All the reports I have seen suggest that the F3.4 is much better but interestingly, the second hand price in the UK is lower than the F2.8. The extender is fine if you are looking to keep the weight down, otherwise I prefer to use the 400mm F6.8 Telyt of 560mm. I would have thought it is worth experimenting with the Extender before doing a trade in or add of a F3.4 or others.