[LRflex] Re: returning to 35mm
- From: David Young <telyt@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 08:51:22 -0800
At 14/12/2006, you wrote:
>Doug,
> Good input, thanks. The question is would it persuade
>me to pick it up instead of the 180 Apo Telyt. (Mea culpa, I'm
>an optical snob.)
>Charlie.
G'Mornin' Charlie!
That question is an interesting one. The 180/f3.4 APO was originally
designed for the US military. It was supposed to remain a "secret"
lens, but they did not put sufficient safeguards into the contract to
prevent Leitz from issuing a consumer version. It was so good that
when it was released, resolution was listed as being "limited only be
available film"!
That being said, it was highly optimized for infinity focus, for that
was the way the US military wanted it. Consequently, it suffers, in
both resolution and contrast, at closer focusing distances. You'll
find, I think, that the 80~200/f4 will actually do better at, say, 20
feet and closer; even though it's a zoom... simply because it is a
much newer design.
There will be, of course, the slight increase in distortion at the
wide and full tele ends, but again, these are slight, well controlled
and must be considered vs. the flexibility of the zoom feature. Like
Doug, I was never a fan of zooms until the 80~200/f4 came along...
and now it is my favourite lens!
I can't speak for the APO 3.4, but in terms of contrast, resolution
and sharpness, the 80~200/f4 blew my 180/f4 Elmar out of the water,
that's for sure! And zooms aren't supposed to be able to do that!
So which is better? Depends, I guess, on what you're photographing.
And how far away it is.
(Optical snobbery is not without its hazards!)
Cheers!
PS: I have a 12x18" print of a Costa Rican "Snake Bird" on my wall,
shot from a moving boat, in the rain, with the 80~200/f4 and an old,
SL vintage 2x converter - all mounted on a Canon 20D. Although the
web image suffers, you'll get the idea. Those who have seen it, will
tell you it's a very sharp print, with a creamy bokeh.
http://www.telyt.50megs.com/cab_index.htm
---
David Young,
Logan Lake, CANADA
Wildlife Photographs: http://www.telyt.com/
Personal Web-pages: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt
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