Jump to content

Vario Elmar 28-70 f3.5-4.5


Recommended Posts

How good is this lense as compared to equivalent fixed focal lenses. In Erwin Putts' page the newer 35-70 f4 gets very good marks. I'm thinking of downsizing my equipment to a very good zoom plus one or two lenses for low light shooting. For the record, I would use this lens for the moment with an adaptor on a Canon EOS camera, only for B&W. Thank you.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andrew was correct. The new book, "The Leica Lens Book", by Brian

Bower, states that the lens is a dirivitive of the "successful" Sigma

design. The narrative states the performance is about the same as

any low end consumer lens, with the expected aberations, based on

that level of design. Vignetting and barrel distortion are evident.

Miguel, I would if I were you, (wanting to down size), get a good

prime lens within that range. A 35 or 50mm summicron will give you

the Leica quality with an increase of one and a half to two stops of

availible F stop. I can't speak for this exact lens, but I tried

very unsuccessfully to use Sigma lenses on my Nikons... the key word

being "unsuccessfully"! Al

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Al:

 

<p>

 

Most of my experiences with Sigma match yours [i haven't had much luck

with the one Sigma Zoom that I have]; but there are exceptions. I have

about 14 Nikon fixed length lenses between about 16 and 300 mm. I

have one Sigma; a 135 mm. This particular lens is better than my Nikon

lens of the same focal length. In addition, I have a Sigma

85/1.8/t-mount for my Minolta [purchased in the 60's]. It has awful

flare problems, but used properly, it is outstanding. Otherwise, I

have also been unsuccessfu

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the info. More or less what I wanted to know.

 

<p>

 

As for my downsizing strategy, yes, having to or three prime lenses

is another option. I already have the 35 Summicron, which I find very

good at f2 and f2.8. Sometimes I'd just like to have a zoom for the

convenience, without losing optical quality. By the way, my first

lense was a Sigma zoom which I don't use anymore (it will be a victim

of the downsizing), because I simply like my prime lenses better.

Sometimes I also prefer autofocus for the convenience as well. But

this is only the nerver ending problem of finding the perfect outfit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Miguel,

I think that seeing that since you have the 35mm summicron, you would

be best served by living with that for awhile. I've gone through the

whole gambit of "gotta have it", but after many thousands of dollars,

I have arrived, (a bit too late), to the minimalist school of

thought. I've lugged a 20 pound bag through Europe and Asia, only to

be frustated by what I left on the shelf back home. Then again I

spent a month in Spain with a single Leica M3 and a 35mm lens. It

was liberating. 4 months in the philippines with only a 50mm lens

also proved fruitful. The lack of "potential versitality" of a full

outfit is more than made up for by the speed, mobility and lack of

decissions when it is one camera and one lens. You will find

yourself being in the right place based on your total understanding

of your lens and its angle of view. 28-70 sounds good, but your feet

and the 35 will get the same shots...better, sharper and in most any

light.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I purchased an older Tamron SP 35 to 80mm F2.8-3.8 Macro zoom to use

with my Leica when I want a zoom. The lens was used by a press

photographer who was now retired, and he swore by it. I did some

side by side comparisons to my R primes, and except wide open, it

holds it ground. It goes nearly 1/2 life size on the macro, and the

macro shots are extremely sharp. It is built beautifully, with very

smooth focus and zoom action. You may want to consider it, as you

can pick one up on e-bay for $140 + the Leica R adaptall mount.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For downsizing, Leica' new lens Leica R Vario-Elmar f2.8 35-70mm ASPH

may be an attractive alternative. It has a macro setting focusing down to 30mm.

I am thinking of upgrading my Vario Elmar 28-70mm f3.5-4.5 to this ASPH Vario.

The Vario-Elar 28-70 /3.5-4.5 was based on a Sigma, but with Leica QA and all metal construction, instead of metal + plasic for Sigma version. German

foto Magazin rated Vario-Elmar 28-70/3.5-4.5 as Optik performance 9.6; construction quality 9.6.

Leica Summicron f2.0 35mm 9.4/9.6.

It is quite good, enlargeable to 24x 36"

One gripe: The lens is a bit too long to fit into the Eveready case !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Martin, If you think the 28 to 70 is inconveient due to its size

preventing the use of an (n)ever-ready case, the 35-70 2.8 is a

monster. It weighs 1000 grams, (2 and 1/4 pounds) and is six inches

long. that is twice the weight and length of the 28-70. It also

takes 77mm filters. The list price exceeds the price of a brand new

M6 with 50mm Summicron. It may be outstanding, but if I lugged that

big of a package around just for 15mm on one side and 20mm on the

other side of a faster 50mm lens, it wouldn't take me long to see the

folly in that selection. Miguel, I reiterate from a previous post,

zooms are not the great panacea they are made out to be. Use your

35mm summicron forever and use the money you would have spent on a

new lens to take a trip. That can expand your photo horizons and

leave you with shots and memories that will last a lifetime. Al

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was the Leica R Vario-Elmar 3,5-4.5/28-70 really Sigma ?

Sigma made 3.5-4,5/28-70 for Canon AF EOS, Nikon and other non AF cameras.

 

Lens Length Weight

Vario Elmar 3.5-4.5/28-70 length = 84mm 468 g

Sigma /EOS length = 63.5mm 330 g

Sigma UC 3.5-4.5/28-70 64.5 mm 330 g

Apparently Sigma 3.5-4.5/28-70 for EOS and other non AF camera were the same lens, being of same weight and nearly equal length. The length of Vario-Elmar was more than 20 mm longer, and weight 50 % more. Vario-Elmar 3.5-4.5/28-70 was not Sigma 3.5-4.5/28-70

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Martin,

I have three different publications that all corroberate this

fact. the latest is the book that I quote in the post made earlier.

Cosmetics can look very different, while optics are the same. The

90mm elmarit M is the same optical formula as the last R series.

Even though the back focus had to be added to make up for the mirror

box absence on the "M", the lenses still look dramatically different.

The diameter of the lenses are completely contrary to the fact that

if you stripped away all of the metal... you would have the exact

same lenses. Al

Link to comment
Share on other sites

German foto Magzin tested over one hundred zoom lenses, no other lens achieved a rating of 9.6/9.6 and five star "foto SUPER" rating.

except Vario-Elmar 2,5-4.5/28-70. Sigma 3.5-4.5 /28-70 came second, at 9.6/9.4

Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 3,3-4.9/28-85 came third, also

a 'foto SUPER" and rated as optik 9.6 mechanik 9.2.

Nikkor 3,5-4.5/28-85mm 'foto Super" rated only 9.2/8,8

Leica Vario-Elmar R 35/35-70 did not made it to "foto SUPER", with rating of only 9.0/9.6.

No matter what the association with Sigma would be, the Vario_Elmar 28-70 it is an excellent lens.

"Sharp and brillant at wide open, at 28mm slight vignette, disappear stop down". IMO, in this zoom range, the only other zoom lens as good as Vario-Elmar is the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar, but it is much heavier and longer.. So far I am quite happy with it, so do other users in LUG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Martin, The only true test of a lens is... Do you like it? And it

appears that you do, so that should be the only validation that is

needed. As far as magazine tests, Popular Photography rated the 50mm

Summilux poorly. I bet that shocked all of the happy users who

didn't know they shouldn't like their lenses. Also could a German

photo magazine have a vested interest in showing Leica and Contax

lenses to be superior to other (Japanese) models... Possibly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have used the VE 28-70 for a while and find it every bit as sharp

as equivalent zooms from Nikon and Canon. Very convenient

and user friendly for travelling and quick street shots. But

eventually I gave it up for a 24/2.8 Elmarit and use this in tandem

with the 50'cron. This has shown to be the perfect combination

for me. You might find otherwise. The reason I gave up the VE is

because of the very noticeable barreling at 28mm setting. It

drives me crazy everytime I see that. The 24 Elmarit has very

little distortion despite being wider. The bottom line is what you

intend to do with this lens and what level of distortion you are

willing to put up with. As far as sharpness goes, I think the VE is

very good if you stop down 1 stop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Surfing around again... Found a reveiw of various 28-70 lenses

including the Vario-Elmar. There is a follow on review linked to

this site for the 3000 dollar 35-70 2.8 Leica zoom.

 

<p>

 

I must guard against my blood pressure raising from all of the grains

of salt that must be taken with these reviews, (ha, ha), but this one

jibes with others floating around... believe it, reject it, here it

is:

 

<p>

 

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Forest/2252/review6.htm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steven Fong wrote that there was "noticeable barrel distortion at 28mm setting"

??

I check my Vario Elmar 28-70 at 28mm, pointing to a window frame, there is very little barrel distortion at 28mm setting, hardly visible, and gone completely by 30mm.

Steven must have mixed up with other lens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re Zoom lens vs prime lens.

With the wide spread use of sophisticated computer aided lens design software, moderm zoom lenses are approaching the performance of prime lens.

A few years ago, PoP test a zoom lens vs a prime lens (Carl Zeiss Planar 50/1.7 ) and concluded that

the zoom lens was nearly as good as the prime.

Many famous photographers have no hangup on zoom, for example, Art Wolfe uses zoom lens in his landscape photography.

Six or seven years ago, I used to bring a Carl Zeiss T* Distagon 28mm f2.8 lens and a Planar 50mm f1.4 lens on trips; because I hate changing lens in the middle (dust got into the camera )

I carried to Contax bodies, one lens on each. After I discovered the Vario Elmar was rated ***** by German magazin, I bought one new, and test it with Kodachrome 25, found out that

the pictures were indistinguishable from my Zeiss Prime lenss (both were five star lenses ), I never look back. Why ? Because prime lens does not provide the same ease in "cropping on the fly" framing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would have to agree with Robin here, The lens is too slow for me

also. I use Nikon as my SLR (sorry leicaphiles!)and purchased their

28-70 3.5-4.5 zoom, which received good reviews. It utilizes

aspherics to reduce the number of elements to 8 in theory reducing

potential flare that some zooms display. After a couple of walk-a-

bouts, I found myself packing my 35mm f1.4 lens for the aperture...

the zoom proved too slow on numerous occasions. Shortly there after

I noticed the 35 stayed on my camera most of the time... later the

zoom didn't even make it to my bag... it just didn't earn its keep.

 

<p>

 

28-70 just isn't broad enough a range that I couldn't simply step

forward or backward to frame. The long end isn't truely tight enough

for headshots and I like the "environmental" look of the 35mm anyway.

 

<p>

 

As the car ads say, "your mileage may differ" This zoom range may be

fine, but to me the viewfinder sure does get dark fast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fast lens of f1.4 /F1.0 has long being a forte of Leica rangefinders. There are fast lenes for Leica R, but the advantage is not as great as M series due to

more camera vibration. F1.4 at 1/4 sec has long being a specialty of Leica photography (represented by HCB ). With R series, 1/25 sec is the lower limit of hand holding.

As for 35mm lens, this is undoubly the most popular focal length, as evident from the large number of compact camera with lenses in this range. I find out that for low light situation, I rather use the super sharp Minoxar lens of my Minox GT-E at f2.8 and hand held at 1/4 instead of using my f1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar lens at 1/25;

with my GT-E loaded with TMAX 3200, I can use it in nightclub with shutter speed about 1/8 to 1/15, comfortably hand holdable and not attracting attention.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...