philip_wilson Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 <p>About 10 days ago I bough a new (well 12 year old but new) Leica Kyocera 35-70 F4 R lens for $1000. I bought it to use on my new M when it arrives. I have found at times that the Tri-elmar might have been useful to me but at $4000+ it is something I never bought. I saw this new R series lens and decided that it might make an interesting alternative to the tri-elmar. I also bought a Fotodiox Pro adaptor for my Canon EOS bodies so that I could play with it. I am very impressed with its performance - for an SLR zoom lens it is a top performer and better than lenses like my Canon 50 F1.4 and 24-70 f2.8 zoom (clearly better than the Canon 35 F2 which is a poor performer in my opinion). I posted a few shots comparing the Canon and Leica zoom in the EOS forum for anyone who is interested. In summary it is about 5-10% better than the Canon in performance and the images have a pleasing Leica quality. It will be interesting to see how it performs on the new M</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johncox Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 <p>I may be wrong here but I'm pretty sure you can't use R series lenses on the M, I believe it's a different mount.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johncox Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 <p>Just to follow up on what I just said, Leica does make an adapter for the M that allows you to use it as a full frame R, <br /> <a href="http://en.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/accessories/adapters/9305.html">http://en.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/accessories/adapters/9305.html</a><br /> You didn't mention ordering one of those. But you can use R lenses on an M, you just need an adapter.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip_wilson Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 <p>The New M allows the Us of R series lenses. You can use them on any M with an adaptor - the Leica M flange distance being 27.8mm and the Leica R being 47mm means adapters are not a problem. The issue with using R lenses on an M is focusing. With every M series body prior to the new M the only way to focus an R series lens was by estimation as they are obviously not rangefinder coupled. The New M can be used as a rangefinder or with an R series adapter and EVF or Live view to focus the lens. Here is the Leica link http://us.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/m_new/</p> <p>By the way the new M does video (not something i am really focused on) but some people who have used it compare it favourably to the Canon EOS 300 - a $15,000 video body. Perhaps Leica is a bargain!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip_wilson Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 <p>The New M allows the Us of R series lenses. You can use them on any M with an adaptor - the Leica M flange distance being 27.8mm and the Leica R being 47mm means adapters are not a problem. The issue with using R lenses on an M is focusing. With every M series body prior to the new M the only way to focus an R series lens was by estimation as they are obviously not rangefinder coupled. The New M can be used as a rangefinder or with an R series adapter and EVF or Live view to focus the lens. Here is the Leica link http://us.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/m_new/</p> <p>By the way the new M does video (not something i am really focused on) but some people who have used it compare it favourably to the Canon EOS 300 - a $15,000 video body. Perhaps Leica is a bargain!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpo Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 <p>The Leica 35-70 F4 ROM lens was supposedly designed by Leica and certainly built by Soligor. AFAIK, Soligor is not related to Kyocera.<br> Despite been a Leica lens, is one of the worst (Leica R or M) lenses I've used. Although plenty sharp, it has huge amounts of geometric distortion: pincushion at "tele" and barrel at "wide".<br> Possibly some styles of photography (nature, for example) may not be affected by this kind of defect.</p> <p>MP</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip_wilson Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 <p>Marcelo<br> I am still convinced that Kyocera built it - if you google Leica 35-70 F4 Kyocera you will come across countless others who also think that this lens was built by Kyocera. Why do you believe that Soligor built it? My only knowledge of Soligior is as a manufacturer of cheap generic zooms. In terms of distortions and IQ you are definitely not correct - you should read the review by Erwin Puts in his book he states </p> <p>The LEICA VARIO-ELMAR-R 35-70 mm f/4 is the first choice for a versatile standard lens for the Leica R system. In addi- tion it covers three important focal lengths, the 35 mm, the 50 mm and the 70 mm. Its performance is as good, if not bet- ter than that of the comparable lenses with fixed focal length at the same apertures, the LEICA SUMMICRON-R 35 mm f/2, the LEICA SUMMILUX-R 35 mm f/1.4, the LEICA SUM- MICRON-R 50 mm f/2 and the LEICA SUMMILUX-R 80 mm f/1.4. <br> <br> I think you may be confused with one of the earlier 35-70 designed and made by Minolta or even the Sigma version. I cannot believe that you used this lens and think that you must have used one of the other (older) lenses I mention above. Again here is Erwin Puts measurements for the 35-70 F4<br> </p> <p>The 35 mm has a 3% barrel distortion that is visible when straight lines are reproduced at the edge of the frame. At the 50 mm and the 70 mm position distortion is not a problem. <br> <br> However for the Sigma lens he measured </p> <p>LEICA VARIO-ELMAR-R 28-70 mm f/3.5-4.5 showed a more pronounced distortion at the 28 mm and 70 mm position with -6% and 3% distortion. <br> <br> Erwin goes on to state that the 28-35 50 tri-elmar is almost identical in design to this zoom.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maciek_stankiewicz Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 <p>One thing, 35-70 f3.5 (Leica or Minolta) designed during collaboration with Minolta is a stellar performer, on pair with the best Minolta primes and more contrasty than most prime lenses. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip_wilson Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 <p>I have not used the Minolta lens but I understand it is a good performer - and in a different league form the Sigma lenses.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpo Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 <p>Hi Philip, you are right, I was confused. My comments refer to the 28-70 f3.5-4.5 ROM, second version, built by Sigma. That's the horrible lens.<br> I do own the 35-70 f4 ROM too, but I don't recall any special impression about it, so probably its performance matches the expectations of a Leica lens.<br> If Mr. Puts says it's OK, surely it is.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Smith Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 <p>The 35-70mm f4 is indeed meant to be very good. I think you made a good choice. I almost got one when I had the R system, but in those days with film I felt that f4 was too slow. With digital for most purposes f4 is just fine. Puts just says its "made in Japan". Kyocera seems very likely.</p> Robin Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip_wilson Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 Yes I believe it is Kyocera. There are many sites that state this. For example http://www.nemeng.com/leica/019c.shtml http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1124439 I have to say that it is a beautifully made lens and I really want to see how well it works on an M body Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterden Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I have a number of Leica R lenses which I use on the 5D II. Some with a fixed Leitax adapter, including the 35-70/4 ROM, and some with a removeable Novoflex adapter. The 35-70/4 is I think the best in its range,certainly as good if not better than the 50/2 Summicron when used at F4. It has excellent contrast and exceptional sharpness. One of my favourite lenses, possibly the tops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip_wilson Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 When I get the new M I will post some crops to see how it performs on the rangefinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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