leica r 80-200 f4

[cychen85]

anybody shot with this lens? how much breathing is there?

im thinking of picking one up to add to my leicaR set...

[Filip Vandoorne]

i did a quick test with my leica-R 80-200 F4
it keeps the focus during zooming, which is very nice, but there is breathing during a focus shift. Not too dramatically
when the distanceshift is not to big = 1-2m
i was looking for a 70-180 F2.8 but this version is 4-6 times more expensive as the F4
and as even at F4 the depth of field is already very small :
at 200mm, at 2m focus, the DOF is only 2cm , with almost no difference between F4 and F2.8
If breathing bothers or more low-light performance is needed, then the F2.8 version is probably the best choice.
I have the 28-90 which has a similar modern design as the 70-180 F2.8, and this one is indeed without breathing and keeps
the focus. The only negative of the 28-90 is that the Fmin changes from 2.8 to 4.5 when zooming from 28 to 90.

[brian leisring]

I have one in my leica kit, breathing is evident and the lens telescopes a fair amount from minimum to infinity. That said its i nice lens from 80-140 @ 5.6, Its a nice lens for a b-cam you need to zoom during the shot.

[cychen85]

cool. thanks guys