Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

The 180mm Shoot-out: Leica 180/2.8 rental

L

Lee Saxon

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
1,667
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
New Orleans
As dicussed in this thread, I am putting together an article comparing several 180mm lenses (on a D800E).

So far the line-up includes:

Leica APO-Telyt-R 180/3.4
Nikon AF Nikkor 180/2.8D ED-IF
Nikon Nikkor 180/2.8 ED AI-s
Sigma APO-Macro 180/2.8 EX DG OS HSM
Tamron SP180/2.5 LD(IF)
Vernon Edonar 180/3.5
Voigtlander APO-Lanthar 180/4 SL
Zeiss Jena DDR Sonnar 180/2.8 MC

For this test, I have purchased all these lenses with my own money (except the Sigma, which is available from Lensrentals). I will resell most after the test, but still!

I desperately want to add the Leica 180/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R since it is considered the gold standard at this focal length. However I can't afford to purchase one, even temporarily.

I'm looking for a rental house that has one available, or an individual who would be willing to rent or loan his for about a week. Any leads are appreciated. Nikon-mount preferred, but a Leitax conversion is completely non-destructive and reversible.
 
add the contax zeiss 180 2.8 :)
 
I wanted to! Flange depth of the C/Y mount is too short, it can't be mounted on Nikon F mount.

If only Red, or even Sony NEX or any other mirrorless, would give us a FF35 sensor soon!!
 
darn :(
 
You should consider the Zeiss Jena 180 2.8 "Olympia Sonnar", one of the most famous 180s of all time. It believe it was the FIRST 180 2.8, which is why it caused such fanfare when it debuted in 1936 at the Hitler Olympics.

Back then a 180 2.8 was like a 200 f2 now.
 
Lee Saxon said:
That one was designed for Contax rangefinders and has an even shorter flange depth than the C/Y 180/2.8 Domenic suggested.
Click to expand...

The original yes, but Zeiss Jena has a venerable 180 2.8 both for M42 and P6 mounts that is easy to put on any camera. That lens is the 180 jena everyone talks about.
 
Lee Saxon said:
Very interesting! I just picked one up on eBay and added that to the list. Thanks Nick!
Click to expand...

Cool did you get the MC version or Zebra? (MC is black, Zebra has the aluminum "stripes" around the barrel and is single coated and older...but same design).
 
Why not include the Nikon 200mm f2.0? Few are going to be able to distinguish between 180mm and 200mm, and that is the lens to beat in that focal length range.
 
Lee Saxon said:
I wanted to! Flange depth of the C/Y mount is too short, it can't be mounted on Nikon F mount.

If only Red, or even Sony NEX or any other mirrorless, would give us a FF35 sensor soon!!
Click to expand...

Believe it or not... Sony's insanely weird video camera the VEG-V900 has a very nice new 24mp full frame sensor, photo mode and a full-frame E mount.

But yeah, it'd be kinda weird to purchase that just for this test! I'm sure a NEX-9 is coming soon!

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
Oh, wow, I totally forgot about the V900. Lensrentals has it for $40-$50 a day (only ~$10 more than the D800E I was going to rent). I definitely have to consider that.

Nick Morrison said:
Cool did you get the MC version or Zebra? (MC is black, Zebra has the aluminum "stripes" around the barrel and is single coated and older...but same design).
Click to expand...

Newer MC, and quite affordably. Adapters may cost as much as the lens. Novoflex has a Nikon-Exakta 66 adapter, which has the same flange depth as Kiev 60 and Pentacon 6. Do you know if those three are identical? I noticed most of the eBay listings for this lens listed it as compatible with Kiev 60 and P6.

Eric R. said:
Why not include the Nikon 200mm f2.0? Few are going to be able to distinguish between 180mm and 200mm, and that is the lens to beat in that focal length range.
Click to expand...

Because some people say the one to beat is the Canon 200/2, or Canon 200/1.8, or Mamiya 200 APO, or one of the 70-200 2.8's, etc. There are far, far more 200's (and zooms that go to 180 or 200) than 180's; I realized it'd become overwhelming if I expanded the criteria beyond 180 primes.
 
Lee Saxon said:
Newer MC, and quite affordably. Adapters may cost as much as the lens. Novoflex has a Nikon-Exakta 66 adapter, which has the same flange depth as Kiev 60 and Pentacon 6. Do you know if those three are identical? I noticed most of the eBay listings for this lens listed it as compatible with Kiev 60 and P6.
Click to expand...

Not sure. So your lens is Pentacon 6? If so just kept something simple like this

Lee Saxon said:
Because some people say the one to beat is the Canon 200/2, or Canon 200/1.8, or Mamiya 200 APO, or one of the 70-200 2.8's, etc. There are far, far more 200's (and zooms that go to 180 or 200) than 180's; I realized it'd become overwhelming if I expanded the criteria beyond 180 primes.
Click to expand...

If we are talking 200 f2s, then don't forget the CONTAX 200 APOSONNAR. The MTF charts on this are THROUGH THE ROUGH. A legend. But it will cost you an arm, and a leg.
 
Lee,

Where are you doing the tests?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top