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LEICA R on RED: Pictures

Good samples of the 35-70 F4 and 80-200 F4 are more like modern Canon zooms than Contax. They're very sound mechanically with tight tolerances, no play, etc. I owned Canon L zooms before getting into these LRs but never compared them side-by-side, though prefer the colors and rendering quality on the R zooms. Sharpness seems similar but have heard the LR 80-200 F4 is a tad sharper than Canon's equivalent (which wouldn't surprise me as it is quite crisp).

But because these R zooms are much newer than say your 28 v1, the colors won't match with older LR primes (though the overall 'look' will still be closer than another brand's).
 
Thanks for the info Mark. I would imagine the LR zooms would be built amazing. Any info on focus throw? Is zoom internal? Parfocal? I currently use the canon for action sports and nature, and I have some contax primes, and now two R primes for narrative etc, even though the R zooms would be more current, they would probably cut in fairly well, but I would still like the more modern zooms for action etc.
 
Here are some frame grabs from a feature I am shooting. These were shot with Crons.
 

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So I am currently selling my Canon 24-70 and 70-300 to switch over to Leica R 35-70 f4 and 80-200 f4. I use step up rings to 77mm on all my lenses, and just read that the 35-70 filter threads retract inside the lens at a certain focal length? Now I am stumped, I can not use step up rings on this lens? Also, any issues with the 80-200 like this? There must be a work around for the people using this lens?
 
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It comes with detachable hood which unfortunately doesn't have another set of filter threads in top of it.... but there are two sets of filter threads on the lens... first is the Leica E60 which move up and down (including inside the shell) with the front element. The front also rotates. The detachable hood is however attached on the outer set of threads that do not move. I'm not sure if that is 62mm or something totally non-standard but if it is you could just add up step up rings to that to "build" a new hood that extrudes over where the front element extrudes. If it isn't a standard filter thread for the hood, then that is a trickier question as it would need custom made step up ring. At the moment I don't have a way to test it. Other option is just permanently attach a step up ring by glueing it (or something more sophisticated) on the top end of the detachable hood. Stellar lens, like 80-200... just that extruding and rotating front element on 35-70 is a bummer
 
some Leica love from the weekend:

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Can anybody comment on 80s vs 90s image quality?

I'm looking buying in the immediate future:

24mm
35mm
50mm

and considering serials in the 300-310 early 80s range instead of the latest serials I can find.

I understand the coatings might be different, probably resulting in what you would expect (less contrast, more veiling flare), but anything else I would want to know? From what I can tell, the above lenses, the latest "revisions" of all of them was in the 70s more or less (24 didn't have 'versions'), and the 35 was revised in 1977 and the 50 in 1976.

Any comments?
 
Larry McKee said:
Here are some frame grabs from a feature I am shooting. These were shot with Crons.
Click to expand...

Very nice Cron captures Larry. I really like the compositions here too.
 
Brandon Kelly said:
So I am currently selling my Canon 24-70 and 70-300 to switch over to Leica R 35-70 f4 and 80-200 f4. I use step up rings to 77mm on all my lenses, and just read that the 35-70 filter threads retract inside the lens at a certain focal length? Now I am stumped, I can not use step up rings on this lens? Also, any issues with the 80-200 like this? There must be a work around for the people using this lens?
Click to expand...

What Tuomas said... plus someone mentioned using a 60mm UV filter then stacking a 60>77 step-up gave them enough space for clearance. I've used a 60>62 then stacked a 62>60 then finally a 60>77 (tight but worked). A better solution would be a 60>60 extender of sorts between the lens thread and step-up if you can find one.
 
NateWeaver said:
Can anybody comment on 80s vs 90s image quality?

I'm looking buying in the immediate future:

24mm
35mm
50mm

and considering serials in the 300-310 early 80s range instead of the latest serials I can find.

I understand the coatings might be different, probably resulting in what you would expect (less contrast, more veiling flare), but anything else I would want to know? From what I can tell, the above lenses, the latest "revisions" of all of them was in the 70s more or less (24 didn't have 'versions'), and the 35 was revised in 1977 and the 50 in 1976.

Any comments?
Click to expand...

The 50mm Summicron was tweaked when production moved to Germany in 1993ish, which I've found to be noticeably sharper especially near outer edges. From reading online they sound like the same version, but they're not. (50mm Summilux was completely redesigned around 1997 to the E60 version but sounds like you're looking at Summicrons.)

Otherwise what you said about the 24mm and 35mm Cron sounds right.

Another factor in addition to color coating coating tweaks is Leica sourced new glass every several years (I'm told) as part of an ongoing effort to improve optical performance. In general (but not always) I've found '90s samples do hold micro-contrast a bit better than '80s ones wide open. This seems to be especially true with the 80 Summilux for some reason.
 
Thanks Mark.

I purchased my first today, a 37XX 24mm, so it looks like I'm going 90s (and $$$) :-). There are deals out there though, just have to dig beyond Ebay.

A 50 cron, 37XX/'96 as well, happens tonight.

If anybody has a 35 cron from the 90s they want to part with, I'd love to hear about it.
 
Those are some amazing stills Larry. Love the color schemes. Just out of curiosity. Were these shot with dragon or mx?
 
Thank you Kirk. The art department is doing a great job on this film. We are shooting with my Epic MX. It may be a few years old now. But, I think it still creates nice images.

Thank you David for giving us a place to share our Leica images.


Kirk.Attard said:
Those are some amazing stills Larry. Love the color schemes. Just out of curiosity. Were these shot with dragon or mx?
Click to expand...
 
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