[Leica] 560MM leica lens

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

Hi Jayanand,

Canons have a similar over-ride system as do some other systems which 
works quite well, but for manual focus neither can touch the slide 
focussing, especially for rapidly moving subjects.

In the late 70's after having used the 400/6.8 for a number of years 
I got fed up with the lens' field curvature and sold it, getting the 
Nikon 400/5.6PC which was their first foray into low dispersion 
optics. It was 'ED' before there was 'ED', and it was an outstanding 
lens optically - miles ahead of the 400/6.8. I haven't tried it 
lately as my son has it, but it was better than anyone else's 400 at 
least until the year 2000 including all of the later Nikons. However, 
the handling sucked and I often regretted selling the 400/6.8 as I 
really couldn't do wildlife with it. Shortly before 2000 I switched 
from Nikon to Canon for a number of reasons, and acquired the 100-400 
Canon. Talking only about the 400mm end, at it's best it's as good 
optically as the 400/6.8, but nowhere near the 400/5.6 Nikkor. 
However, it was a zoom, had autofocus and above all had IS. That 
together made it preferable to the Nikkor. The zoom and the IS also 
made it preferable for the most part to the 400/6.8 Leica.

Optical performance is one thing but having a lens that can make it 
easy to get the shot is even more important.

A couple of years ago I decided to find a 400/6.8 again, and I got it 
as well as the 560 for a good price. When it is bright out, and I 
don't need the IS, and I don't need the zoom part, I use the 400/6.8. 
I only use the 560 when I REALLY need the extra reach, as it doesn't 
handle nearly as well as the 400. The 400 is great on full frame, but 
is especially nice on the 7D, as the viewfinder is good and you get 
the extra magnification. I also use it on the Panasonic G1 and GH2, 
but the resolution isn't quite good enough for the GH2 sensor, and 
considering you're dealing with an angle of view equivalent to an 800 
on full frame, finding your target quickly can be challenging!


>Henning,
>All the new Nikon telephotos, at least, have what is called a M/A switch -
>you can use a manual focus override even if the body is on autofocus mode. I
>use this to fine tune focusing all the time on my 200-400. My view is, at
>least for wildlife photography, capturing action is much easier with
>autofocus. For static subjects, manual focus would be fine.
>Cheers
>Jayanand
>
>
>On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 8:43 AM, Henning Wulff <henningw at 
>archiphoto.com>wrote:
>
>>  I think these lenses were priced up to $20,000 or so, and in the 80's 
>> when
>>  they were trying to unload them they offered a free car (VW Fox; 
>> Brazilian
>>  made) with the lens.
>>
>>  They are also a true long focus lens, not telephoto so are about 800mm
>>  long. This one has a triplet of very large size (f/6.3) with exotic 
>> glasses;
>>  not easy to make, use (or sell :-)).
>>
>>  As for the quality of the 400 and 560 f/6.8's vs. newer lens, the newer
>>  lenses will win in general. A new AF300/2.8 Nikkor with 2x teleconverter
>>  will probably have more even performance, but won't be better in the 
>> center
>>  than the 560. The 300 alone will be a noticeable amount better than the
>>  older lenses.
>>
>>  If you don't practice a lot with the slide focussing, autofocus will
>>  definitely give you more useable shots of animals out in the open. In the
>>  bush, autofocus is a pain and really doesn't work.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Leica Users Group.
>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information

-- 

       Henning J. Wulff
  Wulff Photography & Design
mailto:henningw at archiphoto.com
   http://www.archiphoto.com