Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/03

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Subject: Re: Re: Re: [Leica] Canon 135 f3.5
From: Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>
Date: Sun, 03 May 1998 16:51:54 -0400

At 03:11 PM 5/3/98 EDT, Larry Zeitlin wrote:
>I have this lens in a late model black mount. It is extremely sharp right to
>the edges and has very little flare. It consists of 3 components, 4 elements
>and is a true telephoto design. Its main liability is weight. The center
>element is almost two inches thick and the lens weighs nearly a pound. It
>focuses well on my M3 Leicas, but focusing accuracy might be marginal on
later
>models with reduced RF magnification. It is better than the Elmar but I don't
>have any other equivalent focal length Leica lenses to compare it with. -

This lens is a theft of the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar design.  It is a true
telephoto, unlike the Leitz contemporary lenses.  (The design continued in
production in West Germany for the Postwar Contax, Contarex, and Rollei QBM
family;  it also survived in the former Soviet Union in both Contax and LTM
mounts as the Jupiter-11 and continues in production in the latter in LTM
to this day.  The Russian lens can probably be had today for a few dollars
less than the Canon lens.)

I would be surprised if the Sonnar/Canon/Soviet variants of this lens would
outperform the Leitz 4/135 Elmar, though I would expect they would blow the
earlier 4.5/135 Elmar into the weeds on almost all optical parameters.

Marc


>
msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
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