Re: Antw: [Leica] 70-180 Apo Lens Test Results

[Eric Welch <ewelch@ponyexpress.net>]

At 10:01 AM 3/8/99 +0100, you wrote:
>All I can tell, is that I have the lens and, while it is heavy and can
>sometimes be a burden to carry around, it produces nothing less than
>breathtaking results, even in the handheld conditions under which I am using
>it most of the time (with a minimum shutter speed of 1/250).

Thanks for backing me up with more objective data, Pascal. :-)

I can tell you that from experience, when shooting with the 70-180 Vario 
Apo Elmarit R, and with my 90 Summicron R and 75 Summilux M at the same 
time (yeah, I know that's quite a load, I've got my 35 and 19 in the bag 
too) that the pictures that stand out the most are from the zoom. I would 
not have believed it before using it, but they do. The color is absolutely 
stunning, even in horrible light where the other lenses don't quite have 
the same "feeling." The sharpness is phenomenal, and the bokeh quite 
pleasing. The weight and size are worth it.

This past Saturday I was shooting at a local jazz festival. I was 
hand-holding it at 1/60 second (even down to 1/48), propping it against the 
backs of seats. Or on my knees. It is so heavy that it stabilizes itself 
with the R8 so that many of the shots are tack sharp. More useable.

And now that I've gotten used to it's long focus throw, I can shoot 
basketball with it from near the basket and get many of my pictures sharp. 
That took quite a bit of practice and lots of Fuji 800 to get there. But 
when I don't need the faster 90 Summicron in dark gyms, now (that the 
season is over) my lens of choice for basketball is this zoom.

Eric Welch
St. Joseph, MO
http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch

The secret of the universe is @*&^^^ NO CARRIER