[Leica] 80-200/4

[Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>]

>>>I've heard good comments about this 80-200/f4 from other sources as
well....... but do U find it a tad too slow for use... ?  Does this
aspect
ever pose a hindrance to U ? How would U deal with this problem  other
than
using your rather well equipped M system for low lite situations ?<<<


I believe the Leica-R 80-200 is made for Leica by Kyocera, who make many
of the Contax lenses for Zeiss. If the 80-200/4-R has any kinship to the
80-200/4 Contax lens, it ought to be very usable. The Contax lens, apart
from being intensely pleasing visually, is for all practical purposes
just as good at f/4 as it is at any other aperture, d.o.f. aside. This
remarkable consistency is very freeing when you work--you simply don't
have to worry about where you are. A perfectly usable f/4 is almost as
good IMO as an f/2.8 zoom that doesn't really come up to snuff until
f/4. The obvious limitation of not having wider apertures in an
emergency certainly apply, but then the nice light weight and small size
of this lens is a compensating advantage too.

The Leica lens has one other advantage over the Contax, in that I much
prefer two-touch zooms to the one-touch types such as the Contax lens.

- --Mike