I can buy a 35 70mm lens but, it is the E60 made in japan. the price is 300$ is this a good deal/ good lens ? or shall I look for a German one.

What about the "wobble in the barrel" can this been fixed

thanks

romain

-- romain baeyens (ruchky@pi.be), January 06, 2002

Answers

One of the things the German version fixed was a problem with vignetting. It's one of the reasons the mount was redesigned.

-- Bud (budcook@attglobal.net), January 06, 2002.

As well, if I'm not mistaken is that the Japanese version had a rotating front element when focusing, making the use of certain filters (pola, split neutral density, etc) more difficult. Apart from the slight aforementioned vignetting in the Japanese version the optics are supposedly similar, but the German version has better build quality. If there have been no major impacts to cause it, the barrel wobble should be easily fixable. A good German version of this lens will cost 2 to 3 times that of the Japanese version.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), January 06, 2002.

Every single one of literally dozens of E60 35-70 R lenses I've handled has had a wobbly front section including several that were NOS in boxes. You'd think if it were repairable at least some of them would not have wobbled. I would definitely check with a reputable repairperson or get an ironclad MBG. However for $300 which is about 2/3 of what I've seen the worst of them selling for, I would definitely pursue the matter.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), January 06, 2002.

I bought the German version of this lens and it, too, wobbled. I thought shoddy construction rather than design flaw. I read somewhere it would cost $500.00 to fix, but only read such. In my opinion, you should put your $300.00 toward the purchase of the 35-70 f/4. The 35- 70 f/3.5 was a good lens optically but not up to other leica lenses in terms of snap and glow. The $1200.00 I paid for mine was too much. Way too much. It is a Japanese lens that filled a one-time gap for the R system.

-- Peter McDonough (31416@mediaone.net), January 06, 2002.

Get the 35-70 f4 even if it means buying a r3 or r4 just to use it. You can find them for $600 or so, maybe less. Add 200-300 for a body and you're much better off than $300 + $2-500 for repair (if it is indeed that expensive).

-- JDR (jrivera@vapop.ucsd.edu), January 08, 2002.

I've owned the 35-70 E60 lens for fifteen years. It's a good lens, versatile, durable, etc. Color and contrast are good, and absolutely no flare. It works well wide open. It's been a workhorse lens. Incidentally, about 5 years ago, I compared it against the Nikon 35- 70/2.8. The E60 was impressively better. The biggest drawback of this lens, is that its closest focusing distance is about 1 meter. The E67 lens has the identical OPTICAL design except that the front element does not rotate. I've read some threads, about flare on this lens as well, but have no personal experience. I believe it's way overpriced because it's made in Germany. Optical performance should be identical. I've considered upgrading to the new f4 lens, primarily due to the closer focusing distance(which is about 1 foot, I think?). At 3-4 times the price of the E60 lens, I would not expect significantly better performance from the F4 lens in spite of what you might read. I'll probably buy the F4 once my E60 dies, because I like zooms, even though fixed focal lenghts are slightly better. However, if I could get the E60 for $300, I'd buy it. If you can buy it for $300, buy it. You'll be happy with the lens.

-- Joe Barbano (joseph.barbano@symmetron.com), February 02, 2002.