Anyone have any comments about the Leica Vario-Elmar zoom lenses in terms of performance to the separate fixed focal lengths? I heard that they are supposed to be equivalent in performance although I would like to hear the experts on this subject matter.

I am probably going to land a Vario-Elmar-R 35mm to 70mm lens fairly soon in the next few months. After all, it will grace my R4 (and a future R8 whenever I get it).

Alfie

-- Alfie Wang (leica_phile@hotmail.com), February 06, 2002

Answers

Alfie, at that level of performance, do you really think it matters ?

Besides, performance of lenses is a braod subject and there are different aspects. If, like many people, you think in terms of resolution, for it to materialize on a picture, you would need :

- Very fine grained, high resolution and high acutance silver based b&w film. That alone rules out most pictures.

- A sturdy (read heavy) tripod, whatever the shutter speed you use.

- A very precise focus. That mean that if you're thinking in terms of depth of field, forget resolution differences between Leica zooms and fixed.

- Meticulous, well calibrated exposure and development, à la Ansel Adams...

- An enlarger lens to match and the same constraints in the print stage: wall fixed enlarger column, precise levels of that column and enlarger board, a film holder that keeps your neg perfectly flat, a high end grain enlarger for focus, etc...

If you use color, forget it, the film eats whatever difference there might be. For me, the areas of difference between fixed and zoom are distortion and flare. When you multiply lenses, you always face more daunting flare problems.

-- Stéphane Bosman (Stephane.bosman@2ci.net), February 07, 2002.

Not to mention slower shutter speeds (sometimes) that induce camera shake (seeings how Leica users seem to shun tripods). But let's say you're running around the Big Island of Hawai'i on vacation, go for it!

-- James (snodoggydogg@hotmail.com), February 07, 2002.

Oh yah, check out this guy (maybe you already have):

http://www.imx.nl/photosite/leica/leicahome.html

-- James (snodoggydogg@hotmail.com), February 07, 2002.

I thought the whole point in buying Leica was for ultimate quality. Color film, Zooms, Tripod even.... Not Leica in my opinion. If 4x6 machine prints taken with the vario are someone's gig, Someone spent too much.

-- Mike DeVoue (karma77@att.net), February 07, 2002.

To bring up Erwin Puts (again!) I think he maintains that at 35 and 50 at f4 the Vario-Elmar is as good as the respective Summicron 35 and 50 at f4. At f4 he maintains the 70 end is better than the 80 'lux at f4. I won't swear to this as I don't have the book to hand. He likes it! Similar quality, in other words, to the Tri-Elmar.

Personally I think f4 is too slow, particularly when you are trying to manually focus on an R camera. The lens is a good deal by Leica standards - no question.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), February 07, 2002.

I've owned Leica M-6 and various Rs R3,4s,7, and 8) for over 15 years, including both fixed focal length and zoom lenses in 35-70mm and 75-200mm. Leica zooms will exceed your expectations, I'm sure. They will perform nearly as well as the fixed focal length lenses in most situations. They aren't as fast, but they're much more versatile especially when traveling.

-- Joe Barbano (joseph.barbano@symmetron.com), February 07, 2002.