Does the 3.4/135 Telyt work acceptably well with an M6TTL .72x? I would prefer not to purchase the Magnifyer 1.25 because I will have spent enough! That said, as an all around M system for travel photography, do most of you expand on the wide or the tele end? I have a 28 / 50 / 90 set up now and simply do not know which end to round out first as I believe I would use both equally (21 vs. 135).

While on the subject of the wide end, on the whole, do you use lenses that require an accessory finder less often because you have to carry two pieces and attatch and reattatch?

Or, do you use the 135 end less because of the small frame and focus area on a .72x?

-- Jack Wheeler (Jackwheeler@lycos.com), March 12, 2002

Answers

I can't imagine using the 135 or anything beyond a 90 without the 1.25x or a .85 body. Buy the 135 and the 1.25x and you will be ready.

I notice you are missing a 35 from your 28/50/90 lineup and was in the same boat, but I think the 35 is a wonderful lens and very useful. It replaced the 28 and 50 when traveling. Consider it down the road...

-- Kevin Baker (kevin@thebakers.org), March 12, 2002.

I think it will work just fine, though you may end up with a slightly higher percentage of improperly focused images... To wit, I have used my 135 on my .58 body and the focus worked fine, even at f4. And yes, I am aware there are no framelines for it on this body, so I used the RF patch to estimate coverage -- and it worked pretty darn well!

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), March 12, 2002.

Technically there is no focusing problem. Users of M2, M4, M4-2 and M4-P and M6 classic 0.72 users have used 135/4 lenses successfuly for years.

-- sait (akkirman@clear.net.nz), March 12, 2002.

I have used the 135 on my .58s with good success. I use the much- maligned F2.8 with eyes. It Magnifies the 90MM frame. Even wide open, the results are very good. It;s a heavy sucker so I limit it's usage to shutter speeds of 1/125 or faster.

-- Ned Learned (ned@kajabbi.com), March 12, 2002.

Jack:

I use a M6 TTL 0.72 with 21, 35, 50 and 90 lenses on a regular basis. I had a 135/f4 Tele-Elmar and a 135/f2.8 (with eyes). I sold both 135's because I was never comfortable with the tiny image area in the M6 viewfinder. Focusing accuracy with the 0.72 body was not a major problem, but I had to be very careful at minimum focusing distances. I also have a couple of M3 camera bodies that I prefer to use with the 90 and 135 lenses. The larger viewfinder image area and greater focusing accuracy with the 0.91 M3's (compared to the 0.72 M6 TTL) makes it easier to use telephoto lenses with the M cameras. I use the 35 and 50 focal lengths most of the time. The 21 and 90 are used less frequently. The 1.25 magnifier will help you to focus the 135 lens with your 0.72 body.

-- Muhammad Chishty (applemac97@aol.com), March 12, 2002.

The 135/3.4 focuses just fine on the 0.72. The 1.25x magnification might increase the rfdr baselength theoretically, but the effect on the size of the frameset is negligible. Perhaps a better investment might be a used 135mm brightline accessory finder, which lets you see the 135 frame life-size.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 12, 2002.