Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

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Lee Saxon
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p.1 #1 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

Can someone who's used this lens confirm the minimum focus distance?

Some sources that say 44cm (30cm with the 1:1 adapter), essentially the same as the Zeiss 100/2, while some say 70cm.

Also, is the focus travel really two full turns? That's quite cool.

Dec 17, 2012 at 05:09 AM

Taylor Sherman
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p.1 #2 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

Everything I've read indicates that it's 1:2, which would mean it should match the Zeiss, so 44cm.

Dec 17, 2012 at 06:17 AM

kosmoskatten
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p.1 #3 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

I have had the Leica APO macro and yes, it was somewhere in the region of 40 to 45 cm.

I am fairly sure it is 45 cm.

I too have read on some online review that min focus is 70 cm but that isn't correct. That particular online review has been copied and reused on a few other foreign sites as well.

Specs:
Angle of view diag.:
24
Angle of view hor.:
20
Elements:
8
Components (groups):
6
Closest focusing (m):
0.45
Diameter (mm):
73
Length (mm):
104.5
Weight (g):
760

Dec 17, 2012 at 06:32 AM

kosmoskatten
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p.1 #4 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

PS

I really enjoyed that lens.

Now that I have an R-adapter for the Ricoh GXR I am tempted to pick one up if one can be had at a decent price. With the new M camera being able to accept R lenses I think the R series lenses will have a slight revival and that prices might just go up a little for pristine lenses.

I'd settle for less than pristine though.

Dec 17, 2012 at 06:42 AM

Lee Saxon
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p.1 #5 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

Thanks guys

kosmoskatten wrote:
With the new M camera being able to accept R lenses I think the R series lenses will have a slight revival and that prices might just go up a little for pristine lenses.

More like they've skyrocketed.

Dec 17, 2012 at 07:15 AM

Lee Saxon
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p.1 #6 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

I already have a Nikon 105/1.8 AI-s and 105/2.8 Micro AI-s. I really want to get the Leica APO-Macro, rent the Zeiss 100/2, and do a four way comparison (three way at macro distance, obviously).

Dec 18, 2012 at 12:09 AM

buggz2k
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p.1 #7 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

I'll have to test mine this weekend, I have the 1:1 adapter also.
I hope I can remember.
I really like mine, works great on the ol' Kodak SLR/C also, woo!

Dec 18, 2012 at 02:44 AM

thrice
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p.1 #8 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

The 100 APO Macro Elmarit has higher resolving power (400lpmm) than any other lens Leica have ever made. Or so I was told today.

Dec 18, 2012 at 08:28 AM

Toothwalker
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p.1 #9 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

Lee Saxon wrote:
Can someone who's used this lens confirm the minimum focus distance?

The distance measured from which point?

Dec 18, 2012 at 10:13 AM

naturephoto1
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p.1 #10 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

thrice wrote:
The 100 APO Macro Elmarit has higher resolving power (400lpmm) than any other lens Leica have ever made. Or so I was told today.

The f4 280mm Apo Telyt lens may even surpass or equal this performance. Regardless, both lenses are known for being in that rarefied class of outstanding resolution and performance.

Rich

Dec 18, 2012 at 02:12 PM

crazeazn
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p.1 #11 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/100mm_f/2.8_APO-Macro-Elmarit-R

Dec 18, 2012 at 02:45 PM

buggz2k
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p.1 #12 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

S/n's, cool, hope mine isn't one of the unknowns.

crazeazn wrote:
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/100mm_f/2.8_APO-Macro-Elmarit-R

Dec 18, 2012 at 04:58 PM

telyt
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p.1 #13 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

Lee Saxon wrote: is the focus travel really two full turns?

A few (very few) degrees short of two full turns.

thrice wrote:
The 100 APO Macro Elmarit has higher resolving power (400lpmm) than any other lens Leica have ever made. Or so I was told today.

It probably was when it was first made. The 280mm f/4 APO is more recent and in my experience it out-performs the 100 APO.

Dec 18, 2012 at 06:55 PM

wayne seltzer
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p.1 #14 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

Been using mine a lot since I got the D800E and Leitax'd it.
Outstanding IQ on D800E! I find it easy to MF, even in low light.

Dec 19, 2012 at 04:16 AM

R10
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p.1 #15 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

Lee Saxon wrote:
Can someone who's used this lens confirm the minimum focus distance?

Some sources that say 44cm (30cm with the 1:1 adapter), essentially the same as the Zeiss 100/2, while some say 70cm.

Also, is the focus travel really two full turns? That's quite cool.

thrice wrote:
The 100 APO Macro Elmarit has higher resolving power (400lpmm) than any other lens Leica have ever made. Or so I was told today.

Just did some measurements with mine:

Minimum focus distance from film/sensor plane
(actually in line with the specs provided by Leica, surprise):

Without Elpro: ~45 cm
With Elpro: ~30 cm (max. ~35 cm)

Yes, focus travel is (almost) two full turns. I find it rather too much even for macro work. Moreover, this lens is also almost unbeaten at longer focus distances (the 4/280 APO outperforms it), but a focus thread like this makes it hard to use for people and street photography.

Btw, it is stellar and one of the reference lenses in the Leica lab but, it does certainly not resolve 400lp/mm (wow). It resolves 150lp/mm (center) and 80lp/mm (corner) at any aperture before diffraction comes into play (see Puts 2003 about Leica’s 80-100mm R-lenses). This is 'stellar enough' and second to almost nothing in the 35mm/full frame world. And this lens is much more than resolution...

AME100 on EOS 5DII

Edited on Jan 05, 2013 at 11:29 AM · View previous versions

Dec 19, 2012 at 05:10 PM

R10
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p.1 #16 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

addendum:

Puts says (forgotten where) that there are actually two versions with respect to the focus mechanism: As of S/N 3469285 (end of 1988, i.e., very early) Leica used to install an improved focus mechanism (single instead of twin guidance...), he says...
This has nothing to do with non-ROM (#11210) vs. ROM (#11352). ROM has been introduced much later with this lens (1993 or so. But there are quite a few early AME100 around, which have been retrofitted with ROM contacts).

Edited on Dec 19, 2012 at 06:35 PM · View previous versions

Dec 19, 2012 at 05:29 PM

naturephoto1
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p.1 #17 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

R10 wrote:
addendum:

Puts says (forgotten where) that there are actually two versions with respect to the focus mechanism: As of S/N 3469285 (end of 1988, i.e., very early) Leica used to install an improved focus mechanism (single instead of twin guidance...), he says...

I have the first version. It is not quite as smooth as the improved version. It still works extremely well though as mentioned not quite as smooth. Optically they are identical. After taking receipt of mine I brought it into Leica USA and they did a lube on the lens. The Leica lab tech rep indicated that I had a particularly good performing lens optically; he determined this after he had run his tests on my lens.

Rich

Dec 19, 2012 at 05:34 PM

Lee Saxon
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p.1 #18 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

R10, thanks for taking the time to look into it. Beautiful photo, also!

Thanks for the answers, guys.

Dec 19, 2012 at 10:14 PM

alundeb
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p.1 #19 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

R10 wrote:

Btw, it is stellar and one of the reference lenses in the Leica lab but, it does certainly not resolve 400lp/mm (wow). It resolves 150lp/mm (center) and 80lp/mm (corner) at any aperture before diffraction comes into play (see Puts 2003 about Leica’s 80-100mm R-lenses). This is 'stellar enough' and second to almost nothing in the 35mm/full frame world. And this lens is much more than resolution...

AME100 on EOS 5DII

Lovely photo!

Some supplementary info:

The diffraction limit for resolving power is about 560 lp/mm at f/2.8, 400 lp/mm at f/4, 280 lp/mm at f/5.6 and so on. (Numbers rounded quite a bit to make them easier to remember)

With the high pixel density camera Pentax Q it is easy to measure resolving power up to about 300 lp/mm. It is fairly easy to find lenses in the 35 mm world that resolve more than 200 lp/mm. The Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II outresolves the Pentax Q sensor. I have to use teleconverters to be able to measure resolving power even on that sensor. With a 2X TC, I get to 190 lp/mm. That makes 380 lp/mm for the bare lens, at f/4. That is indeed very close to perfectly diffraction limited.

Dec 19, 2012 at 11:20 PM

R10
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p.1 #20 · Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro MFD

thrice wrote:
...400lpmm...

alundeb wrote:

Lovely photo!

Some supplementary info:

The diffraction limit for resolving power is about 560 lp/mm at f/2.8, 400 lp/mm at f/4, 280 lp/mm at f/5.6 and so on. (Numbers rounded quite a bit to make them easier to remember)

With the high pixel density camera Pentax Q it is easy to measure resolving power up to about 300 lp/mm. It is fairly easy to find lenses in the 35 mm world that resolve more than 200 lp/mm. The Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II outresolves the Pentax Q sensor. I have to use teleconverters to be able to measure resolving power even on that sensor. With a 2X TC, I get to 190 lp/mm. That makes 380 lp/mm for the bare lens, at f/4. That is indeed very close to perfectly diffraction limited.

Just out of curiosity - by which (comparable) standards has this been measured then (e.g. 50% contrast or what, and with what kind of motifs) ?
These numbers are a bit confusing since Leica doesn't claim any of their lenses to exceed 150 and 80 lp/mm (center and FF-corner) that much, even not their clearly unbeaten ones.
And I happened to use the EF 2.8/70-200L IS II, and the visibly superior Nikkor AF-S 4/70-200 VR and Leica-R 4/80-200. By no means do they get anywhere near to the Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 100's resolution (esp. micro contrast), 'already' (pixel-density-wise) on a 5DII or D800, not in the center, and by far not in full frame corners...

Dec 20, 2012 at 11:31 AM

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