Looks like the 2x is working well. It may get a bit sharper at a higher shutter speed. don't be afraid to shoot the 180mm near wide open. According to Erwin Puts, the 180mm performance gets worse when stopped down past middle apertures.
I've just started using the Leica 2x APO extender and so far I'm quite impressed. I typically test equipment in real-world conditions, which is how I'm likely to use the stuff. Here's a Marsh Wren photographed with the R8 and DMR, 280mm f/4 APO and the 2x APO extender. The camera was "supported" with my usual shoulder stock and monopod on unstable ground with an active subject. This is how I often find myself working so it's more a test of how the equipment works for me rather than a test of image quality under ideal conditions.
I went back to an old file from the original DMR bible thread and reprocessed it in Lightroom to show how it deals with moire better.
Here is the full picture, just processed through lightroom. The maroon player also had lots or moire in his belt, which lightroom removed, but I don't have a crop of that from the older processing of the file.
Looks like the 2x is working well. It may get a bit sharper at a higher shutter speed. don't be afraid to shoot the 180mm near wide open. According to Erwin Puts, the 180mm performance gets worse when stopped down past middle apertures.
Robert
These last shots were mostly at f5.6 which is the fastest I can do with the 2x on the 180 APO 2.8 because I lose two stops, right?
Yes without the extender, the f2.8 performance is just incredible.
These last shots were mostly at f5.6 which is the fastest I can do with the 2x on the 180 APO 2.8 because I lose two stops, right?
Yes without the extender, the f2.8 performance is just incredible.
If you mean the lens was at f2.8 (wide open) with and effective f5.6 speed with the extender, that would have been the fastest you could shoot. With the converter, try stopping down half a stop or more, may with the lens set to anywhere from f3.5 to f5.6.
Ok, my confusion. I had the lens set at f5.6 with the extender connected so that means that the effective f-stop was really f5.6 + 2 stops = f11, right? I should have put the lens at f3.5 or f4.
I am coming from using the Canon extender on my Canon teles where the effective f-stop is what you tell the camera and the camera automatically does the rest and also prohibits your from setting the f-stop to below the len's fastest f-stop + 2 f-stops.
BTW, nice manual focusing work on the football shots! Super sharp.
Here are a few more football images with the 400mm f2.8. Takes a little eye hand coordination, but with the contrast of the Leica lens it is pretty obvious when it is in focus.
This is the QB getting sacked. In one of these sack photos he injured a knee. They won this game and went on to the national championships, but the QB did not recover from his injuries in time to play. They lost the national championships.
