Well it was good as long as it lasted.

With the launch of the new super duper Leica M camera with Live View and Video.....which can now take R lenses, there goes the market for R lenses, there goes availability and there goes up the price.

So congratulations to all those who purchased R lenses and make sure to keep the original mount and electronics secure.

T'was good as long as it lasted....

I wonder whether the R-Adapter moves the lens aperture :-)
Would be possible - and would be possible for Canon FD, Zeiss Contax, Minolta Sr mount, Nikon F-mount lenses too!

Sub-100mm should be fine. Most of the R lenses have M-counterparts that are better performers than the Rs. The 15/2.8's the only exception I can think of, and it's pricey as it stands. Otherwise, unless there's some advantage to the adapted R lenses that I'm not considering, there's really no point in investing in, say, the Summilux-R 35 when the going rate is comparable to a pre-ASPH Summilux-M, which is a lower-contrast lens but doesn't have the CA, vignetting, and visible distortion of the R. The 80 lux might get a bump since it's unusual and cheaper than the 75 lux.

I'd say the big targets will be the 100mm APO-Macro, possibly the 60 Macro, the zooms, and the longer teles.

Speaking of which, I've got a beautiful copy of an APO 280/2.8 (non-mod) up for sale on trade on the boards, if any of you future M owners are interested.

Time to stock up on R lenses! but I guess if we can finally use R lenses on a M body, surely we can use adapters for Zeiss, Nikon or other glass? Would be interesting.

Don't forget that the Visoflex III and Bellows II now become much more interesting! I wouldn't be surprised if a 75/2 would make a good macro lens, for example.

I have my Visoflex and Bellows carefully stowed away for the future date at which I re-enter the M system

Good point, Carsten. I think anything macro-related is going to be of interest to people moving to the M.

Woo, my R 100/2.8 APO with 1:1 adapter just arrived this weekend!
I was wanting to repurchase the R 50/2 also, to replace my stolen one.
And the R Summilux lenses always looked appealing to me...
Sigh, guess I wont be able to afford them now.
Leica should re-manufacture them, like the Soviet Helios 40-2.
I would purchase a new manufactured Helios 40-2, IF, the characteristics are not changed.

Will be interesting to see what the prices do. For the diehard Leica R shooters, will they take off leitax mounts and go to a M body?

I wanted to try the R glass on a CCD but seeing that the M offering is CMOS, what is different than sticking the R glass on a 5Di/ii/ii or a D700/800/800e? It is a serious question.

We all know the reliability of leica stuff, atleast those who have shot leica for long enough. I am speaking of the digital stuff. I think I will keep my M, M and R, leitaxed for now.

As for prices, I wish I had some of the R glass I sold and bought some of the glass I always wanted but I'm not living on hopes and dreams.

The following R Lenses are supported on the new M camera:

- Super-Elmarit-R 15 mm f/2 .8
- Elmarit-R 19mm f/2.8
- Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8
- Summilux-R 35mm f/1.4
- Summicron-R 35mm f/2
- Summicron-R 50mm f/2
- Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4
- Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm f/2.8
- Summilux-R 80mm f/1.4
- Summicron-R 90mm f/2
- Apo-Macro-Elmarit-R 100mm f/2.8
- Apo-Telyt-R180mm f/3.4
- Apo-Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8
- Apo-Summicron-R 180mm f/2
- Apo-Telyt-R 280mm f/4

- Vario-Elmar-R 21–35mm f/3.5-4
- Vario-Elmar-R 28–70mm f/3.5-4.5
- Vario-Elmar-R 35–70mm f/4
- Vario-Elmarit-R 28–90mm f/2.8-4.5
- Vario-Apo-Elmarit-R 70–180mm f/2.8
- Vario-Elmar-R 80–200mm f/4

Hold on to your wallets...gonna be a rough ride...

shaunmlavery wrote:
I wanted to try the R glass on a CCD but seeing that the M offering is CMOS, what is different than sticking the R glass on a 5Di/ii/ii or a D700/800/800e? It is a serious question.


The differences is less CCD vs. CMOS and more how each maker optimizes the CFA, microlenses, and AA filter. Leica claims to have worked out with the sensor maker a system that closely matches the M9's CCD. Leica also says they have incorporated profiles for the R lenses. Time and comparisons will tell.

Almass -- When you say "supported" I assume you only mean the electronic ROM versions, right? The others will be usable, but no profiles or auto-aperture?

Gunzorro wrote:
Almass -- When you say "supported" I assume you only mean the electronic ROM versions, right? The others will be usable, but no profiles or auto-aperture?

I don't think we know about auto-aperture yet.

telyt wrote:
Gunzorro wrote:
Almass -- When you say "supported" I assume you only mean the electronic ROM versions, right? The others will be usable, but no profiles or auto-aperture?

I don't think we know about auto-aperture yet.

auto aperture isn't really needed/helpful on rangefinders or liveview cameras.

The way I look at it, with the LV capability of WYSIWYG, we don't have to worry about the dreaded focus shift and know the exact DOF without fiddling with another button.

can you use the evf with M lenses?

ken.vs.ryu wrote:
can you use the evf with M lenses?

yup, how else would video work?

I kept a pretty extensive R kit but I'd really like to know if this is auto-aperture or not. I can't find that on anything published so far. I'd also like to know if the EVF2 is really usable for manually focusing a Lux for example.

I'm glad they finally announced their R solution. It's been years... a long wait.

netexpress wrote:
I kept a pretty extensive R kit but I'd really like to know if this is auto-aperture or not. I can't find that on anything published so far. I'd also like to know if the EVF2 is really usable for manually focusing a Lux for example.

I'm glad they finally announced their R solution. It's been years... a long wait.


it's just the olympus evf, you probably won't be able to focus a lux without zooming in, but once you zoom in it will be super accurate. it really depends on how well leicas implementation of peaking works whether you can focus at f/.95 without using the zoom feature.

I don't know if the price will go up that much. I think there are many more non-Leica EVIL camera users out there looking to R lenses than there will be owners of the M for a while.

Of course, the M owners might have deeper pockets. . . but empty pockets after they pony up for the M

Still, I'm maybe wishing I'd gone for an 100 APO instead of the 100/2 MP I got a few weeks ago for my Nex. . . .

Taylor Sherman wrote:
I don't know if the price will go up that much. I think there are many more non-Leica EVIL camera users out there looking to R lenses than there will be owners of the M for a while.
...


+1

Aside form the above, haven't the good R lenses gone to the video guys already?