LEICA APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/100 on Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III

19/08/2008 17:00 Filed in: equipment | photos

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/100- iso100 - f/2.8

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/100- iso100 - f/4.0

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Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III - Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/100- iso100 - f/5.6

A few months back there was the tough decision, whether to stay with Canon or switch to Nikon, as the D3 was released. I decided to buy the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III as it fits my professional needs best with its 21 megapixels. It is a great advantage to have that resolution for visual effects photography on a movie set. And Canon allows to adapt a variety of lenses from different manufacturers like ZEISS, LEICA, MAMIYA, PENTAX and others. So you can choose among the finest lenses available.
The 1Ds Mark III being very demanding with lenses to deliver the full resolution, that it is capable of, I started to look for lenses with outstanding performance. After reading a few reviews, especially Diglloyd´s ZEISS ZF lenses and his insights on the Leica APO-Summicron-R 90/2 ASPH, I bought a Contax ZEISS AE 35/2.8 Distagon and recently a LEICA APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/100, both used, but optically in perfect condition. LEICA lenses don´t come cheap, when new, so it is a good idea to look on ebay. As long as you buy from an ebay shop, you have the right to give it back here in Germany, if it doesn´t meet your expectations. Something you can´t do, if bought from private party.
I choose the APO-Macro-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/100 over the APO-Summicron-R 90/2 ASPH, as they ought to offer quite similar performance (the Summicron leading by a bit), but the Macro-Elmarit offering the welcome close range up to 1:2 magnification. Read Erwin Put´s columns on Leica lenses for details.
I won´t get into deep technical reviews of lenses with all their characteristics and performance (see Diglloyd and Puts for that), I will evaluate just the rendering of a lens under my personal shooting conditions and what they bring to the table for my requirements.
That said, today I took the first shots with the APO-Macro-Elmarit and if deeper exploration over the next few weeks doesn´t prove me wrong, I have to say, that this a truly outstanding lens. Just the one you need on a 1DS Mark III. Have a look at the beautiful bokeh (the look of out-of-focus areas) in the shots above, while the lens renders amazing detail and sharpness even wide open at f/2.8. It seems stopping down isn´t necessary to improve performance. The following 100% crops show the actual pixels: dust and a hair on a synthesizer´s keyboard.
I can´t wait to shoot more with that lens...

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