THE TELYT-R 350mm f / 4.8 1980: 

THE LAST TRADITIONAL "CANNON"

OF CASA LEITZ

Contrary to what happened in the production of the historic rival based in Oberkochen, for which it will even come to speak of "Zeiss idiosyncrasy" for telephoto lenses, Leitz was particularly interested in the long focal length range for its reflex system, with a strong tradition historic that has its roots in the 1937 Telyt 40cm f / 5 TLCOO, passing through the voluminous 400mm f / 5, 600mm f / 5 and 880mm f / 9.5 catadioptrators used in wartime on "harbor surveillance" devices infrared produced in collaboration with AEG and called "Kikinar", without forgetting many interesting prototypes exhibited in the Wetzlar museum:a specialization that, at the time of the rangefinder Leica, had to deal with objective problems of focusing and precise framing, requiring complex auxiliary accessories, while the Leicaflex - Leica R system left loose reins to the "cannons" that scan far.

At the end of the 70s, therefore, for the Leica R3 system, three 180mm (f / 2.8 - f / 3.4 apo - f / 4), a 250mm f / 4 and a 400mm achromatic were available f / 5.6 and 560mm f / 5.6 Rapid-fire frame Televit (no longer produced), achromatic 400mm f / 6.8 and 560mm f / 6.8 and the gigantic Telyt-S 800mm f / 6 , 3; unfortunately the main focal lengths, from 400mm to 800mm, were equipped with pre-selection diaphragms that complicated the practical use and constituted obvious stigmata of obsolescence.

At the 1980 Photokina, Leitz put in a really significant effort, presenting a remarkable range of novelties: the new Leica R4 Mot Electronic multi-mode reflex, which introduced a nouvelle vague in design that received unanimous acclaim, the Leica M4-P rangefinder , evolved from the M4-2 by updating the viewfinder frames, and an impressive series of new optics, designed to fill the gaps that still exist in the M and R kits: thus saw the light of the Super-Elmar-R 15mm f / 3.5, the Elmarit-M 21mm f / 2.8, a mechanical facelift for the Macro-Elmarit-R 60mm f / 2.8, the Summilux-M 75mm f / 1.4, the Summilux-R 80mm f / 1.4 ,the new version of the Summicron-M 90mm f / 2 with compact frame and modified layout from 6 to 5 lenses, a reissue of the Elmarit-R 180mm f / 2.8 and the Telyt-R 250mm f / 4 (optically recalculated), the MR-Telyt 500mm f / 8 catadioptric on a Minolta base design and the burly Telyt-R 350mm f / 4.8, long refraction focus no longer based on a simple achromatic doublet but on a true telephoto pattern, with automatic diaphragm and floating fire moved by a classic rotating ring.long refraction focus no longer based on a simple achromatic doublet but on a true telephoto pattern, with automatic diaphragm and floating focus moved by a classic rotating ring.long refraction focus no longer based on a simple achromatic doublet but on a true telephoto pattern, with automatic diaphragm and floating focus moved by a classic rotating ring.

 

 

The Telyt-R 350mm f / 4.8 therefore filled the gap between the Telyt-R 250mm f / 4 and the long achromatic fires of 400, 560 and 800mm that were cumbersome and often not easy to implement. Here are the main features of this long Leitz telephoto lens.

 

The card dedicated to the Telyt-R 350mm f / 4.8 in the Leica catalog for dealers of the year 1989. The indicated length is 286mm, other official quoted sections report 282mm.

 

The optical part was designed by that living monument of Walter Mandler, father of a myriad of Leitz lenses, and this Telyt-R 350mm f / 4.8, together with the Summilux-M 75mm f / 1.4 - Summilux R 80mm f / 1.4, to the Elmarit-M 21mm f / 2.8 and to the Telyt-R 250mm f / 4 according to type, goes to constitute the last handful of objectives realized in the arc of a unrepeatable career.

 

 

The archetype of modern telephoto lenses created by Mandler for Leitz is represented by the Telyt 200mm f / 4 11063 - TELOO, calculated in 1959 and launched in 1960; in this scheme, the air-spaced front doublet initializes the image and contributes to the control of chromatic aberration, while the rear divergent elements perform a dual function: reducing the physical length of the lens and controlling distortion. The real limitation of this conception lies in the need to focus by moving the entire optical group, characterized by a considerable mass. A subsequent evolution is constituted by the Telyt-R 250mm f / 4 first type, 11920, of 1970, where the scheme is decomposed into an air-spaced front triplet and a rear module with glued doublet; its physical dimensions make it possible to produce a lens of limited length but the large front lenses weigh on the scale and, as in the previous case, the rigid pattern penalizes easy focusing. With the New Telyt-R 250mm f / 4 type 11925 and 350mm f / 4.8 type 11915, presented in 1980, Mandler splits the lens into two modules, taking the architecture of the Telyt 200mm f / 4 in line with the concept. transforming it into the front member of a system also provided with a posterior group of 3 lenses in 2 groups; in this case the focusing takes place only moving the front module, while the rear stationary together with the diaphragm, with different advantages: less mass to be moved for the helicoids, shorter stroke for the ring nut and control of aberrations at close range, with the ability to reduce the minimum distance. In the case of the 350mm f / 4.8 protagonist of these lines the front module differs from the Telyt 200mm model and the two rear lenses are grouped in an achromatic doublet, introduced to better control chromatic aberration in such a long focal length. less mass to handle for the helicoids, shorter stroke for the ring nut and control of aberrations at close range, with the possibility of reducing the minimum distance. In the case of the 350mm f / 4.8 protagonist of these lines the front module differs from the Telyt 200mm model and the two rear lenses are grouped in an achromatic doublet, introduced to better control chromatic aberration in such a long focal length. less mass to handle for the helicoids, shorter stroke for the ring nut and control of aberrations at close range, with the possibility of reducing the minimum distance. In the case of the 350mm f / 4.8 protagonist of these lines the front module differs from the Telyt 200mm model and the two rear lenses are grouped in an achromatic doublet, introduced to better control chromatic aberration in such a long focal length.

 

 

At first sight it is easy to see the common matrix that characterizes the 250mm and 350mm Telyt-Rs launched at Photokina 1980.

 

 

As you can see, the 350mm scheme was also designed to reduce the physical dimensions of the lens, and in fact the main points H and H 'are positioned in front of the front lens; in the lower section the group that allows focusing is highlighted, while the arrow indicates the coaxial points of intersection of the sleeve between the mobile module and the rear part of the lens, which is fixed.

As anticipated in the sheet with the characteristics, for this objective in definitive version 2,600 freshmen were registered (1,000 in 1981, 1,000 in 1983 and 600 in 1986), to which an equivalent number of pieces produced should correspond; it is therefore a series product that is decidedly limited and not easy to find; in fact, in 1979, 50 copies had already been assembled (serial numbers from 2,991,151 to 2,991,200) in prototype frames, with a non-definitive barrel: many of these lenses were supplied to photographers - obviously Leica-oriented, the official machine the event was the Canon F1! - accredited to the Winter Olympics of Lake Placid 1980, in order to gather useful information and practical suggestions on any changes to be made to define the production frame; The following image illustrates one of these prototypes.

 

 

The prototypical mount of the specimens assembled in 1979 is characterized by the absence of a rotating collar with tripod attachment; moreover, the focusing ring has a smaller sector, has a diaphragm ring which is more advanced, the whole barrel is more straight and has a conch at the end; the tradition of entrusting to professionals the prototypes of pre-series to obtain suggestions on how to "refine" the product is a constant in the Leitz production: it was so for the achromatic Telyt 400mm and 560mm f / 6.8, tested at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble , for L'Apo-Telyt 280mm f / 2.8 (tested at the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics) and also for the Apo-Telyt 400mm f / 2.8, used at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and long employed in the field even by naturalist photographers in the late 1980s before defining the final version. Some prototypical specimens of the Telyt-R 350mm f / 4.8 report an anomalous freshman in the order of 5.17x.xxx, a lot usually assigned to the Leitz prototypes as in the Zeiss house, by lot numbering around 2.5xx. xxx.

 

 

sharing the body dimensions with the R4 model, makes the sense of the original proportions; of course the lens has not negligible dimensions (282mm of length for 83.5mm of maximum diameter) and the Leitz quality is also paid in terms of weight (1.820g declared, 1.912g effective with the caps), however it is still possible to adjust free-hand use, with the usual and obvious tricks (precise focusing, fast shutter speeds to avoid blur, correct posture to stabilize the shot before shooting). The optics was available on the list until 1993, although, as seen, the actual production ended in 1986, then going out of stock with the stock. The objective, due to its important focal length and the traditional optical layout and structure (an achromatic doublet with manual diaphragm and linear telescopic fire like the previous Telyt 400mm and 560mm was much simpler and cheaper to produce), has always had a price very important and selective sales, justifying just 2,650 specimens produced; the official Polyphoto 04/1992 list shows an estimated cost of 7,749,500 lire, when at the time with less than 2,000,000 lire a Nikon AF zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f / 2 was brought home 8 ED ... due to its important focal length and the traditional optical layout and structure (an achromatic doublet with manual diaphragm and linear telescopic fire like the previous Telyt 400mm and 560mm was much simpler and cheaper to produce), it has always had a very important selling price and selective, justifying just 2,650 specimens produced; the official Polyphoto 04/1992 list shows an estimated cost of 7,749,500 lire, when at the time with less than 2,000,000 lire a Nikon AF zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f / 2 was brought home 8 ED ... due to its important focal length and the traditional optical layout and structure (an achromatic doublet with manual diaphragm and linear telescopic fire like the previous Telyt 400mm and 560mm was much simpler and cheaper to produce), it has always had a very important selling price and selective, justifying just 2,650 specimens produced; the official Polyphoto 04/1992 list shows an estimated cost of 7,749,500 lire, when at the time with less than 2,000,000 lire a Nikon AF zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f / 2 was brought home 8 ED ...

 

 

The Telyt-R 350mm f / 4.8 is presented with the elegant, linear and modern appearance of the latest generation Leica R lenses; on the left you can see the appreciable lengthening of the barrel - exactly 27.05mm - passing from infinity to the minimum fire distance (3m), a feature which, together with the moving mass, does not completely give back to the user the typical advantages of the floating focus, requiring however some energy in the drive (especially if, over the years, the lubricants have lost their effectiveness) and an almost complete turn to access the two extremes; both run-throughs allow to exceed the indication of the respective measure: on infinity to compensate for the thermal expansion of the objective exposed to the direct sun and at 3m, probably, to allow indexing for the infrared even at the minimum distance, although, as usual for Leitz, the relative faith line is not present. The diaphragm, octagonal with rounded blades for a pleasant bo-keh, closes with snap-stops on the values ​​up to f / 22 and the not excessive diameter of the front lens has made the use of drawer filters superfluous, since a conventional E77 thread (77mm x 0.75mm), very practical because it allows those who want to use it - with adapter - on a modern Canon EOS digital full-frame to recycle the filters already used on the Canon L-series professional zoom eventually possessed. In order not to affect the size of the lens, keeping it slim, the rotating collar with tripod attachment plate has been kept to truly minimal dimensions; this does not affect the usual Leitz robustness but, in practical free-hand use, walking with the lens equipped with a luminaire and motor, the hand struggles to find power take-offs and a bracket more spaced from the barrel, as in modern Japanese canvases , it would be a useful pretext to reduce the effort of the hand; in the third image we note the left profile of the collar with the minimal release button for rotation (certainly less exposed to accidental stripping of the classic screw latches), equipped with antagonist spring, and the words "LENS MADE IN GERMANY" and "E77" , with reference to the filter step. The frame transmits tangibly the sense of high quality and it is not possible to detect any tolerance or mechanical play to the point that, collapsing the telescopic hood with the front cap fitted, the latter is literally projected out of the compressed air during the

 

 

The point of faith zone shows the references for the depth of field (really not very indicative in such a long focal length), the red tactile reference sphere for mounting on the camera body and the indication of the focal length; notice how the glazes are deposited in the relative alveoli in a slightly approximate way (and the other Leitz objectives meet even more conspicuous imperfections), while - historically - the best Japanese competition has never had such problems, presenting perfectly deposited and dried enamels location: probably - it is a personal opinion - at Leitz they had not found a technological partner in the sector appropriate to those that supplied the Japanese brands. Finally, note the wrinkled finish of the collar and the very thin parallel grooves produced by the cutter on the lens aluminum.

 

 

The "nameplate data" are shown on the hood ring of the hood and are always, voluntarily, oriented in phase with the faith line of focus.

 

 

The classic Leica R bayonet of the Telyt-R 350mm f / 4.8, given the masses involved, is firmly secured with 6 screws; the lens is equipped with 3 cams and has a rear light baffle, in a matte finish, which connects the rear lens to the bayonet itself. Note the small diameter of the rear lenses: in fact Mandler, to guarantee the lens a sufficiently slim barrel and remain within the common 77mm filter pitch, has not abounded with the diameters of the lenses, and as we shall see the lens has a certain vignetting, also officially declared by the same House. The blue arrow indicates the button that unlocks the collar, allowing the rotation of the

 

 

The lens used the classic 14162 rear cap while the front cap is specific, made of semi-rigid resin with a rough texture and 4 white Leitz serigraphs on the front; this cap, code 14284, has a useful diameter of 83.5mm (corresponding to the external diameter of the removable hood) and has a strip of glued felt inside to prevent damage to the hood; an absolutely similar plug was also supplied with the contemporary MR-Telyt-R 500mm f / 8 with mirrors.

 

 

The standard equipment also includes a black cow leather bag, marked Germany on the back, with an automatic opening guaranteed; on the lid it shows if the Leitz mark punched by pressure and the special shoulder strap was supplied for the same cup.

 

 

The 350mm focal length, which corresponds to 7 ° of field on the 43.2mm diagonal of the 24x36mm format, is really unusual and probably was chosen to be placed without obvious overlaps between the 250mm of the Telyt-R and the 500mm of the MR-Telyt, presented in Contemporary; other famous lenses that share the same focal length are the Canon EF 35-350mm f / 3.5-5.6 L zoom, the Nikkor-T 350mm f / 4.5 of 1959 for Nikon S rangefinder (e, with adapter S - F, also for Nikon F) and the Zeiss Tele-Tessar 350mm f / 5.6 C and CF for Hasselblad series V; in other cases the focal point faded to 360mm, as in the case of the zoom-Nikkor 360-1200mm f / 11 ED, of the Nikkor-T 360mm f / 8 ED for large formats or of the EL-Nikkor 360mm f / 5,

 

 

The important dimensions are highlighted by this image, where the Telyt-R 350mm f / 4.8 type 11915 is combined with the Apo-Telyt-R 180mm f / 3,4 type 11240 and the Elmarit-R 180mm f / 2, 8 type 11919.

An accessory that can be useful and that was presented simultaneously to the Telyt-R 350mm, at the Photokina 1980, is the Leitz Extender-R 2x focal multiplier, the first duplicator produced by the House to double the focal length of its lenses from 50mm to 800mm , with brightness equal to or less than f / 2.

 

 

This accessory, encoded as 11236 (compatible with R bodies) or 11237 (suitable for Leicaflex SL and SL2 models), uses in practice the same chassis as the 30mm Macro-Extender-R extension tube designed to mate with the new Macro version -Elmarit-R 60mm f / 2.8, also launched at Photokina 1980, and applied to the Telyt-R 350mm is a 700mm f / 9.6 system, a definitely modest brightness that makes it impossible to focus with glass standard fire with stigmometer and crown of microprisms, inevitably dark, requiring the adoption of a completely frosted glass; in the current combinations with digital reflex bodies of other manufacturers is without

 

 

The Leitz Extender-R 2x uses a tiny optical core of 5 lenses in 4 groups, 3 of which, however, made with the famous Leitz optical glass type 900/1 - 900405, famous as "Noctilux glass" because it is present in the diagram optic both of the aspheric f / 1.2 version and of the f / 1.0 version, a glass from the lanthanum dense Flint series that is at the physical limits of the feasible and that is very expensive: it may be for this reason that the Extender-R was proposed in 1992 (official Polyphoto price list) at the breathtaking price of 2,380,000 Lire? The very recessed pattern leaves room for the very backward lenses of models like the Summicron-R 50mm f / 2 but this configuration,

 

 

... especially due to the fact that the last rear lens of the lens is small in diameter and close enough to the rear bayonet to generate a projection that is well intercepted by the duplicator.

 

The remarkable compactness of the Extender-R 2x almost imperceptibly increases the size of the voluminous lens, a definitely positive factor.

 

In fact, applying the original 2x multiplier to the Canon EF - L zoom which has a similar focal length, the bulk of the Japanese extender almost equalized the bulk of the Telyt-R equipped with 2x Leitz!

The Telyt-R 350mm f / 4.8 is a historically very important target because it lives in a sort of limbo, constituting the last powerful telephoto lens made by a large house before the advent of the so-called ED glass in generalized use, characterized by a very low dispersion (number of Abbe> 80), endowed with partial dispersion which is also anomalous and capable of drastically suppressing the secondary spectrum, a typical cause of fringings in high-contrast passages and of declines in definition that characterize, to varying degrees, the super - traditional canvases; just the reasonable cost access to low dispersion glasses and aspherical surfaces made with new and articulated technologies has allowed a great progress in the design of extreme focal lenses, to the point that today the real discriminator lies in assembly tolerances and not in the project itself; Leitz would have come to use ED glass as such only 4 years later, with the Apo-Telyt-R 280mm f / 2.8 (the same apo-Telyt-R 180mm f / 3.4, contrary to popular belief, uses a special PSK glass that has an Abbe number of just over 66, so it is not a material tout court as we understand it today: the squaring of this 180 is in the alchemy of combinations and reciprocal relationships of anomalous partial dispersion, not in the use of "magic" materials; perhaps the House was penalized in this by its autarchic pride which prevented it from freely drawing on the ED materials regularly available in the lists of glassworks such as Schott, Hoya, Ohara, Corning, Hikari, etc .; the fact is that Mandler, by designing his 350mm refraction, was not allowed to predict the now widespread ED glasses with Abbe vD number = 81.6 such as the Schott N-PK52A, the Hikari E-FK01, the Ohara S- FPL51, The Hoya FCD1 or the Sumita PFK80, now present in handfuls in many modern objectives, and with this "blunt weapons",

Mandler, as usual, turned out to be brilliant, creating a telephoto lens that corrects the secondary spectrum as much as possible with more traditional materials, aiming instead to increase the subjective perception of quality by providing the Telyt-R 350mm with a truly excellent contrast, which turned out to be also very useful for reducing the perception of haze generated by the long-distance atmospheric veil; the mechanical quotas, evidently imposed, did not allow him to completely eliminate the vignetting at the larger diaphragms and these two characteristics (very high contrast and not completely correct vignetting), according to my personal and not shared opinion, donate to the

Vediamo come si comporta il nostro campione proiettandolo di forza nell'epoca moderna ed abbinandolo ad una Canon EOS 5D Mark II e scattando in RAW a 14bit con apertura f/8, considerata la migliore dagli utenti del Telyt-R 350mm (riprese a mano libera, camminando per la città, in manuale con 1/500" - 1/640", variando di conseguenza i valori ISO da 100 fino a 400 a seconda delle esigenze).

 

 

This view of the Benedictine bell tower of S. Maria Foris Portam in Faenza, almost 1,000 years old, immediately shows its typical behavior: perceptible vignetting, overall sharpness in the reproduction of the subject, no veil threshold in the shadows and a tendency to emphasize the tones cold in colors and shadows.

 

 

A 100% crop of the original image (5,616 x 3,744 pixels, 21.1 megapixels) reveals a satisfying detail, although not exactly calligraphic like that exhibited by the most modern best canvases - even zoom - apochromatic; however, this is an excellent performance.

 

 

High contrast also in the reproduction of this architectural relief; the House declared a high contrast and a good rendering of details, with excellent holding of the flare, admitting however, in addition to vignetting, the persistence of a certain residue of secondary spectrum which, although reduced to a minimum thanks to the adoption of not better specified " special glasses "conceived in the internal glassworks, could become visible in practical use in the form of fringings in passages to another contrast; by chance, the sensor-filter-chipset package of the EOS 5D Mark II is one of the most effective fringing "exaltants", so let's look in detail
Telyt's behavior by enlarging this image to 100%.

 

 

The fringe, on a detail to the side of the frame, more critical, appears conspicuous, but it must be considered that a similar magnification in vision is pure theory, in practical use and in print the defect of reproduction would not be so perceptible; in any case it is a quite anomalous fringing, because, usually, the colors to be corrected are red / cyan and very rarely an intervention is required in the range of blue-violet / yellow ... In this case I opened the file in the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in of Adobe Photoshop CS5, and a mapping of -50 on blue / yellow with a retouch of +6 to red / cian is sufficient to eliminate the inconvenience almost completely, although the

 

System that recalls the Leica M yield even in this architectural detail of the Morri-Gaudenzi sloping house, with a pleasant contrast that supports the available resolution very well; also note here the prompt exaltation of every slightest cold dominant.

 

 

Similar consideration for this particular of Palazzo Zucchini: good contrast and visible toning to cold tones in the shadowy areas indirectly illuminated by the sky.

 

The minimum focusing distance of just 3m is favorable (it allows to frame a subject of 171 x 257mm) and thanks to the flotation the optical yield remains good even for short conjugates; naturally it is necessary to deal with a reduced depth of field.

The lens is therefore able to still provide excellent performance, with good resolution and high contrast, without internal reflections in the barrel despite the large space between the optical elements; as regards his propensity to vividly reproduce the blue colors of the sky and to exalt the cold dominants, I would like to propose a hypothesis.

The "special glasses" adopted by Mandler and heralded by the réclame of the Brand certainly belong to a series of PK - PSK type compounds with a high content of fluorides and metapostats devised by the two brilliant chemists of the Wetzlar glassworks, Heinz Broemer and Norbert Meinert, among mid 60s and early 70s; I enclose some diagrams that show the chemical composition of these glasses and the relative characteristics of refraction, dispersion and anomalous partial dispersion.

 

As can be seen, these glasses do not have exceptional dispersive values ​​v (referring to the E-line wavelength, green mercury line, 546.074nm), reaching an Abbe number between about 65 and about 70, while the ED glasses properly said they exceed the value 80, but their refraction n in relation to vE and their anomalous partial dispersion allow them to be used with profit in the production of well-corrected telephoto lenses; what must be emphasized is how all these glasses are made using large quantities of metaphosphates and fluorides (calcium fluoride, magnesium, strontium, lithium, barium, aluminum, lanthanum, the latter not to be confused with its oxide,

It is therefore possible that this propensity to transmit the shorter frequencies of the visible so well depends precisely on the intrinsic characteristics of the contained dispersion glasses used in its packaging; I remember that a similar situation occurred in 1961, even with the first models of the Nikkor-Q Auto 20cm f / 4 for Nikon F, where the adoption of glass with these characteristics guaranteed such transparency at the short wavelengths to be supplied even a generalized cold dominant.

To synthesize, the Telyt-R 350mm f / 4.8 is the most powerful Leica R refraction telephoto lens equipped with optical scheme and traditional glasses, helical focus and automatic diaphragm; its very high price has contained production in just 2,650 copies but, apart from its relative rarity, it is interesting precisely because it synthesizes and crystallizes an extremely important historical moment for Leitz and for optics in general: it is the last, great super-high performance obtained, certainly with great calculation difficulties, in the absence of ED glass, while guaranteeing a high and worthy yield of the Brand; if that wasn't enough, it is part of the extremely restricted list of the latest calculations made by Walter Mandler, practically his swan song after the great Apo-Telyt 180; all these features, in addition to the magnificent workmanship, make it a very interesting and collectible target after years of being surely wronged by the Leicists; among other things it is still usable with profit and easily adaptable for digital daily use on Canon EOS (with adapter ring) or Nikon (replacing the bayonet with reversible practice), waiting for what, for now (August 2012 ), it is only rumored ... all these features, in addition to the magnificent workmanship, make it a very interesting and collectible target after years of being surely wronged by the Leicists; among other things it is still usable with profit and easily adaptable for digital daily use on Canon EOS (with adapter ring) or Nikon (replacing the bayonet with reversible practice), waiting for what, for now (August 2012 ), it is only rumored ... all these features, in addition to the magnificent workmanship, make it a very interesting and collectible target after years of being surely wronged by the Leicists; among other things it is still usable with profit and easily adaptable for digital daily use on Canon EOS (with adapter ring) or Nikon (replacing the bayonet with reversible practice), waiting for what, for now (August 2012 ), it is only rumored ...