I had a Leica R5 with 35-70 for a while and I sort of agree that "Leica lens quality" is slightly overhyped the images I got from it, especially Kodak slide film certainly had another feel and look to them, it just seems to render the image in a different way to Japanese lens. Your milage may vary.
I wouldn't judge Leica lenses based on results from those Minolta designed wide angle zooms.
The copy of the zoom I have was made by Kyocera so, as you rightly say, not really Leica.
I think there were two versions of the 35-70mm R lens, one is well regarded I seem to remember.
I've never seen or heard of one of those.
Sorry! Here is a picture, I'll post more when its arrived and probably immediately waist a few rolls of film when it does too! It's the nearest to the xpan in terms of exposure size. I believe you get 14 exposures from a 24exp film.
I hadn't thought about that, but I guess if you're fast enough you could!Is that one with a moving slit - used for groups, where you can start at one end, run round the back and appear at the other?
It's a panoramic 35mm camera. Some only crop the top and the bottom of the exposure off giving a typical frame the look of a panorama but this gives a 120 degree view with fixed focal lengths.
From 1969 til 2014 I shot Leicaflex SL and SL2 and owned most 2 cam lenses from 21 f/4.0 to 560 f/6.8. I had the original 90 f/2.8 and, while at one time or other I had the use of most R lenses, I don't believe I ever used the 90 f/2.0. The Leica Compendium only lists 2 versions - 1969 and 1987 - and says the optical design was unchanged.
The APO certainly will outperform the others. I wonder how the 85 f/1.4 Zeiss Otus compares?
Love that camera, had 3 back in the day kept 1 of them for posterity but rarely use it just put a blind roll through at least once a month.
Update,
It arrived today, I've not had a chance to have a proper play with it yet but it's a lovely lens, very well made and solid, bigger than I expected but not too big.
So I was forced in to the loft to locate a dozen or so rolls of slide that need processing.......didn't find em..Well that’s a very kind gesture and I accept as long as you’re sure. If you change your mind for whatever reason there’ll be no hard feelings from this end
I had a GX which was a wonderful camera but I always felt it was so fantastic that I didn't dare using it very much. I sold all my Yashica gear to fund some other purchases. It's a never ending story.Not a new toy, strictly speaking, but the return of an old favourite.
This is the Yashica Electro 35 GX that I bought back in 2011. After a few years and with a burgeoning collection combined with no time to use them, I decided to sell. Suz ( @srichards ) bought it and I thought I'd move on to using my Canon P when I needed a rangefinder fix.
Fast forward and it turned out that this is one camera I really missed. Even after I lost my photo-mojo, I regretted not having this little thing. I'd put in a lot of research before buying as I was looking specifically for a rangefinder with aperture priority, something of a rarity back in the day. The Yashica gives cracking images despite my fat fingers and it's small, light and robust enough to pop in a bag and forget until needed.
A couple of weeks ago I contacted Suz and asked if she still had the camera and whether she'd be interested in selling it back. I think you can see how the story ends.
Suz generously included a roll of film too, a Washi ISO500 I've never used before. Thanks again, Suz!
