VARIO ELMAR R 70-210 F4

Japanese-made linear zoom lens

A review and Photo example of the LEICA R mount VARIO LMAR R 70-210 F4.

Gallery

The sample photo were taken with the CANON EOS 1Ds MKIII

Review

Overview
Usability
Add info

1．Overview

The Vario-Elmar-R 70-210mm is the third of four Leica R F4 class zoom lenses, and is a Japanese-made lens designed and manufactured by Minolta, with 14,000 units produced.

Its main specifications are a lens configuration of 12 elements in 9 groups, a minimum shooting distance of 1.1m throughout the entire range, a shooting magnification of 1:4 at 210mm, and 7 aperture blades.

Although it is a Leica brand, it is made in Japan and is therefore very cheap.

2．Usage

Since this is a zoom lens from the manual focus (MF) era, it uses a linear zoom system. In linear zoom, the focal length is changed by moving the lens barrel back and forth (210mm when stored, 70mm when extended), and the lens barrel rotates to adjust the focus. Zoom lenses from the autofocus (AF) era have a two-ring system with a separate zoom ring and focus ring.

Speaking of linear zoom, when I started using cameras, AF zoom lenses were at their peak and separate zoom rings and focus rings were the norm, so I remember being impressed when I used the linear zoom of the Tamron Adaptall 2 that I bought to play around with mounts. With MF zoom lenses, it’s a reasonable operation method that allows you to zoom and focus at the same time.

Despite being inexpensive, the image is stable, and I feel that it is made by Minolta.
The front and back bokeh is smooth and does not feel noisy with double-line bokeh.
False colors are not noticeable at any focal length, and backlighting is not a big problem, so this is enough for this price.

It weighs 720g, so it’s not heavy. Because it’s long and thin, it looks unbalanced when attached to a large camera, but that doesn’t cause any problems when using it.

Perhaps because of the F4 aperture, it’s easy to find the focus peak even with the EOS viewfinder in bright places such as outdoors on a sunny day.

3．Add info.

Of the four generations of F4 class zoom lenses, the first three were made by Minolta, and the fourth was made by Kyocera.

The Minolta model number of this lens is MD ZOOM 70-210mm F/4. The difference between the Minolta and Leica versions is that the Leica version has a built-in hood and a 60mm filter diameter, and the lens exterior design is different.

The lens I own is a 3CAM specification, serial number 358xxxx, one of 3000 made in 1991, and is a relatively common lens on the market at a low price. I have never seen this lens in any version other than the 3CAM version, and there is a ROM version of the fourth generation Vario-Elmar R 80-200 made by Kyocera for the R8/R9, so this would be the one to use.

It is a medium telephoto lens with no protruding rear lens, so it can be used without errors with the EOS-1DsMKIII.

Specification

Items	VARIO ELMAR	←	←	←
Focal length(mm)	80-200	75-200	70-210	80-200
Max aperture	4.5	←	4	←
Min aperture	22	←	←	←
Lens Construction	14elements in 10groups	15elements in 11groups	12elements in 9groups	12elements in 8groups
Leaf blade	6	8	7	8
Min distance(m)	1.8	1.2	1.1	1.1
Lens length(mm)	–	157〜	163〜195	165
Max diameter(mm)	–	70	73.5	71
Filter Size(mm)	55	←	60	←
Zoom method	Push/Pull	←	←	2 ring
Weight(g)	625	725	720	1,020
Release date to product end	1974〜1978	1978〜1984	1983〜2000	1996〜2009
Production numbers	4,500-	27,100-	14,250	14,350+
Manufacturer	Minolta	←	←	Kyocera
OEM	Minolta MC Rokkor 80-200mm F/4.5	MINOLTA MD ZOOM ROKKOR 75-200mm 1:4.5	MINOLTA MD ZOOM 70-210mm 1:4