VARIO APO ELMARIT R 70-180mm F2.8

The pinnacle of R-mount telephoto zoom lenses

A review and Photo example of the LEICA VARIO APO ELMARIT R 70-180mm F2.8.

Gallery

VARIO-APO-ELMARIT-R 2.8/70-180 Photo example (ESO1DsMKIII)

Review

1．Overview

The Vario Apo-Elmarit (Elmarit) R 70-180mm F2.8 was released at the end of the Leica R mount, and 2250 were made between 1995 and 2000. I have seen a lens with an R cam and a ROM terminal.

The lens I own has a ROM terminal, serial number 378xxxx, and is one of 500 made in 1997, and I bought it at a fairly high price. One problem with using the Leica genuine L-R lens adapter (16076) is that the focal length recorded in exif is 70mm regardless of the focal length of the lens. This may be a problem with the R adapter L and the LEICA SL typ601, but if the focal length information is sloppy, it seems that the flash operation will also be suspicious, but since almost no one uses a flash with this lens, it probably won’t be a problem.

Also, since it is a medium telephoto lens and there is no protrusion on the rear lens, it can be used without any problems with the EOS-1DsMK III.

Lens adapter for L (16076) – Image taken from Leica official website

2．Usage

If you don’t mind the weight of 2kg, this is a convenient lens that can handle focal lengths of 70mm, 90mm, 135mm, and 180mm.

It’s unfortunate that the minimum shooting distance is 1.7m throughout the entire range, which is limited to the 180mm specification.

The APO-Elmarit 180mm is a short-focus lens that costs about 300,000 yen, so if you have to choose one, you’ll have to decide whether to go for the sharpness of a prime lens or the convenience of a zoom.

The advantage of the Vario APO-Elmarit R 70-180mm F2.8 is that it is a zoom lens.

The advantage of the APO-Elmarit 180mm is that it has a short minimum shooting distance of 1.5m and is lightweight at 1kg, about half the weight of this lens.

The lens is operated in accordance with the rotating zoom lens of the Leica R mount lens, with a zoom sling at the base to change the focal length, and a focus ring in the middle.

MF rotating zoom lenses are easier to use with the focus ring at the front, so this is a rational arrangement. The focal length is changed internally inside the lens barrel, but changing the focal length changes the lens length slightly. The shortest lens length is 180mm and the longest is 70mm.

The lens hood is built-in, and when pulled out, it is about 30mm long from the front end of the lens. Although the hood is longer than nothing, it has almost no effect on image quality, even in backlit situations.

3．Add info.

This lens adopts F2.8 at all focal lengths in line with the trend of the times.

Zoom lenses with F2.8 at all focal lengths are a specialty of Japanese manufacturers, and a zoom lens with similar specifications costs at most 200,000 yen if made in Japan, but the used price of this lens is about twice to three times that amount. Since there are few of these lenses in circulation in Japan, the used price at shops is always bullish. In 2023-2024, when this article was written, it was available on eBay for around 300,000 yen, so it seems that the price has fallen worldwide. Relatively new F2.8 zoom lenses from Japanese manufacturers have been released with a minimum shooting distance of about 1.2m, so they are inferior in terms of specifications. And as of 2024, Japanese lenses have become much more expensive, but Leica lenses have risen in price even more.

This lens is the first zoom lens to be named with an APO, and its name is unique. Only this lens has the order Vario-APO-name, while other APO-name zoom lenses are unified in the order APO-Vario-name. When you look at this lens, you wonder why it’s like that, but I guess there’s no deep reason, like the first person in charge named it without much thought, or the second person in charge didn’t like the sound and changed it, but as far as I’ve researched, I’ve never seen any mention of this.

There are only a few zoom lenses that are considered Leica originals, and the following would fit the bill. I’ve heard that Panasonic is collaborating with them on the SL lenses, but the details of this have not been made public. This is in contrast to the fact that I’ve heard that some of the TL lenses are designed and manufactured by KM. This may be because they are proactive in filing patents.

Vario Elmar R 21–35mm F3.5-4.0 ASPH.
Vario Elmarit R 35-70mm F2.8 ASPH.
Vario Elmarit R 28-90mm F2.8-4.5 ASPH.
Vario Elmar R 105mm–280mm F4.2
Super Vario Elmar SL 16-35mm F3.5-4.5 ASPH.
Vario Elmarit SL 24-90mm F2.8-4 ASPH.
APO Vario Elmarit SL 90-280mm F2.8-4 ASPH.

Specification

Item	Value	note
focal length(mm)	70-180	180
Maximum aperture	2.8	2.8
Minimum aperture	22	22
Lens configuration	13elements in 10 groups	7 elements in 5 groups
Leaf blade	8	8
Minimum distance(m)	1.7	1.5
Lens length(mm)	189.5	132
Lens max diameter(mm)	89	76
Filter diameter(mm)	77	67
Weight(g)	1870	970
Production numbers	2,250	400
Release date	Year 1995	Product end y2000