LEICA VARIO ELMAR R 21-35 ASPH.
Review and Photo example of the VARIO-ELMAR-R 21-35mm F3.5-4 ASPH.
Table of contents
Gallery
- Sample photos taken with the Leica R8 +DMR(Digital Module R),LEICA M-P Typ240,LEICA SL typ601 and HASSELBLAD X2D.
Review
The Vario Elmar 21-35mm ASPH is a Leica R mount wide-angle zoom lens, and wide-angle zoom lenses from the late 2010s have a starting focal length of 15mm, which is wider than 16mm, so the 21mm spec feels outdated. However, it is a lens that covers a valuable wide-angle range for the Leica R mount.
A lens with a wider angle than this lens is a single focal length 19mm or 15mm, and since the Super Angulon R 21mm has not been updated to the latest model and there are some dissatisfaction with the image quality, this compact and lightweight lens is useful in a variety of shooting situations. .
The hood of this lens rotates and hooks with a claw, and since the hood and claw are all made of plastic, they are easily damaged.I once dropped the hood from a 30cm table onto a tatami mat and the hood was damaged. At that time, the claws on the hood seemed to absorb all the impact of the fall, and the lens was unharmed, so this may be the case. After that, I imported a new hood from America and bought it at a good price. The store seemed to have a few in stock, and I later realized that I should have bought more than one. The food is already sold out at that store, so they can’t afford to damage the current one.
The weak point of this lens is that the minimum focusing distance is 0.5m, and I think it would be perfect if you could get as close as 0.3m, which is often used with 35mm focal lengths, but sometimes I feel like this lens doesn’t go that far. This lens was often used with the broken R8+ DMR (Digital Module R), and due to the sensor size of the DMR, it had a factor of 1.37, so it was useful as a standard 28mm-50mm lens.
The lenses I own have a ROM terminal, and the Leica SL/CL (SL2/SL2-S are probably the same) will tell you the focal length, aperture value, and shooting distance. There are several Leica R zoom lenses with ROM terminals, but the following are lenses like this one that transmit information on focal length, aperture value, and shooting distance.
- Vario Elmar 80-200(F4)
- Vario Elmar 35-70(F4)
As long as I used Vario Elmar 105-280 (F4.8) and Vario Apo Elmarito 70-180 (F2.8) with the LEICA SL typ601, the wide end 105mm and 70mm were recorded in EXIF no matter what focal length I shot at.
I don’t know about the Vario Elmar 28-70 because I didn’t have a LEICA SL or CL body when I got it, and I don’t know about the Vario Elmarito 28-90 and Vario Elmarito 35-70 because I never got them.
It turned out that this lens could not be used properly with the EOS-1DsMKIII due to Err20. Like the Elmarito R 19mm, Elmarito R 24mm, and Summilux R 35mm, the protrusion on the rear lens seems to be caught by a sensor that indicates an abnormality on the camera side. The only wide-angle lens I have that I can use is the late model Elmarito R 28mm.
The HASSELBLAD X2D and FUJIFILM GFX series of digital medium format cameras have focal lengths of 35mm (equivalent to 28mm at x0.8) and 28mm (equivalent to 22.4mm at x0.8) covered by an image circle of 44mm x 33mm.The 35mm focal length gives the impression that the peripheral areas are more usable than the SUMMICRON 35mm. The 21mm at the wide end is sharpened at the four corners and the edges are quite soft, and the focal length of the 21mm seems to be at the limit of what it can be used as is, indicating that it was designed for the 35mm format.
For focal lengths of 28mm or longer, the wide image circle to cover 21mm seems to have a positive effect.
Below are the results taken with HASSELBLAD X2D at focal lengths of 21mm, 28mm, and 35mm.The image circle of 21mm is insufficient for the mask area.
Specification
| Lens name | VARIO ELMAR | ← | ← |
| Focal length(mm) | 21-35 | 35-70 | 80-200 |
| Max aperture | 3.5-4 | 4 | ← |
| Min aperture | 22 | ← | ← |
| Leaf blade | 6 | ← | ← |
| Lens Construction | 9elements in 8groups | 8elements in 7groups | 12elements in 8groups |
| Min distance(m) | 0.5 | 0.5 (0.26 macro) | 1.1 |
| Lens length(mm) | 66.3 | 79 | 46 |
| Max diameter(mm) | 75 | 74 | 62.5 |
| Filter Size(mm) | 67 | 60 | 60 |
| Weight(g) | 500 | 505 | 1020 |
| Lens hood | Plastic claw hood 12438 | Screw hood 12437 | Build in hood |
| Production number*1 | 3,400(Up to 2005) | 8,680(Up to 2005) | 14,350(Up to 2005) |
| Release date | 2001- | 1996- | 1995- |
Reference links
Update
- 2024.03.09
- 2023.12.02
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