LEICA VARIO ELMAR R 28-70mm(ROM/11364)

Japanese made standard zoom lens

A review and photo examples of the Vario Elmar 28-70.

Gallery

Film examples were taken with LEICA R8 and KODAK GOLD 200, film scanned with DiMAGE Scan Multi PRO

Digital photo examples were taken with a SONY A7SII

Review

Usage
Lens overview
Comparison with competitors

1．Usage

This lens is about the later model (11364) Vario-Elmar 28-70 F3.5-4.5 ROM lens (hereafter referred to as the later model VE). Therefore, it is different from the earlier model (11265) Vario-Elmar 28-70 F3.5-4.5 lens (hereafter referred to as the earlier model VE).

In terms of appearance, the lens barrel is quite large, and when attached to the Leica R8, it is almost well balanced, but when attached to the Sony α7 Sii, the lens is larger and looks like a higher-end constant F-number zoom lens.

In terms of color tone, when shooting with the Sony α7 Sii digital camera, the default color tone setting tends to be bland. This is the same impression when using negative film, and KODAK negative film tends to have bland colors to begin with, but when shooting with this lens, many of the photos were lacking in saturation overall, and I wanted to increase the saturation after scanning. The results may change if you use a film that has a slightly more flashy appearance like Fujifilm, or shoot with a slightly higher exposure. You can make the image more flashy by increasing the saturation with image editing software.

Regarding resolution, at full aperture, the image is not sharp and is somewhat blurry at all focal lengths, so this lens should be used at a certain aperture. In particular, the image quality at the wide-angle and telephoto ends, which are often used with zoom lenses, is not so good, making it difficult to use. Also, although it is not clear whether this is due to the cloudiness of the lens I own or the lens itself being old, there is a decrease in contrast and the occurrence of ghosting when shooting in backlight.

Regarding distortion correction, there is a certain amount of barrel distortion at 28mm, and the distortion can be confirmed when shooting linear buildings. It is almost not noticeable around 35mm, so it seems that the distortion correction at the wide-angle end is insufficient.

Regarding the minimum shooting distance, it is 50cm at all focal lengths, and at the telephoto end focal length of 70mm, it feels like you can get close enough, but when you actually use it, I experienced that if you step in a little further, the focus is not corrected.

2．Lens overview

The early VE and late VE have the same lens configuration and specifications, but the difference is the lens barrel design. Since they were manufactured at different years, the lens coating and internal mechanisms may have changed, but I have never used the early model and do not intend to disassemble and compare the two, so the fine differences are unknown. It was often said in the past that this lens was designed and manufactured by Sigma in Japan.

The late VE has a focus ring at the front and a zoom ring at the front, and the focus ring rotates clockwise from infinity to the shortest setting, and the zoom ring rotates clockwise from the wide end 28mm to the tele end 70mm. Other Leica zoom lenses, such as the Vario-Elmar 21-35, have similar ring movements, so they are aligned with the style of rotating Leica zooms. By the way, the Sigma zoom ring rotates counterclockwise when moving from wide to tele, so it is reversed.

The lens barrel changes in length as it zooms and focuses, but there is no visible change when the hood is attached, and the lens extension and contraction are completed inside the hood. A lens with a similar mechanism is the Vario-Elmar 35-70 F4.

The appearance does not change when the hood is attached, but in reality, the lens barrel is most extended at 28mm and most retracted at 70mm. This is a reasonable state for a hood fixed to the front of the lens. However, since the hood itself is not very long, the light blocking effect of the hood at 70mm is limited.

With the LEICA SL typ601, LEICA T series, and LEICA CL, if you use the genuine Leica mount adapter, Leica R-Adapter L (16076), you can transfer lens information to the camera if the lens has a ROM terminal.

3．Comparison with competitors

When shooting with a Canon EOS-1Ds MKIII, an error 20 (Err20) occurs every time a picture is taken. As far as I can tell from my own camera, this error occurs only with wide-angle lenses, such as ELMARIT-R 19mm-II, SUPER ANGULON-R 21mmF4, VARIO ELMAR-R 21-35mm, ELMARIT-R 28mm(I), ELMARIT-R 24mm, and SUMMILUX-R 35mm F1.4. I haven’t attached it to check, but it’s likely that both the SUPER ELMARIT and SUPER ELMAR 15mm lenses cannot be used.

When used with a HASSELBLAD X2D7, the image circle has more room than a 35mm full-frame sensor, and the ratio of usable image size is shown in the table below.

There is no vignetting effect at 50mm or more, and the image becomes more distorted the further out you go, but it can be used if you accept the purpose. At 28mm, the effect of vignetting can be seen, but overall it is clear that this is a lens with a wide image circle.

Some zoom lenses are designed with a generous image circle like this.

Focal length	Percentage of usable images
70mm	100%
50mm	100%
35mm	95%
28mm	82%

Specification

Lens name	VARIO ELMAR	← (11364)	←	←
Constructor	LEICA	SIGMA	Kyocera?	Kyocera?
Focal length(mm)	21-35	28-70	35-70	80-200
Max aperture	3.5-4	3.5-4.5	4	←
Min aperture	22	22	←	←
Leaf blade	6	←	←	←
Lens Construction	9 elements in 8 groups	11 elements in 8 groups	8 elements in 7 groups	12 elements in 8 groups
Min distance(m)	0.5	←	0.5 (0.26 macro)	1.1
Lens length(mm)	66.3	70	79	46
Max diameter(mm)	75	69	74	62.5
Filter Size(mm)	67	60	60	60
Weight(g)	500	452	505	1020
Lens hood	Prastic crow 12438	Screw type 12437	Screw type 12437	Build in
Production number*1	3,400(Until 2005)	9,100(Until 2003)	8,680(Until 2005)	14,350(Until 2005)
Release date	2001-	1997-	1996-	1995-