Leica 180mm f/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R Aperture Series: Pines in Heavy Snowstorm (A7R II)
Related: apochromatic, Leica, Leica 180mm, Leica 180mm f/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R, Leica Elmarit and Elmar, Leica Elmarit-R and Elmar-R, Leica Lenses, Leica R lenses, Sony, Sony A7R, Sony A7R II, Sony A7R III, Sony mirrorless, weather events
Last fall I shot a lot of material with many different optics, and here is one result.
Leica 180mm f/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R Aperture Series: Pines in Heavy Snowstorm (Sony A7R II)
The 180mm focal length is badly neglected by Canon, Nikon, Zeiss and Sigma. The Leica 180mm f/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R can be adapted for Canon, Nikon, Sony, but it is most useful on the Sony A7R II. There is no better solution for the ~180mm range as of early 2016.
Only a lens with outstanding performance characteristics could hope to record this scene in a persuasive way: snow coming down so heavily that it was thick to the eye, with ultra low contrast from both the lighting itself, as well as air thick with snow. A lens with less than outstanding performance will add its own dullness to an already dull scene. That fate is avoided by the Leica 180/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R ASPH.
The Leica 180mm f/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R and its siblings like the Leica 280mm f/4 APO-Telyt-R and 90mm f/2 APO-Summicron-R ASPH must be obtained on the used market. But ironically they are more useful than they have ever been on the Sony A7R II: no Leica camera body (or Nikon or Canon DSLR) ever made them particularly usable.
Sony A7R II + Leica 180mm f/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R
[low-res image for bot]
