APO-Tele-Elmar-S 180mm f/3.5

At the time of writing, the 180mm offering in the Leica S lens line up is the longest focal length available without employing an adapter for other lens makes. With the field of view equivalent to a 144mm in 35mm terms it is not a particularly long telephoto, perfect for portraiture. As with other reviews of this system, I am not at all focusing on the technical aspect of the equipment. There are only so many reviews we need on the internet that outline the MTF perfection of this system. Attaching this lens to an S or S2 body shifts the center of gravity of the system further forward into your left hand. It is quite a nice experience, far more balanced than the 70mm. I could have shot all day with this lens.

This review was written based on a short amount of time with the lens. It was kindly given to us by PRA Imaging on Newcastle Street. We will update this review in the future as more experience presents itself. In the line up, the 180mm is noticeably larger than the 70mm and only significantly larger than the 30mm when the hood is attached. With the hood on I noticed that it does not fit in my small sling style camera bag, reversing the hood for storage was necessary. I should note, that this is the next S lens I intend to buy. The combination of the 30mm, 70mm and 180mm essentially covers every shooting condition I face. If it were not for the unsuitable camera bag I had for all three of these lenses, changing between them would not have been an issue.

If the size and heft of the lens didn't work to command your confidence, then knowing the level of detail that is retained from corner to corner will. There is nothing that this lens does not do well. Hand held down to 1/180th of a second it is still very easy to capture sharp images free of motion blur, a quality I attribute to the amount of inertia to overcome. The field of view of the 180mm is outstanding for landscape photography. I cannot wait to be able to take this lens up into the states north. As I have often found myself doing using the Leica S system, I was looking for scenes that abuse the cameras ability to render sharp detail and high dynamic range. A grass tree forrest as seen from an opposing hill side was the perfect opportunity to do that.

 

 

The image above is a rather severe crop. You can see just how well Leica lenses handle flaring. As with every other S lens I have used, the focusing is very accurate. The depth of field at f/3.5 at short focusing distances is quite shallow and the lens does exactly as it is commanded. It is not the fastest to focus, with all the weight of the glass to move around, but the speed is not slow enough to get in the way of capturing moving subjects.