Leitz Telyt II 400mm/F5 (Visoflex M39)

[tb_a]

Today I've received my "newest" lens, the Leitz Telyt 400/5. This lens was introduced in 1956 and was built until 1966. Only something like 3000 lenses have been built during this 10 years production period. My copy is from 1964 and in pristine condition.
More details about this lens can be found here: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/F_%3D_40_cm_1:5_Telyt_II

Here are my first boaring test shots in order to check it's performance. I've used my Ricoh GXR-M APS-C camera, therefore the field of view corresponds to a 600mm lens on FF.

Wide open at F5, distance apprx. 400m:



Same at F8:



Again wide open apprx. 100m:



100% crop:



All in all I have to say that this lens performs acceptable well. Besides some traces of purple fringing, particularly when used at fully open aperture, there is nothing to complain about.
The only drawback is it's size and weight (slightly above 2 kg). The built in huge sun shade is a nice additional feature and due to it's very long flange focal distance it's adaptable to almost every camera.

Will see when I can provide some "real" pictures. As I've acquired several "new" lenses in the recent time I cannot promise anything yet.

Cheers,

[tb_a]

Some more test shots (same outfit as before):

F8:





100% crop:



I must admit that I am finally impressed about the performance of this 54 years old lens. I'm considering the EUR 350 purchase price as a very good investment which closed the gap I had up to now between my 300 and 500mm lenses.

[tb_a]

As I was rather bored today I thought I can do some testing to do something....

This time I used my one and only 400mm lens against my Minolta AF 300mm/F4 HS APO G + 1.4 X teleconverter; i.e. 420mm/F5.6 on my Sony A7R II FF/42 MP camera.

Leitz Telyt at F5 fully open:



Minolta + tcon fully open (F4; i.e. F5.6):



100% crop Telyt:



100% crop Minolta:



Under normal circumstances you wouldn't see any differences unless you start with pixel peeping.
However, in pixel peeping mode the much more modern Minolta/tcon combination wins surprisingly the battle....

BTW, the vignetting in the upper corners in the Telyt picture is caused by the Techart PRO (Leica-M to Sony E) adapter and not by the lens. Both pictures shot free-hand with AF-enabling adapters for the Sony E-mount. Obviously the AWB worked differently but I was only interested in overall sharpness....

Verdict: Both variants deliver more than satisfactory results, even on high resolution FF. From the practical point of view the Minolta/tcon-combination is much more easy to use as it offers very fast and accurate AF with less weight to carry around.

Cheers,