This week I look at the Leica 100mm APO Macro Elmarit-R, a $1500-2000 medium-tele lens with a pedigree for portraits deeper than your isolation ice cream wrapper pile. If you’re in the market for a mortgage-payment-sized dent in your wallet in exchange for some of the most precise and well-engineered glass in the world, then you’re in the market for a Leica lens. And if you’re somehow crazy enough to still be shooting professional film portraits on 35mm, then maybe you’re crazy enough to own this missile of a lens.
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There is a short list of lenses, in the whole history of photography, which have achieved a legendary status among professional photographers for their distinctive looks, image quality, or some other characteristic unique to them. The Leica 100mm APO Macro Elmarit-R is absolutely on that list; as a lens capable, not only of shooting some of the very best portraits in the world, but also of sliding into macro mode and producing some of the most realistic and detailed macro shots in the world. When you hold this lens in your hands, you’re holding a piece of history, a contribution to the foundation of modern photography.
Shooting on this Leica lens, whether it be on a Leica R3 like me, or a Leica R6, or any other R body for that matter, is an enjoyable experience to say the very least. It’s not a lightweight lens by any means (760 grams), but you’ll be too busy staring through the eyepiece and drooling to notice that your neck strap is slowly making its way through your neck. While it isn’t a quick lens to use, that doesn’t mean it isn’t versatile; with a minimum aperture of f/2.8 and a minimum focus distance of 72cm, you’ll be surprised how often you turn to this lens if it ends up in your kit.
Overall, I know there aren’t too many people out there still spending as much money on film photography gear, yet alone 35mm photography, as I am. I know that for most people, this lens doesn’t make any sense at all to own. But, then again, what’s the point of life if all you do is choose to do the things that make the most sense?
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Go to: nuun.dev/ to see more of my work or get in contact for a project.
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Personal Instagram: / alecjlangton
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Current Fav Film Camera: Rollei 6008 Integral
Current Fav Film Lens: Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO
Fav Digital Cam: Canon EOS R
Fav Digital Lens: Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM
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Used for this video:
Leica R3 Electronic
Leica 100mm APO Macro Elmarit-R
iPhone 11 Pro Max
Moment 1.33 Anamorphic Lens
DJI Osmo 3 Mobile Gimbal
Canon EOS RP
EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5
Rode Videomic Pro
Zoom H5 Audio Recorder
Saramonic UwMic 15 Wireless Lavalier System
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Music Credits:
Watching the Clouds
/ thunderhoodie-beats