Leica Elmarit-TL 18mm f/2.8 ASPH. lens

      Photo Review 8.8
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      In summary

      The Elmarit-TL 18mm f/2.8 ASPH. is a great partner for the Leica CL camera, particularly for photographers who want a pocketable combination that can be used for street photography. Its build quality is up to the company’s traditional high standards and when used within its limitations it can produce sharp, high quality images, particularly if you shoot raw files.

      For most of the aperture range, resolution remains high and images are sharp and detailed. The lens is also virtually distortion-free. The internal focusing mechanism makes it relatively quiet to operate and offers potential for very fast autofocusing.  

       

      Full review

      Leica’s new Elmarit-TL 18mm f/2.8 ASPH. lens is not only the smallest and lighted lens in the TL system, it’s also the smallest wide-angle lens available for APS-C format cameras anywhere in the world. Only 21 mm long and weighing just 80 grams, it’s a pocketable companion for the Leica CL camera we used for this review. It’s also an ideal lens for travel and street photography, being fast enough for low-light shooting and covering a useful angle of view similar to that of a 27mm lens on a 35mm camera.

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       Two views of the Elmarit-TL 18mm f/2.8 ASPH. lens, silver version. (Source: Leica Camera.)

      Its optical design consists of eight elements in six groups and includes four aspherical surfaces, which control distortion and spherical aberrations. The lens has been designed so it doesn’t need a lens hood, which helps to keep the overall size down. Leica claims it’s not susceptible to flare.
       

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       The optical diagram for the lens showing the positions of the aspherical surfaces. (Source: Leica Camera.)
       
       

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      Cutaway view of the Elmarit-TL 18 mm f/2.8 ASPH. lens. (Source: Leica Camera.)

      Beyond the optical diagram and cutaway view shown above, both of which are provided without annotations on the Technical Data sheet, Leica doesn’t provide much information about the inner workings of this lens. We don’t know what type of AF drive motor is used and, although the lens must use internal focusing, we don’t know which elements are moved during focusing. There’s also no information on lens coatings (although we assume a lens at this price would have them).

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       The two colour options for the lens. (Source: Leica Camera.)

      This lens is available in black and silver and suitable for use on the Leica CL and TL cameras, both of which have APS-C sized (23.6 x 15.7mm) sensors.

      Who’s it For?
       Given its ‘TL’ designation, this lens has been designed for L-series cameras with APS-C sensors, although it can be fitted to other Leica cameras via an adaptor. When fitted to an SL-series camera, the camera will automatically switch to the cropped sensor-format. This works well for photographers who shoot video with the SL, which uses an APS-C sized area in the centre of the full-frame sensor when recording 4K movie clips.  

      The 18mm focal length provides a wider angle of view than the Summilux-TL 35mm  lens we reviewed with the Leica TL2. But its maximum aperture is two stops slower. That’s the price you pay for such a compact lens and we feel most potential buyers will accept it.

      Like the 35mm lens, the 18mm lens is not stabilised. Not unexpectedly, we found the lack of stabilisation in either the camera or the lens was less likely to result in camera shake because wider lenses aren’t as susceptible to small camera movements. We were able to shoot with the camera hand-held at 1/10 second and obtain a high percentage of sharp images.

      The wide angle of view combined with the f/2.8 maximum aperture don’t give much  scope to control depth of field for selective focus applications. In addition, the 30 cm focusing limit is not ideal for close-ups. However, internal focusing means the front of the lens doesn’t rotate during focusing, allowing for easy use of polarisers and graduated filters. which will please landscape photographers.

      Build and Ergonomics
       Build qualityis up to Leica’s high standards, although some compromises have been made to keep the lens small and light. There’s no distance scale and no depth-of-field indicator and the focusing ring provides the only control surface.

      It’s approximately 10 mm wide and located 5 mm behind the front edge of the lens barrel. An   mm wide strip of fine, moulded ribbing around the middle of the ring provides a decent grip surface.

      The focusing ring rotates through 360 degrees when power is off and turns smoothly when power is on, engaging a motor that moves the focusing elements. Rotation is well-damped, providing a slight resistance when the ring is rotated, a little like using a mechanically-driven lens. Manual focus over-ride in AF mode is supported.

      The lens barrel continues for 8 mm behind the focusing ring and then steps in to a thin, glossy metal ring that marks the edge of the solid metal mounting plate. There’s no rubber sealing between the lens and the camera body, indicating the lens isn’t weatherproof . Ten metal contacts inside the mount provide connections to the camera.

      Performance
       The review lens was an excellent partner for the Leica CL body we used for our tests and performed well on the camera. We carried out our usual tests with JPEG files but also captured raw files as part of our testing to evaluate vignetting, rectilinear distortion and chromatic aberration, which are usually corrected automatically in JPEG files by most modern cameras. Like the Leica TL2, the CL appears to lack any such corrections.

      Our Imatest tests showed the highest resolution was between f/4.0 and f/5, which is one to 1.6 stops down from the maximum aperture. However, for the central third of the frame, resolution remained above 3000 line widths/picture height all the way from f/3.2 to f/6.3, inclusive, falling just short at f/2.8 and f/7.1. This is reflected in the amount of detail captured in image frames.

      Edge softening was measured towards the periphery of the frame but, as expected, it was reduced as the lens was stopped down. Diffraction begins to reduce resolution a little at f/8 but is well entrenched by f/11, with a steep fall to f/16 (the smallest aperture). The graph below shows the results of our tests.

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         Lateral chromatic aberration remained well within the ‘negligible’ band across all aperture settings. In the graph of our Imatest results below, the red line separates the negligible and low bands.

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       We detected a trace of coloured fringing in test shots, although we had to look hard to find it. Similarly, the lens appeared to show a hint of barrel distortion, which would also be largely irrelevant. Slight vignetting appeared with the widest aperture setting but was gone by f/3.5.    

      The lens handled strong backlighting very well and appeared to be immune to veiling flare. No flare artefacts were found in any test shots.

      Bokeh (out-of-focus softening) was much as you would expect for such a wide angle lens and not a noteworthy feature. Nonetheless, the close-up shots we took 2.8 showed it to be smooth enough, particularly with low contrast scenes.

      Conclusion
       The Elmarit-TL 18mm f/2.8 ASPH. is a great partner for the Leica CL camera, particularly for photographers who want a pocketable combination that can be used for street photography. Its build quality is up to the company’s traditional high standards and when used within its limitations it can produce sharp, high quality images, particularly if you shoot raw files.

      For most of the aperture range, resolution remains high and images are sharp and detailed. The lens is also virtually distortion-free. The internal focusing mechanism makes it relatively quiet to operate and offers potential for very fast autofocusing.  

      However, it’s not ideal for portraiture (except when shooting groups) and its minimum focusing distance of  30 cm and wide angle of view provide little scope for close-up shooting and the f/2.8 maximum aperture gives limited scope for selective focusing.

      Leica’s listed price for this lens is AU$1800 but there aren’t many resellers listing it on their websites as yet. B&H has it listed at US$1295, which converted to AU$1696.19 when this review was published. To that you’ll have to add roughly AU$35 for the cheapest shipping plus ‘Duties and Tax’ of roughly AU$230 so you’d be better off buying from a local Leica Boutique or a specialist re-seller.

       

      SPECS

       Picture angle: 75 degrees (diagonal)
       Minimum aperture: f/16
       Lens construction: 8 elements in 6 groups (including 4 aspherical surfaces)
       Lens mounts: Leica L bayonet
       Diaphragm Blades:  (circular aperture)
       Focus drive: Internal, controlled electronically by the camera
       Stabilisation: No
       Minimum focus: 30 cm
       Maximum magnification: 1:14
       Filter size:   39 mm
       Dimensions (Diameter x L):  61 x 21 mm
       Weight:  80 grams
       Standard Accessories: Lens front and end caps

       Distributor: Leica Camera Australia, (03) 9248 4444, http://en.leica-camera.com/  

       

      TESTS

       Based upon JPEG files captured with the Leica CL camera.

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      SAMPLES

       

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       Vignetting at f/2.8.
       
       

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      Rectilinear distortion.
       

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      ISO 100, 1/60 second at f/10.
       

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       Crop from the above image at 100% magnification showing traces of coloured fringing.
       
       

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      Close-up; ISO 640, 1/25 second at f/2.8.
       
       

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      Close-up; ISO 160, 1/50 second at f/2.8.
       

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      Portrait shot; ISO 100, 1/640 second at f/2.8.
       
       

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      Backlit subject; ISO 200, 1/1000 second at f/4.5.
       
       

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      Strong backlighting; ISO 100,1/2000 second at f/8.
       
       

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      Strong backlighting; ISO 100, 1/400 second at f/9.
       
       

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      ISO 100, 1/180 second at f/5.6.
       
       

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      ISO 2000, 1/20 second at f/5.
       

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      Hand-held close-up at ISO 1000, 1/10 second at f/2.8.
       
      Additional image samples can be found with our review of the Leica CL camera.  

       

      Rating

      RRP: AU$1800; US$1295

      • Build: 9.0
      • Handling: 8.9
      • Image quality: 8.9
      • Versatility: 8.5

       

      Buy