Hi Guys,

I'm pretty confused by what rings etc to use when. Leica talks about two Elpro rings 1 and 2) and 1 macro to get closer to the subject. If I look on the web I however find many: e.g.

ELPRO VI A ELPRO VI B ELPRO VII A ELPRO 16531 ELRPO 1 ELPRO 2 (Are there more?)

Now which is for which lenses etc? IS VI and VII for series 6 and 7 filtersizes? What then is 16531, 1 and 2? When to use the macro adapter, and when ELPRO, what are the distances you can reach (based on the minumum of the lens e.g if minimum is 1.7 then divide by 2 is .85)?

I have an elmarit 35/2.8, summicron 50/2, elmarit 135/2.8 (all 2nd versions) and a Telyt 250/4 (first version but upgraded to R (and optically))

-- ReinierV (rvlaam@xs4all.nl), January 02, 2002

Answers

There were four Elpros for earlier lenses (VIa, VIb, VIIa and VIIb).

The VI's were for Series 6 lenses and the VII's were for Series 7. The a and b versions of each one provided a difference in magnification. The VI's fit the 50 and the VII's fit the 90's and 135.

These older Elpros were replaced by Elpros 1 through 4 which do the same thing but (I believe) are all 55mm screw-in.

Note that the latter Elpros can be used on any lens 50mm and over which accept a 55mm filter. This includes the discontinued 180 Elmar- R.

-- Bud (budcook@attglobal.net), January 02, 2002.

All the ELPRO info you ever wanted to know (and then some) can be found at:

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/leica/close_up.html

-- Douglas Herr (telyt@earthlink.net), January 02, 2002.

Doug, Which Elpro did you use with the 90 Summicron-R? I've been thinking about getting the Elpro 3 but if the 4 is useful as well, I could also use it on my 180 Elmar.

BTW, I have a 60 Macro Elmarit-R which is my *standard* R lense but having a longer macro would come in handy. Bud

-- Bud (budcook@attglobal.net), January 02, 2002.

Hi Doug

How could I have missed it on your excellent site?

:-)

Reinier

-- ReinierV (rvlaam@xs4all.nl), January 02, 2002.

>>>Doug, Which Elpro did you use with the 90 Summicron-R? I've been thinking about getting the Elpro 3 but if the 4 is useful as well, I could also use it on my 180 Elmar. BTW, I have a 60 Macro Elmarit-R which is my *standard* R lense but having a longer macro would come in handy. Bud <<<

Bud, I've been using the Elpro VIIa on my 90mm Summicron-R, equivalent to the ELPRO 3. The ELPRO VIIb/4 doesn't provide as much magnification as the VII/3. The 90+VIIa gives me a little more working distance than the 60 by itself and a full stop more light; at the same time, since the ELPRO shortens the effective focal length of the lens it's attached to, I sometimes feel like the 60+lens extension is almost equivalent in image perspective to the 90+ELPRO.

-- Douglas Herr (telyt@earthlink.net), January 02, 2002.

I use the Nikon 3T/4T (52mm) and 5T/6T (62mm) close-up lenses (these are multi-coated 2-element achromats of superb correction), with the appropriate step-up or step-down adaptors. I already had the Nikon lenses and saw no reason to buy the Leica versions. Canon also makes excellent 2-element close-up lenses. If you don't own any of these yet, the Macro-Adaptor-R or the set of R extension tubes will probably be cheaper than getting enough Elpros to cover all your lenses, including the 250 which takes a 72mm filter and would probably vignette with any of the close-up lenses.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), January 02, 2002.