Hi everyone

Does someone of this forum have any experience in using the VE. I mean in matters of handling. I have also one and the picures are superb. But what concerns me is the weight and the relative high speed it is required to shoot free hand. And if using it with a 2x APO ext. who shears with me the opinion that a it is definetly required a tripod.

Thanks for your comments and shearing your experience.

Salvatore

-- Salvatore Reitano (reitanosalvatore@hotmail.com), February 09, 2002

Answers

I'm of the opinion that *any* lens over 100mm really needs a tripod for the absolute best image quality regardless of shutter speed. I owned several 80-200 Nikkor lenses and found them very poor handholders...and they are lighter than the Leica 70-180. I daresay if you intend to handhold a Leica lens in this range, you will not see any difference with the 80-200 but your neck and back will thank you. That said, for *handholding* I would venture an educated opinion that the 70-210/2.8 Canon Image Stabilizer would far outperform any other.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), February 09, 2002.

In my experience, the reciprocal rule holds fairly well here. 1/250 at 180. 1/500 at 360mm. If you are shooting in bright sun - you are close to 1/500 @f8 (100 asa). That only leaves you with one more stop wide open. If your meter readings are any less - grab the tripod, not to mention saving your back. When I worked with Nikon, I hand held my 80-200 ED with great results - but my shutter speed was usually always above 1/250.

-- brooke anderson (dbanders@videotron.ca), February 09, 2002.

i can not speak for this particular lens, but in minolta i shoot my 80-200 f2.8 with the shoulder stock from my leica 400 f6.8 telyt and i pick up enough stability to shoot at 1/125 or 1/90 if i am carefull. this shoulder stock enables me to shoot indoors at a school gymnasium with 400 speed film. you can occasionaly find them seprately for sale on ebay.

-- greg mason (gmason1661@aol.com), February 10, 2002.

My advice is to always make sure you shoot at 1/500th sec when in the 135-180mm range, although you could manage at 1/250th if you have some kind of support (monopod, table tripod on chest). In my experience if you deviate from this you will not get optimum pictures unless on a tripod. If you can shoot at 1/1000 that is even better, but 1/500 is fine. If you have the 2X APO you need to shoot at 1/1000 and up. So you need to think about what films you use and whether handholding will be an option for you.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), February 11, 2002.