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What's the difference between the " old " macro 90mm and the new one?


Paulus

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Jared has it pretty much nailed

the salient point is that if you are shooting macro with the old lens and Pamela Anderson drives past topless on a Harley Davidson, then you're going to need to take the goggles off before you can get the shot.. With the new lens and adapted you only need to collapse the lens to shoot up to infinity.

 

ive written an article about it if you're interested: http://www.slack.co.uk/2014/Leica_Macro_Elmar.html

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jonoslack, on 09 Feb 2016 - 15:33, said:jonoslack, on 09 Feb 2016 - 15:33, said:

Jared has it pretty much nailed

the salient point is that if you are shooting macro with the old lens and Pamela Anderson drives past topless on a Harley Davidson, then you're going to need to take the goggles off before you can get the shot.. With the new lens and adapted you only need to collapse the lens to shoot up to infinity.

 

ive written an article about it if you're interested: http://www.slack.co.uk/2014/Leica_Macro_Elmar.html

Not relevant. Your viewfinder will be steamed up anyway. :p

 

Just a grumpy old pedant remark on your article, Jono. On the T a 90 mm does not become a 135mm lens, it just has the angle of view of a 135 mm lens on full frame. ;)

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So I had a bit of a set-back in my old lens on new adapter money-saving idea;

 

My nice new adapter came non-functioning.  It extended fine (and VERY smoothly, with almost 360 degrees throw), but the lens release tab was permanently stuck down - I couldn't even force it back up, so no locking any lenses into place on it.  

 

Pretty poor given it came with a hand-signed inspection certificate.  I mean seriously, it has no optics, and only two moving parts.  How can you miss that one isn't moving?  I don't believe it could have been damaged in transit either; it was very well packed - exactly the same as a lens, with foam-padded leather case and everything.

 

Took it back to B&H who swapped it out for a working one without question.  So an hour of my time, and $5.50 on subway tickets wasted, but in the grand scheme of things not too bad I guess.

 

My old model 90mm macro arrives tonight, so will be able to update later on today.

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[...] My old model 90mm macro arrives tonight, so will be able to update later on today. [...]

 

Would you mind to share your findings here? I plan to buy a new adapter for my old 90/4 macro as well.

Edited by lct
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Would you mind to share your findings here? I plan to buy a new adapter for my old 90/4 macro as well.

 

If I were you I would stick to the old adapter for the older 90. If you don't like the eyes they come off very easily. The close focusing scale I'd very handy when the older lens is mounted, as well as the aperture ring markings.

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It's worth noting that the hood with the new version needs great care in removing/fitting. I found the claws cut straight into the black finish on my new lens and left three silver markings (fixed with black Sharpie). So a screw-in type would be a safer option.

Edited by microview
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If I were you I would stick to the old adapter for the older 90. If you don't like the eyes they come off very easily. The close focusing scale I'd very handy when the older lens is mounted, as well as the aperture ring markings.

 

I'll keep the old adapter for the M240 but i plan to use the new one with my A7s.

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Jared has it pretty much nailed

the salient point is that if you are shooting macro with the old lens and Pamela Anderson drives past topless on a Harley Davidson, then you're going to need to take the goggles off before you can get the shot.. With the new lens and adapted you only need to collapse the lens to shoot up to infinity.

 

ive written an article about it if you're interested: http://www.slack.co.uk/2014/Leica_Macro_Elmar.html

It seems Leica is 10-15 years late with the new design to shoot Pamela. :)

 

Thanks for the detailed write up. Last year I bought the old lens (used) since didn't know the difference. If I knew, I might have gone for newer design.

 

However, I don't do macro and won't lose much with the old design. I wont miss Megan Fox if she drives by. :)

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I looked at the old and the new one and the only difference I see is the eyes. The new one looks like it has the eyes removed.

 

 

Interesting thanks. May i ask how you manage to remove the goggles? I have not the old adapter with me here so i don't recall the way it is designed.

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It's worth noting that the hood with the new version needs great care in removing/fitting. I found the claws cut straight into the black finish on my new lens and left three silver markings

 

 

The hood that comes with the "old" model does the same. In my experience of this lens (bought it when it first came out and more recently bought the complete macro set) is that the large hood isn't necessary and can be replaced by the little 50/F2.8 Elmar screw in hood. 

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Interesting thanks. May i ask how you manage to remove the goggles? I have not the old adapter with me here so i don't recall the way it is designed.

 

I have the goggles to hand and don't see any way of removing the eyes without either dismantling the adaptor entirely (certainly involving the removal of the mount) or using a hacksaw :o . In fact I'm not even sure if they can be removed at all (it is not clear to me whether the eyes component isn't bonded to the extension tube). 

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I looked at the old and the new one and the only difference I see is the eyes. The new one looks like it has the eyes removed.

 

 

No, they are quite different in construction. The goggled adaptor is essentially a simple extension tube (albeit with a clever pass-through focussing cam mechanism) whereas the newer adaptor has an integral helicoid extension (and no RF cam). The helicoid can be used to focus the lens (in the collapsed position for infinity or extended for closer macro capability).

 

Incidentally, as far as I can see, the goggles cannot be easily removed from the old adaptor.

Edited by wattsy
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The hood that comes with the "old" model does the same. In my experience of this lens (bought it when it first came out and more recently bought the complete macro set) is that the large hood isn't necessary and can be replaced by the little 50/F2.8 Elmar screw in hood. 

 

My experience is somewhat different Ian. The little hood of the 50/2.8 may be useful to protect the first element of the lens but it but does not provide any significant shade when the sun or any other strong light source is outside the frame.

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My experience is somewhat different Ian. The little hood of the 50/2.8 may be useful to protect the first element of the lens but it but does not provide any significant shade when the sun or any other strong light source is outside the frame.

 

 

That's interesting. It's quite possible that I simply haven't used this lens often enough to encounter the problem but I've never felt flare has been an issue with this lens (something that I cannot say for lenses that I use much more frequently like the 35 Summicron and Summilux). I had listed my 90 Macro kit in the classifieds but, having no takers, I think I may use it instead. I'll keep an eye out for flare.

Edited by wattsy
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I find this lens difficult to get to flare. A larger hood does not really make a difference in my experience.

At least the first version, which I had for a while, I didn't use it often enough, so it went, but I cannot imagine the new version having more flare.

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Don't get me wrong folks. I have no experience with the new model but i consider the (old) 90/4 macro one of the least flare prone 90mm M lenses i've used so far so i can recommend it without reservation. I just wanted to say that using a small hood like that of the 50/2.8 (or the built-in one of the 90/2 apo to take another example) does not provide any significant shade when there are strong light sources outside the frame.

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