Which 90mm lens for an M8?

[photolandscape]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I am preparing to take the plunge and get an M8 in the coming months. I am giving up a lot to make the move--going to have to sell my Digilux 2, and my Canon EOS-1Ds and my 24-70 and 70-300 IS USM zooms.

 

I do lots of informal, candid portraits. It looks like the 90mm (which will give me the equivalent of about 115-120mm focal length on the M8) would fill the bill. I may not have a lot to spend on the 90, as the 28mm Elmarit and the body will just about wipe me out for a while. So I'd like to find a used one. I see lots of them around--especially the Elmarits dating back to the 1980's and 1990's, the Tele-Elmarits from the 1970's.

 

Which of these lenses are the best--are there any I should avoid? I don't need the Summicron's extra stop, but do want something sharp as a tack with excellent contrast--in short, the kind of qualities anyone would expect from a Leica.

 

I'd appreciate your recommendations.

[robsteve]

Look for a 90mm Elmarit-M. It will have a built in hood and e46 filters. At f4 or f5.6 they are almost as good as the APO ASPH. Used they are $650 -$750.

 

The Tele-Elmarits are very inconsistent. Some versions were good others low in contrast. There were many versions of them too and unless you are a Leica expert, you will not know what you are getting.

[ho_co]

Steve, I'm with Rob on this.

 

Later Elmarits had built-in hood, but the earlier ones used the same clamp-on hood as the Tele-Elmarit, and were definitely the better lens (i.e., better than Tele-Elmarit).

 

--HC

[thisaccountisdeleted]

It looks like the 90mm

 

i'm seriously considering the 90mm macro elmar. i had a 90 summicron but i sold it because i couldn't justify keeping it.

 

anyone using one with the m8 yet?

[drjon]

i'm seriously considering the 90mm macro elmar. i had a 90 summicron but i sold it because i couldn't justify keeping it.

 

anyone using one with the m8 yet?

 

I use it on the M8 - excellent and very compact. Practically my favourite lens. According to several reports I've read, the optical quality is as good as the big 90s - you just have to be able to live with f4.

[kepstein]

I use it on the M8 - excellent and very compact. Practically my favourite lens. According to several reports I've read, the optical quality is as good as the big 90s - you just have to be able to live with f4.

 

Does the adapter for macro work on your M8?

 

Thanks,

Ken

[blakley]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

The macro-elmar is a fantastic lens; it's super-compact and unbelievably sharp. In fact, it's so sharp you'll probably have to apply diffusion in Photoshop to portraits. It is, however, slow, so you'll have to live with f/4 and with the limited narrow-depth-of-field capability. The Macro-Adapter-M does work with the M8 (I've tried it), although it blocks the external light sensor (not clear there's any real effect of this though).

[blakley]

It occurs to me that if you like the idea of the Macro-Elmar, you also ought to consider the CV Apo-Lanthar. You get half a stop (f/3.5), and the Apo-Lanthar is almost as sharp and almost as compact as the Macro-Elmar - but MUCH cheaper.

[carstenw]

It occurs to me that if you like the idea of the Macro-Elmar, you also ought to consider the CV Apo-Lanthar. You get half a stop (f/3.5), and the Apo-Lanthar is almost as sharp and almost as compact as the Macro-Elmar - but MUCH cheaper.

Does this come in an M-mount? I was going to recommend looking at that, but I could only find screw-mount versions.

[stunsworth]

Carsten, it's screw mount only, but easy enough to use with a dedicated adaptor. That's how I use mine, the adaptor hasn't been off the lens since I bought it.

[carstenw]

How do you focus?

[stunsworth]

Carsten the screw mount to M adaptors allow a screw mounted lens to work as if it was an M lens. Focusing is not compromised in any way. This means that all the Voigtlander screw mount lenses can be used on an M. This was designed into the M system at its conception to allow owners of older lenses to use them on the new M cameras.

 

Voigtlander currently make suitable adaptors. There are three types, the only difference between them is in which frame lines they bring up in the M viewfinder. I use 15mm, 21mm, 24mm, 28mm and 90mm Voigtlander lenses on my Ms.

[sean_reid]

It occurs to me that if you like the idea of the Macro-Elmar, you also ought to consider the CV Apo-Lanthar. You get half a stop (f/3.5), and the Apo-Lanthar is almost as sharp and almost as compact as the Macro-Elmar - but MUCH cheaper.

 

That's a great lens. I have one here to test right now but need the Leica 90 as well.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[sean_reid]

Carsten the screw mount to M adaptors allow a screw mounted lens to work as if it was an M lens. Focusing is not compromised in any way. This means that all the Voigtlander screw mount lenses can be used on an M. This was designed into the M system at its conception to allow owners of older lenses to use them on the new M cameras.

 

Voigtlander currently make suitable adaptors. There are three types, the only difference between them is in which frame lines they bring up in the M viewfinder. I use 15mm, 21mm, 24mm, 28mm and 90mm Voigtlander lenses on my Ms.

 

Right, that includes a vast number of older Leica screw mount lenses as well. Unlike various adapters that are available now for, say, Zeiss to EOS, these first adapters were designed by Leica specifically to make LTM lenses fully functional on all M bodies until the M8. Now, with the M8's need for coded lenses (color WA work), we have to get creative in order to get proper color rendition with LTM wide angle lenses on the digital M.

 

Sean

[carstenw]

My M8 is not back yet, and I don't have one of the larger Voigtländer lenses, but I am sitting here turning the focus ring of my CV15, looking at the back of the lens as I do so. Is this lens different from the Apo-Lanthar in the way focusing is (not) supported?

[stunsworth]

The 15mm isn't rangefinder coupled, the 90mm is. Both focus on the M cameras with a suitable adaptor, but with the 15mm you have to guess the distance - not too difficult given the depth of field. With the 90mm the rangefinder patch will move as you focus the lens.

[sean_reid]

From memory, the CV 12, 15 and 25 are not RF coupled. The others are and work like M lenses with the proper adapters. Stephen Gandy's site has a lot of great info. about these lenses, FOR SALE and then click on the "lenses" link on the left.

 

Sean

[stunsworth]

Sean, don't know about the 12, but you are right about the other two. They were the first two lenses that Voigtlander introduced in their series of screw mount lenses and I guess they thought that they were wide enough not to need a focus cam - this also had the benefit of making them easier and cheaper to make :-)

[sean_reid]

Sean, don't know about the 12, but you are right about the other two. They were the first two lenses that Voigtlander introduced in their series of screw mount lenses and I guess they thought that they were wide enough not to need a focus cam - this also had the benefit of making them easier and cheaper to make :-)

 

I have a 12 here and it isn't coupled.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[photolandscape]

Look for a 90mm Elmarit-M. It will have a built in hood and e46 filters. At f4 or f5.6 they are almost as good as the APO ASPH. Used they are $650 -$750.

 

Thanks RobSteve and HC. I will start watching for the 90mm Elmarit-M with built-in hood/e46 filter size. I looked a few up on the internet this a.m. and they seem to range from $750 up, so I will take my time and make sure I find a really nice one.

 

When would this model have been made--80's, 90's?

 

On another related topic (one that probably doesn't merit its own thread)--I keep seeing the term "cut filter" in this forum. I rarely use filters, I know I will be using them soon with the M8. I think of a "cut filter" as something like an interchangeable thin Singh Ray filter that slips into a separate mount, as opposed to a glass filter mounted in a metal ring. Could someone explain the term "cut filter"?

 

Thanks, SP