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need advise 2.0/90mm Summicron-M


etienne_werner

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Etienne, I too have the older, Canadian 'cron. I find it excellent for portraits because of its soft and warm character. This character shows very nicely in the postings above. The 90 would be my portrait lens of choice for older subjects.

 

I also use the 75 'lux for portraits, particularly for children and young adults.

 

Both lenses are more difficult to focus than the shorter lengths. Tripods help a lot.

 

Monopod. Don't leave home without it.

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The 90 is just awesome. With the M8 I shot at wide open a stage event on St Pats Day. Just superb sharpness and color with the IR filter. Used a 1.25x diopter and I think that is mandatory on either M7 or M8. Mine is the Pre-Asph version from Canada. Don't see a reason to spend the xtra $ for the new one. I paid $900 USD for it and am not disappointed. It's the silver version which I put black tape on to tone it down some. You will love it. Can't beat the price either.

Steve

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I had the 90mm APO-Summicron but the 75 'Cron seems better (to me) on the M8 when photographing people. (Heck, I'm learning new uses for my 50mm lenses too: on the M8, the 67mm effective field of view is useful when photographing a couple or small family.)

 

Don't get too sharp when shooting portraits or you'll spend extra time in front of the screen softening the final image.

 

Also, invest in a Zeiss Softar filter and learn how to use it. There are other softening filters you could use but the Zeiss Softar is head and shoulders above the rest. It works in a unique way and, IMHO, is worth its higher price.

 

-g

 

Cann you tell me more about the zeiss softar? I am finding that I am spending too much time working on peoples facial lines etc., even though I know some of the quicker tricks, I think I need something to soften up the facial lines.

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Karen, I am reminded of a couple of tips that I read in a photo mag many years ago.

 

One involved mounting a UV filter on the lens and smearing it lightly with vasoline.

 

The other involved a filter mounting set that had a piece of a nylon stocking in it rather than glass.

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Well so far I'm starting to like this lens at lot.

Here is a shot I made of a fellow photographer while having a drink at the local pub.

90mm summicron at full opening

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Regards,

 

Etienne

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Etienne: Nice picture! Definitely the signature of the 90 pre-APO 'cron in the the way the light skin areas seem to go on forever, the slight 'glow' around the hinge-point of the glasses, and the way the eyebrow and glasses earpiece fade away as they go OOF.

 

Karen: The Softar is a flat glass filter with dimples scattered across it's surface, so that most of the light comes through unaffected and sharp, but perhaps 15-20% is diffused to layer a soft image on top of the sharp one. Ingeniuos design compared to most softening filters that affect ALL the light.

 

I've gotten similar results using a plain UV filter and adding my own dimples by putting on a scattering of small drops of uncolored clear nail polish (spots about 2-3mm across).

 

In Photoshop, one can create the same soft-over-sharp effect by duplicating the image in a layer, gaussian-blurring the layer, and then setting that layer's opacity to 20-50% according to taste. 50-80% of the "sharp" layer shows through, but the blurred layer softens the lines.

 

Personally, I'm a realist, if a romantic realist, so I prefer the 90 'cron, myself.

 

BTW, the pre-APO 90 'crons for the Leica SLRs have very similar optics to the M version - and a very similar look.

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  • 7 years later...

I found the Apo-Summicron 90mm as one of the best Leica lenses for sharpness:

 

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