What 90mm lens?

[Printmaker]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

All I can add to this discussion is that if you find a tele elmarit at a really good price, be sure you can return it. I used this lens for 30 years before replacing it with a 90 Elmarit M. The size and weight of the tele elmarit make it a great pocket lens but my copy softened with age. It developed a haze in an inner element which lowered the contrast. Apparently this is somewhat common among these lenses constructed in the late 60s and early 70s.

 

On the other hand, my late 1990s 90 Elmarit M is an excellent performer.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[rramesh]

You have a lot of choices and you need to ask yourself these questions.

 

• How often (% of time) will I use a 90mm lens?
  
• Is low light critical for me?
  
• Will I use it mainly for landscape or portraiture?
  
• Will I also want to have it double up as a macro lens?
  
• Is lens size important to me?
  
• How much ($) should I set aside for this experience?
  

With this clear, then you can find a lens new or used that meets.

 

FYI, I went through this exercise and I selected a late model Elmarit-M as it suited my needs best.

[lct]

Forgot to mention another very good 90, the M-Rokkor 90/4 for Minolta CLE. Slightly shorter than the "thin" Tele-Elmarit and taller than the Macro-Elmar with 60x51mm and 250g (8.8 oz), it has four elements in four groups, is superbly built a la Leica and uses 40.5mm filters. Affordable UV/IRs can be found on e**y if need be: eBay | 40.5mm Optical UV-IR CUT filter for camera lens US. Beware that those filters (at least my sample) have no internal filter thead though so one cannot stack another filter or screw a screw-in hood into them. Not a problem if you can find out the excellent rubber hood which was sold with the lens as it has an internal 40.5mm thread for the same filters. Here's a lens review from Modern Photography if i recall correctly:

Rokkor_9040_review_810600.pdf

[dfbldwn]

Forgot to mention another very good 90, the M-Rokkor 90/4 for Minolta CLE. Here's a lens review from Modern Photography if i recall correctly:

 

That is an excellent suggestion lct, and I like much your including the Modern Photography review.

 

In the past you have been good enough to put to rest any fears that this lens cannot be focused well when mounted on a full size M camera. Would you please repeat your advice?

[Jon Pop]

If you're not going to need low light performance, I've found the 90 Elmar C f4 to be a real bargain and the performance has been wonderful. It focuses just fine on my M9 and my MP, and is a really good portrait lens. I shoot it at f4 most of the time and have been really pleased at the way it renders on the M9 and on film. Compact size - as others have pointed out it's basically the same size as the 90 Tele-Elmarit f2.8 (thin). I may get that lens in order to have f2.8, but for $300 or so, the Elmar C can't be beat in my opinion.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[lct]

...In the past you have been good enough to put to rest any fears that this lens cannot be focused well when mounted on a full size M camera. Would you please repeat your advice?

I don't use rulers to ckeck focus accuracy but i've never got problems with the Rokkor 90/4 so far.

Here at one meter and ten meters subject distance on the M240 (f/5.6, handheld, 15MB & 25MB files).

http://tinyurl.com/ladvljd

http://tinyurl.com/ln49d9h

[dfbldwn]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Here at one meter

 

Thanks lct.

 

Probably very off-topic, but what lens cap do you use for that 50mm Summicron?

 

Mine keep breaking.

[lct]

Just the regular clip-on lens cap # 14038.

Leica 39E Lens Cap for 50mm f/2.0 M

[MarkP]

I have a 4.0/90 Macro-Elmar-M.

 

As I don't use 90mm that often I wanted a very high quality but very compact lens that didn't take up space or weight in the bag. Because of this I carry and use the lens more than I thought I would and although I like fast lenses I've rarely missed having a 2.0 or 2.8.

 

Outstanding image quality. As someone posted, above Puts considers it to be one of the best two or three Leica M lenses.

 

Lovely OOF rendering wide open.

 

Very fast and easy to focus.

 

If you really don't need the extra stop over a 2.8, or are happy to push the ISO to compensate, then you have an outstanding, versatile compact lens. It's weight and compactness ( ~225gm) to some extent offsets it being a bit slower.

 

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/228593-praise-4-0-90-macro-elmar.html

[Tonki-M]

aside from the one f-stop from 2.8 to 4, how do you find the Bokeh @f4 of the Macro-Elmar-M on say...a portrait? i'm rather interested but surprisingly have only encountered a few Macro-Elmar-M but never tried, so i could never make the comparison. If the bokeh is not far behind the Elmarit-M @2.8, i would find the weight to f-stop compromise to be very reasonable. thx

[Carduelis]

At the moment, I have a good version of a 90 mm Tele- Elmarit thin lens and it is acceptably sharp at f5.6 and f8 where I tend to use it. I actually use the lens on my Ricoh GXR effectively providing me with a useful extended focal length of 135mm. Coming from the world of Canon and autofocus and image stabilisation, I think the lighter lenses such as the Tele-Elmarit and the 90 mm Macro- Elmar-M are ergonomically very useful in helping to attain accurate focus whilst keeping the camera steady. This particularly applies to focus peaking on the Ricoh, where the image can become even more magnified.

[MarkP]

aside from the one f-stop from 2.8 to 4, how do you find the Bokeh @f4 of the Macro-Elmar-M on say...a portrait? i'm rather interested but surprisingly have only encountered a few Macro-Elmar-M but never tried, so i could never make the comparison. If the bokeh is not far behind the Elmarit-M @2.8, i would find the weight to f-stop compromise to be very reasonable. thx

 

Have a look at the Bokeh in my 'floral portraits' in post #18 in

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/228593-praise-4-0-90-macro-elmar.html

[Tonki-M]

Have a look at the Bokeh in my 'floral portraits' in post #18 in

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/228593-praise-4-0-90-macro-elmar.html

 

apparently i didnt scroll down enough to get to that part. the bokeh is rather beautiful! color is also very good, on par or even better than 90 Elmarit-M. thanks for the link. you have me sold!

[MarkP]

Enjoy when you get it.

A real sleeper amongst Leica lenses.

 

 

As a nice change from the heavy faster lenses I should get a 2.8/50 and 2.8/28 (these are my two favourite focal lengths) to go with it as a 'lite' lens set.

Like I haven't spent enough already on Leica lenses .

[lct]

Yes perfect match with the latest 50/2.8. I would consider a 35/2.5 as well if you don't need to go faster.

[tony740607]

I will use the lens mostly for portrait (90%), especially my daughter who is three years old now. Is there any reason why you did not mentioned the Summarit? Reading your answer the pre-ASPH could be the lens I will go for.

[tony740607]

i can only repeat what the above posters said

 

90 Apo cron

90 cron

90 Elmarit-M

90 Macro-Elmar

 

in that order in my opinion. note that the macro-elmar is actually sharper and lighter than the Elmarit-M, but you are actually trading 1 stop of light for it.

 

Any reason for not recommending the Summarit?

[tony740607]

You have received several detailed answers.

A few questions come to mind to help narrow down your quest: what would you use the lens primarily for (portrait, landscape, ...)? what kind of money are you prepared to spend? do you want the rendering of your lens to be close to that of your other lenses?

I'd say that the Elmarit-M is the best all-rounder at a reasonable price, but then I also own and use several other old and new lenses in this focal range (or thereabouts) for a variety of reasons that are important to me.

 

My thinking:

1. Portraits

2. 2000 dollar

3. Rendering can be both pre-ASPH or ASPH but I like my 50mm Summicron

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Tonki-M]

Any reason for not recommending the Summarit?

 

i just abhor the rubber grip on the focus ring. Just on this alone, this lens has never been an option for me. Optically, i can't object, it is quite sharp, contrasty, a bit clinical like the summicron. Still, i prefer the Elmarit-M

[01af]

Any reason for not recommending the Summarit?

It's just ignorance. In fact, if the Macro-Elmar is too slow and the Apo-Summicron is too costly or bulky then the Summarit is the most recommendable 90 mm M lens today.