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Whats New about Macro M 90mm/4 Lens


ivohula

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The MEM 90mm is a great lens but using extension tubes on my visoflex or my late NEX7 I found that the optical quality at 1:1 was not so good anymore. 1:2 was the maximum which rendered good image quality. Leica seems to think so too.

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According to Dan Tamarkin, adapter is $690. The 'new' lens is $3650 on it's own, no adapter kit is available. So there you go.

 

Fun fact, when they last sold the MEM on it's own sans macro adapter/angle finder (~3 years ago?), it was $1995.

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Important to know that this new adapter can be used with any M lens. There are no 'eyes'. Of course you need Liveview. Maximum magnification here was quoted as 1:2 with the new 90.

 

Yes it would be good to know if it can be used with other M lenses as the current goggle-adapter has a black rectangular baffle in it that blocks many of the M lenses from mounting to it. If, this new adaptor does not have that black baffle, it will work with all of the M lenses... but, I would think that it wouldn't be optimized for the 90/4 without that baffle.

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It's really just a (very nice) variable-length spacer.

 

I wonder how long before Novoflex has a version.

 

You mean this one?

 

Link courtesy of Dan Tamrkin who emailed me about it today.

He tells me that as best as they can tell there is no optical improvement to the new lens (how can one improve on perfection ;)).

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Yes, with limitations, as explained here.

 

Jeff

 

Thanks for the link. That clears up quite a bit. I still wonder which Leica lenses will work with the new adaptor. Your link says that it is a little doggy less than 28mm. But, my 35 FLE and 35 Summicron will not work with the present googles-adaptor because of the baffle. So, if Leica dropped the baffle, then it will work with a lot more lenses, but it may not be optimized for the MEM. Don't know.

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You mean this one?

 

Link courtesy of Dan Tamrkin who emailed me about it today.

He tells me that as best as they can tell there is no optical improvement to the new lens (how can one improve on perfection ;)).

 

Thanks for that link Mark, too. Do you think that long stack of Novoflex adaptors would create a problem with vignetting or adaptor tolerance related precision? Don't know. The video you linked doesn't really show at all what the final image looked like.

 

Don't sell your goggles yet.

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Thanks for that link Mark, too. Do you think that long stack of Novoflex adaptors would create a problem with vignetting or adaptor tolerance related precision? Don't know. The video you linked doesn't really show at all what the final image looked like.

 

Don't sell your goggles yet.

 

I know no more than that. I also assume that the Novoflex adapters will be much cheaper than the Leica one.

 

Personally I'm glad I've got the previous version of this lens for M9/Monochrom use as the only advantage of the new one is the modified aperture ring and the new M240 adapter will be available separately albeit at a premium. I suspect it will only be time before someone introduces a Leica-style version also.

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… of course it must be used with live view - even when focusing to infinity with the lens collapsed. …

 

So - to summarise

1. macro adapter attached:

... with the lens collapsed it has the normal focus range to infinity - but you need live view

… with the lens extended you can focus down to 1:2 …

 

Hi Jono Slack and all testers,

 

The previous lens head is loosely when collapsed. In the (old) guidance stood:

 

"… The M-E-M … has a retractable lens head.

Note: In this position, the lens head rotates freely and is not looked. …"

 

Is the new lens locked when it´s pushed together?

(Or: Is it appropriate to focus precisely with a loose lens head?)

 

Thanks for the info.

Greeting Thorsten

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Hi Jono Slack and all testers,

 

The previous lens head is loosely when collapsed. In the (old) guidance stood:

 

"… The M-E-M … has a retractable lens head.

Note: In this position, the lens head rotates freely and is not looked. …"

 

Is the new lens locked when it´s pushed together?

(Or: Is it appropriate to focus precisely with a loose lens head?)

 

Thanks for the info.

Greeting Thorsten

 

Being loose doesn't interfere with focus through evf. What you see is what you get there. It would be an inconvenience for changing aperture though as turning the aperture ring would just turn the lens tube and not change detents. Hopefully that has been fixed.

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It has: see M240 thread "Close-Ups with my M 240".:) And far cheaper than the new Leica: £165. [speed Graphic is UK importer.]

 

Yes, I saw the close up set but it's not for me. Talking about a copy of a very compact variable extension ring. Hopefully still with ability to focus a collapsed MEM to infinity without much hassle.

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FWIW -- Just tried using the current 90 MEM mounted to the existing goggled macro adapter and it easily focuses to infinity when collapsed with a small turn of the focus. Using the EVF on m240 it's a no-brainer. Well, a bit of a trip back in time evf-wise, but that's just m240.

 

Not much of a surprise that it works, I guess, but to confirm for anyone else wondering.

 

One of the Chinese oufro clones should work just as well for this kind of use though I haven't tried it.

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FWIW -- Just tried using the current 90 MEM mounted to the existing goggled macro adapter and it easily focuses to infinity when collapsed with a small turn of the focus. Using the EVF on m240 it's a no-brainer. Well, a bit of a trip back in time evf-wise, but that's just m240.

 

Not much of a surprise that it works, I guess, but to confirm for anyone else wondering.

 

One of the Chinese oufro clones should work just as well for this kind of use though I haven't tried it.

 

The Chinese oufro clones (good, I have a pair of them) are not extensible via helicoid, like the new M adapter is.

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The Chinese oufro clones (good, I have a pair of them) are not extensible via helicoid, like the new M adapter is.

 

Neither is the existing leica macro adapter that I was talking about there and it works just fine for infinity focus/etc. That was the point.

 

The advatange of the 'new' one is that it gets you to 1:2 vs 1:3 and works with all lenses.

 

Also worth while noting that there are plenty of existing Chinese M <-> nex/m43/fuji adapters *with helicoids* already available for as low as $30-40. No doubt an m<->m version is not far behind.

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Neither is the existing leica macro adapter that I was talking about there and it works just fine for infinity focus/etc. That was the point.

 

The advatange of the 'new' one is that it gets you to 1:2 vs 1:3 and works with all lenses.

 

Also worth while noting that there are plenty of existing Chinese M <-> nex/m43/fuji adapters *with helicoids* already available for as low as $30-40. No doubt an m<->m version is not far behind.

 

I'd bet too... 3 months ago I even wrote to a Chinese provider (who asked for "advice for new products" after my order for some rings) that they ought to do it... Leica has been quickier... :cool:

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Hello maxnoy so from your experience the original goggled adapter is just a bit shorter than the new helicoid adapter, correct? (hence the need to slightly turn the focus ring)

 

This will also mean that if use other way around (old MEM + new helicoid), the MEM will not be able to focus to infinity....

 

:confused:

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