Macro Elmar-M 90mm minimum focus distance on Voigtlander VM-E adapter

[kumimajava]

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New to the forum, but used to shoot Leica lenses on film a good few years back. More recently, after acquiring a Sony A7rII, I've come back to shooting manual more often, and am enjoying my m-mount lenses once again  

 

The adapter I'm using at the moment is Voigtlander's VM-E, which gives another few mm of shift, for getting focus a bit closer.

 

And I'm wondering how close the minimum focus distance on the 90mm Macro-Elmar would be, with this adapter ? 

 

I'm currently using a 90mm Elmarit, which focuses down to about 1m without using the VM-E built-in extension, and to about 80cm with the adapter fully extended. I'd be curious to know how much closer I could get with the macro-elmar. So if anyone on here would have that combo, I'd really appreciate your input 

 

I have tried searching for this info on the forum, but couldn't find anything - apologies if this has been asked before.

 

And though this is my first post - I've been lurking/reading on here on & off throughout the years - and on that account, thanks to everyone who's contributed to this forum   I'll try to pitch in with any info I have, when I can

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[wattsy]

According to the specs for the VM-E (just looked it up on Google) the maximum extension it provides is 4mm. The Leica goggled M-adaptor that I have for this lens (which is essentially a glorified extension tube) has an extension of more than 1cm. With the goggles, the lens focusses down to 0.5m. I haven't done the maths but, with only 4mm extension, I would assume that the minimum focussing distance using the VM-E is going to be a fair bit longer than 0.5m – probably somewhere around 0.65m or so.

Edited December 12, 2017 by wattsy

[kumimajava]

Thanks for the reply - I also checked the numbers, and indeed don't expect it to focus as close with the VM-E as with the Leica goggles/adapter, but would be interesting to hear if someone had a measurement.

 

since the Macro-Elmar has a naturally shorter minimum-focus distance than the Elmarit, that combined with the 4mm extension might just be "enough of a difference". I know that the dedicated close-focus adapter gives more macro potential, but then I lose infinity focus. In practice, i'd prefer to keep just one adapter on all the time

 

Let's see if anyone else chimes in

[wattsy]

This page offers a method of calculating the MFD knowing the extension and published native MFD and maximum reproduction ratio. The final equation is relatively straightforward and knowing that the Macro Elmar has a native MFD of 0.8m and a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:6.7 (or 0.1493x), an extra 4mm extension will provide a reproduction ratio of 0.1937x and a computed MFD of 0.637m.

 

I take your point about not wanting to remove the adaptor to obtain infinity focus (I find the goggled adaptor a real PITA because it gives me a restricted focussing range of 0.5m–0.8m) but have you considered the newer Macro-Adapter-M? This is of no use to me because I only use film but you are using an EVF to focus. This adaptor provides a variable extension of 18-30mm (giving a much more "macro" reproduction ratio of 1:2 or 0.5x) and, by collapsing the lens, you can use the adaptor to focus the lens to infinity. In other words, you do not need to remove the adaptor to use the lens as a normal 90mm. One caveat worth noting is that ideally you will want the latest version of the Macro Elmar-M because that lets you lock the lens in the collapsed position.

[lct]

[...] The adapter I'm using at the moment is Voigtlander's VM-E, which gives another few mm of shift, for getting focus a bit closer.

And I'm wondering how close the minimum focus distance on the 90mm Macro-Elmar would be, with this adapter ? [...]

 

If you mean 90/4 macro + Macro-Adapter-M v2 + VM-E close focus adapter i would say about 40cm MFD both adapters fully extended but i never measured it exactly.

[kumimajava]

If you mean 90/4 macro + Macro-Adapter-M v2 + VM-E close focus adapter i would say about 40cm MFD both adapters fully extended but i never measured it exactly.

Thanks - I mean the VM-E alone, but racked out to extend by 4mm.

 

but I hadn't realised - as Wattsy pointed out - that I could get infinity focus using the Leica macro-adapter with the lens collapsed. Many thanks for pointing that out

[kumimajava]

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This page offers a method of calculating the MFD knowing the extension and published native MFD and maximum reproduction ratio. The final equation is relatively straightforward and knowing that the Macro Elmar has a native MFD of 0.8m and a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:6.7 (or 0.1493x), an extra 4mm extension will provide a reproduction ratio of 0.1937x and a computed MFD of 0.637m.

 

I take your point about not wanting to remove the adaptor to obtain infinity focus (I find the goggled adaptor a real PITA because it gives me a restricted focussing range of 0.5m–0.8m) but have you considered the newer Macro-Adapter-M? This is of no use to me because I only use film but you are using an EVF to focus. This adaptor provides a variable extension of 18-30mm (giving a much more "macro" reproduction ratio of 1:2 or 0.5x) and, by collapsing the lens, you can use the adaptor to focus the lens to infinity. In other words, you do not need to remove the adaptor to use the lens as a normal 90mm. One caveat worth noting is that ideally you will want the latest version of the Macro Elmar-M because that lets you lock the lens in the collapsed position.

That's awesomely helpful - thanks! especially pointing out that the macro-elmar can still be infinity focused with the adapter, when it's collapsed.

 

one quick practical question: how do I tell whether a particular macro-elmar is "the latest version" or not? they sometimes pop up used here in Tokyo, so it would be nice to know how to check

[wattsy]

one quick practical question: how do I tell whether a particular macro-elmar is "the latest version" or not? they sometimes pop up used here in Tokyo, so it would be nice to know how to check

 

 

On the older lens, the aperture ring tucks inside the lens barrel when collapsed (and is then only partially visible). The latest version has a larger diameter aperture ring that sits proud of the barrel. The newer lens also locks in the collapsed position.

 

Ken Rockwell shows the older version here. Compare with the newer version here on Jono's website.

Edited December 12, 2017 by wattsy

[kumimajava]

On the older lens, the aperture ring tucks inside the lens barrel when collapsed (and is then only partially visible). The latest version has a larger diameter aperture ring that sits proud of the barrel. The newer lens also locks in the collapsed position.

 

Ken Rockwell shows the older version here. Compare with the newer version here on Jono's website.

Thanks - looks like I should be able to tell now, having seen the two references