_Michael Posted October 27, 2018 Share #1 Posted October 27, 2018 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have been considering the 90 tele elmarit as an addition to my m262/35 corn combo for something on the longer end. It seems there are several different 90mm Leica lenses out there, but honestly I don’t want to spend a lot of money on the others. The elmarit seems like a bargain as I dig into it. 2.8 is honestly enough for me for this kind of lens too. The one I’m looking at is the Canada version. Flickr galleries I’ve looked at would indicate this lens is quite sharp and renders nicely. Any opinions on this one way or the other? I know many here value the much faster glass, and I also know the 90 will be a little tougher to shoot with too but it is very tempting for a sub $500 price point. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 27, 2018 Posted October 27, 2018 Hi _Michael, Take a look here Leica 90 Tele Elmarit?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
pixelman Posted October 27, 2018 Share #2 Posted October 27, 2018 I am very happy with my 90mm elmarit M. The 2.8 version with built in hood. Good size and performance. Some of them are 6bit coded. In my case I had Leica 6bit code the lens. If you are open to non Leica ,the other two lenses I’d look at are the canon 85 1.8 and the nikkor 85 f2. Both great performers. If you can find the black version of the nikkor it is super light and small. The voigt 90mm 3.5 is a good low cost solution too. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlaing Posted October 27, 2018 Share #3 Posted October 27, 2018 The 90 Summarit is worth a look too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kilmister Posted October 27, 2018 Share #4 Posted October 27, 2018 (edited) @_Michael The 90mm focal length is very useful and most of the lenses are fairly compact and not too heavy. I use an f/2.5 Summarit and the results are impressive. It cost under GBP 900 and I doubt that it will ever be worth less than that should I decide to sell. However, if you can get an f/2.8 Elmarit for under USD 500 then I'd be persuaded to jump in that direction. Good luck with your choice. P.S. If you wish to see any examples of shots taken with the 90 Summarit then send me a PM including your email address and I'll happily send a few so you have a chance to see its capability. Edited October 27, 2018 by Peter Kilmister Adding a post script Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Michael Posted October 27, 2018 Author Share #5 Posted October 27, 2018 24 minutes ago, pixelman said: I am very happy with my 90mm elmarit M. The 2.8 version with built in hood. Good size and performance. Some of them are 6bit coded. In my case I had Leica 6bit code the lens. If you are open to non Leica ,the other two lenses I’d look at are the canon 85 1.8 and the nikkor 85 f2. Both great performers. If you can find the black version of the nikkor it is super light and small. The voigt 90mm 3.5 is a good low cost solution too. Thank you for the feedback and suggestions. As I have tried to make sense of the different elmarit 90s out there, it sounds like the one you have is frequently referred to as the “fat elmarit”. The one I’m looking at does not have the hood built in but does have one included. In the naming of the lens it would also appear that this version is the only true tele lens and has the “tele” designation in the name where others seemingly do not. (True tele being a lens that has a longer focal length than its physical length) Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted October 27, 2018 Share #6 Posted October 27, 2018 I had a 90mm Tele-ELMARIT lens, bought new in 1966, made in Canada. Later it was described as the 'Fat' one. The front element was fixed and could not be used on a Visa flex for closer shots. The performance was excellent, even on my M8. I liked it for portraits where it was more forgiving than later 90mm lenses. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted October 27, 2018 Share #7 Posted October 27, 2018 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hello _Michael, Welcome to the Forum. There are 2 different Tele-Elmarits: The first 1 (Fat) was either chrome (Earlier)or black (Later) finished. The 2nd (Thin) was black. Both take the 12575 lens hood. More for protection from inadvertant impact, etc than for flare suppression. Some of the 2nd version have some issues with the rearmost element group SOMETIMES (Not always.). If you look thru previous Posts about the 2nd version you will find it. It is too bad that the Leica "Wiki" at the top pf the page is not connected yet. It would show you examples of both the "Fat" & the (Thin Version)> But nothing in the "Wiki" at the top of this page deals with the rear group problems in SOME of the 2nd versions of the lens. Best Regards, Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlaing Posted October 27, 2018 Share #8 Posted October 27, 2018 https://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/Main_Page Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Michael Posted October 27, 2018 Author Share #9 Posted October 27, 2018 Thanks everyone. All of the differences in Leica models and naming can be quite challenging to clearly understand. I appreciate th guidance. For the 2nd version, how would the problem show itself? Lack of focus accuracy would be my guess Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Michael Posted October 27, 2018 Author Share #10 Posted October 27, 2018 26 minutes ago, jdlaing said: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/Main_Page Thanks for this link. I looked here and it seems there are 3 versions of the lens. One of them the description in the index is not correct. It says something like f = 9, but the sample photo you can clearly see Elmarit on the lens. Here is the one I’m looking at; https://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/90mm_f/2.8_Tele-Elmarit-M Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlaing Posted October 27, 2018 Share #11 Posted October 27, 2018 That’s a good inexpensive lens if it’s in good shape. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelman Posted October 28, 2018 Share #12 Posted October 28, 2018 7 hours ago, _Michael said: Thank you for the feedback and suggestions. As I have tried to make sense of the different elmarit 90s out there, it sounds like the one you have is frequently referred to as the “fat elmarit”. The one I’m looking at does not have the hood built in but does have one included. In the naming of the lens it would also appear that this version is the only true tele lens and has the “tele” designation in the name where others seemingly do not. (True tele being a lens that has a longer focal length than its physical length) Michael, my lens is not the "fat one"... It is this one: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/90mm_f/2.8_Elmarit-M The model 11807. I had the "fat" one and my copy just wasn't great. I sold it and went for the 11807. Hope that helps. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.noctilux Posted October 28, 2018 Share #13 Posted October 28, 2018 Tele-Elmarit 2.8/90mm "thin" (225g the lightest Leica 90mm that please me), even lighter than Macro-Elmar-M 4/90mm, and not to be uncollapse before use 😇. I have love/hate story with this TE 90mm, since 1980's I own three times ( and one now for some years ). First I thought the TE sample I owned was not good, sold it and some years later bought another one. The second had the same behaviors as the first TE, so sold it later. Tele-Elmarit 90mm "thin" is very good performer (not that good at short distance 1m to 2m, but very nice rendering for "portrait of pretty persons"). ... All of the three TE the big flaw is flare when some intense light is just outside the frame (sky, spots, etc.). Sometime, flare is so intense that the subject is lost/shrouded in it. As I use also other 90mm, I use TE 90mm with this "flare prone" in mind or use LV/EVF to see when this happends. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted October 28, 2018 Share #14 Posted October 28, 2018 "Thin" T-E indeed. What a.noctilux said. Great little lens. It has been i my bag for 20+ years. If your 35 is an asph lens you might find that the T-E has a bit less acutance but it matches very well pre-asph lenses like 35/2 v4, 35/1.4 v2, 50/2 v4 & v5 and other Mandler lenses. Only serious con is flare as described above. See https://tinyurl.com/ybbz3cx4. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted October 28, 2018 Share #15 Posted October 28, 2018 (edited) 21 hours ago, _Michael said: Thanks for this link. I looked here and it seems there are 3 versions of the lens. One of them the description in the index is not correct. It says something like f = 9, but the sample photo you can clearly see Elmarit on the lens. Here is the one I’m looking at; https://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/90mm_f/2.8_Tele-Elmarit-M Hello _Michael, The 9cm Elmarit (9cm = 90mm) is the predecessor to the 1st version of the 90mm Tele-Elmarit. It is a 90mm lens of normal length & so it is somewhat longer than the 2 Tele_Elmarits. The 9cm Elmarit continued in production for many years after the introduction of the 1st 90mm Tele-Elmarit. Possibly because it was separable for use with Visoflex or/& Bellows. Best Regards, Michael Edited October 28, 2018 by Michael Geschlecht Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted October 28, 2018 Share #16 Posted October 28, 2018 21 hours ago, jdlaing said: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/Main_Page Hello JD, Thanx again for the help. When I "click" the Wiki at the top of this page (Or on other occasions previous to this.) I do not get a response from the computer. This has been the situation since the changeover to the new computer system. I used the Wiki at the top of the page on a regular basis before the program switch over. Perhaps the program for the computer has not yet gotten around to connecting up with Non-Premium Members yet. Or alternatively: Now it may be the case that access to the Wiki is limited only to those users willing to pay for it? Who knows? Best Regards, Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlaing Posted October 28, 2018 Share #17 Posted October 28, 2018 2 hours ago, Michael Geschlecht said: Hello JD, Thanx again for the help. When I "click" the Wiki at the top of this page (Or on other occasions previous to this.) I do not get a response from the computer. This has been the situation since the changeover to the new computer system. I used the Wiki at the top of the page on a regular basis before the program switch over. Perhaps the program for the computer has not yet gotten around to connecting up with Non-Premium Members yet. Or alternatively: Now it may be the case that access to the Wiki is limited only to those users willing to pay for it? Who knows? Best Regards, Michael I don’t think the connection is live yet. If you put “Leica Wiki” in a search engine you can pick the Leica User Forum Wiki and it will take you there. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.noctilux Posted October 28, 2018 Share #18 Posted October 28, 2018 Today, when I put the pointer on "Leica Wiki", have choice of "Leica Wiki (English)" or "Leica Wiki (German)", then click on Leica Wiki (English), it shows first page "Main page" of Wiki, same as before. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted October 28, 2018 Share #19 Posted October 28, 2018 Doesn't work on my Macs at the moment (Safari, Firefox). Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Michael Posted October 28, 2018 Author Share #20 Posted October 28, 2018 I was able to get tot he wiki on my Mac with the link provided earlier in the thread. I did however notice that the linked/referenced threads did not work. I just looked at the serial number reference and it seems the one I am looking at was produced in 1979. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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