help me decide ...tele lenses

[johntobias]

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my current setup is a CL with 18 and 35 TL lenses , an M-L adapter and a 90mm Elmar C and 135 Elmarit M ....I find I'm using the 90 more and more and to a lesser degree the 135. (leftover from my M days).  wondering about the following changes (and your thoughts) 

sell the 90C and buy a good used summicron 90

sell the 90C and 135 , add cash and get a 55-135 TL

Manual focussing isn't a prob but clearly autofocus is much better for me.....I had a 90 summicrom (pre asp) years ago and loved it, the 135 f2.8 is a heavy but great beast but size often means it stays home !

anything longer than 200mm equiv and I either crop or digiscope with a pair of trinovids (actually not bad but not great!)

 

Your thoughts much appreciated.......still use my 'lux TL as my walk around lens...it is just sublime!

 

 

[ramarren]

Why do you want to change things? What is not satisfying you with the lenses you have?

Of course, if you want autofocus, the only option is to buy one of the TL or SL lenses.

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[jaapv]

Following your thinking, I feel the 55-135 might be you best option.

[wda]

John, I find my 75mm Summarit complements the 35mm lens perfectly. Doubling up on focal lengths often makes sense. 

[lct]

1 hour ago, johntobias said:

my current setup is a CL with 18 and 35 TL lenses , an M-L adapter and a 90mm Elmar C and 135 Elmarit M ....I find I'm using the 90 more and more and to a lesser degree the 135. (leftover from my M days).  wondering about the following changes (and your thoughts) 

sell the 90C and buy a good used summicron 90 [...]

I have no experience with AF lenses but i use the same Elmar-C as yours and a couple other 90mm and 75mm lenses on the CL.
- If f/4 is fast enough for you you may wish to try the M-Rokkor 90/4 for Minolta CLE (not CL) which is sharper at f/4, has less flare than the Elmar-C and is even cheaper than the latter, let alone the superb Macro-Elmar 90/4 which is significantly dearer though.
- If you're after a faster lens than f/4, both Summicron 90/2 v3 and apo proves too big and heavy for the CL, in my experience at least. Same for the Summicron 90/2 v2 which is a superb lens but is even bigger. The Summarit 90/2.4 is much lighter but my favorite is the Summarit 75/2.5 you can see below. With its almost 100mm FoV (75 x 1.5 = 112mm), it is the second best short telephoto lens for APS-C behind the f/2.4 version of the same lens in my humble opinion. FWIW.

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[johntobias]

questioneanswered itself really, got offered a 90mm Elmarit-M at a great price in mint condition, simply going to update my elmar-c 90 to this.....the money saved goes to my film-M fund.......hopefully as it accrues a nice M7 will eventually become available !  

thanks for the advice folks.......I suspect there may be some other L-Mount telephoto options in the future with the L alliance and all that

Keep shooting !

 

John

 

ps....anyone looking for a cracking Elmar C 90 f4 with filter and hood???....cheap !

 

[johntobias]

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On 12/1/2018 at 2:25 PM, ramarren said:

Why do you want to change things? What is not satisfying you with the lenses you have?

Of course, if you want autofocus, the only option is to buy one of the TL or SL lenses.

The iq of the summilux has opened my eyes and I feel the Elmar -C just isn't cutting the mustard re contrast and 'feel'  . It is a great lens, especially for the cost but I know I can do better and that has been working on me!

[Guest]

12 hours ago, johntobias said:

got offered a 90mm Elmarit-M at a great price in mint condition, simply going to update my elmar-c 90 to this

Good decision. I use the same lens with my CL, it balances well. And it really is the bargain of the Leica world.

[Bill W]

55-135

[M11 for me]

vor 11 Minuten schrieb Bill W:

55-135

We saw many photographs with this lens and on the screen here in the forum it looks very, very good

[ramarren]

 

On 12/3/2018 at 2:49 AM, johntobias said:

questioneanswered itself really, got offered a 90mm Elmarit-M at a great price in mint condition, simply going to update my elmar-c 90 to this.....the money saved goes to my film-M fund.......hopefully as it accrues a nice M7 will eventually become available !  

...

ps....anyone looking for a cracking Elmar C 90 f4 with filter and hood???....cheap !

 

 

On 12/3/2018 at 2:55 AM, johntobias said:

The iq of the summilux has opened my eyes and I feel the Elmar -C just isn't cutting the mustard re contrast and 'feel'  . It is a great lens, especially for the cost but I know I can do better and that has been working on me!

You can't go wrong with an Elmarit-M 90mm, and it's not much bigger than the Elmar-C 90.

I have an early M-Rokkor 90/4 (same lens as the Elmar-C, built on the same production line, differs only in the filter mount and the name on the bezel) and like its rendering qualities quite a lot, as well as its size and weight. But I also have the Summicron-R 90mm f/2 (pre-ROM version): it's rendering qualities are just about as good as it gets to my eye, and you can get all kinds of differences out of it just by turning the aperture ring. It's not for my M, of course, but I tend to use the Summarit-M 75mm f/2.4 on that rather than a 90mm most of the time. 

None of these lenses are poor quality, they all differ by nuance. So whatever makes you happy is all that matters.

[tommonego@gmail.com]

I have a old beat up 90mm Elmarit 2.8M which is quite nice on the CL, I also have a 85 f2 Nikkor, which also does nice images f2.8 - f11, the focus rotates the f stop ring, this bothers me more on the CL than it did on M cameras, my Nikkor is black, don't think I would have kept it if it was silver. I was interested in the 135 Elmarit, heavy on the CL?

Tom

[lct]

42 minutes ago, tommonego@gmail.com said:

[...] I was interested in the 135 Elmarit, heavy on the CL?

Elmarit, Elmar or Tele-Elmar?
- Elmarit 135/2.8 is a bulky lens on the CL. It exists in two versions, M and R. The M has goggles that are made for rangefinders but its optical cell can be removed and used on a short focusing mount and two adapters. I'd rather choose the R version which needs only one or two adapters.  
- Tele-Elmar 135/4 needs only one adapter and is significantly lighter than the Elmarit.
- Elmar 135/4 works the same way as the Tele-Elmar but it is taller and lighter.

 

Edited December 9, 2018 by lct

[johntobias]

Yes, mine is the goggles version ( though I have taken them off as I use it on a T and CL.   

Bulky , yes but no more so than you would expect

heavy , yes, the 135f2.8 is a solid lump

verdict.   For a 200mm equivalence and used on a tripod, it’s brilliant and a bargain !   Just not exactly a walk around lens 😁😁

[Marac]

M lenses on a CL are gorgeous both functionally & quality-wise. Good choice for your needs.

My personal preference would of been the 55-135 (I own this lens for that reason) 

[Guest]

For those interested in using their Elmarit-M 90mm for macro photography (using the CL, as I do, or any other camera):

I have been using the Olympus achromat MCON-P02 on my Elmarit-M 90mm with excellent results. The MCON-P02 (~ +3.6 diopter) roughly yields a magnification range of 1:3 to 1:2 with the Elmarit, which I find very useful. It has a 46mm filter thread, which fits the Elmarit. The adapter is well made, comes with two lens caps, and is reasonably priced. Highly recommended.

I first considered the ELPRO E52 but found it too strong (+7 diopter) for my purposes. I also have no use for its 52mm filter thread (although it comes with adapters to 46mm and 49mm).

[nicci78]

55-135mm is extraordinary. Other slow adapted long M lenses do not have any interest. Except APO-M 75, 90 or 135mm