Comments on Elmarit M 90 on M11

[Leslie22]

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I have a 30 year old  Elmarit M 90mm , I’m wondering how it performs on the M11.

Would be grateful to hear from expletive who have actually used it on the M11 

 

 

 

[Leslie22]

Sorry that should have bee “would be grateful to hear from PEOPLE …..

[lct]

If it is this one (11807) it performs very well on the M11. It is a lens designed in the film days though. Mine needed to be calibrated for digital and works perfectly now. 

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[Leslie22]

Yes, thank you that’s it , purchased in 1991 for the M6 and hasn’t been used for quiet some time (what’s that old saying “never sell a Leica lens” )

 

 

[Jon Warwick]

1 hour ago, Leslie22 said:

Yes, thank you that’s it , purchased in 1991 for the M6 and hasn’t been used for quiet some time (what’s that old saying “never sell a Leica lens” )

 

 

Oops. I had that specific lens, and sold it. When I look at recently scanned B&W images off my M7, I really wish I’d kept it! Its performance was very good (on film at least), and I really enjoyed its compact size, especially acknowledging the built-in hood. I would have been very curious to see its rendering on digital, especially on my M10 Monochrom and/or for “gentler” portraits on a color sensor camera like an M11.

Edited October 3, 2022 by Jon Warwick

[charlesphoto99]

I've been using one on my M10-R that is from the very first year (1987) that I picked up mint recently. It's an amazing lens, almost as good as the 90 APO without the bulk and stiffer focus throw. Much better build and image quality than my little 90mm macro-elmar as well. IMO it's probably one of the best VFM lenses one can get. 

[Photoworks]

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I remember David was talking about it when doing the review.

He is a big fan of that lens rendering, but he also said that it limited resolution is showing on the M11 at 60MP

https://www.reddotforum.com/content/2022/01/leica-m11-review-the-ultimate-digital-m/

 

I have been using the Summarit 90 2.4 and love it. I have tested the 90 Apo, and the elmarit, and one from voigtlander.
The Summarit is small light and easy to carry. Sharp images even at 2.4 

[01af]

Am 3.10.2022 um 03:29 schrieb Leslie22:

I have a 30 year old Elmarit-M 90mm , I’m wondering how it performs on the M11.

On the M11, it performs exactly like it does on any other M camera.

[charlesphoto99]

14 hours ago, Photoworks said:

I remember David was talking about it when doing the review.

He is a big fan of that lens rendering, but he also said that it limited resolution is showing on the M11 at 60MP

 

No idea how it can 'limit' resolution. It may not render as crisply as say an APO, but it will 'resolve' all the megapixels you can throw at it. So will the bottom of a soda bottle. Here it is with 40mp on an M10-R, Kauai sunrise, tripod. 

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[lct]

Advantages of the Summarit 90/2.4 vs Elmarit 90/2.8 v2 are f/2.4, a bit lighter weight (368g vs 394g with hoods), 0.9m MFD (vs 1m) and native 6-bit coding but i need to do side by side comparos on 100% crops to see significant differences on the M11 and they are not all in favor of the Summarit i must say. My Elmarit is built as a tank and has a built-in hood, it can be 6-bit coded too, so i'm not sure i would buy another Summarit if i had to replace mine TBH. YMMV.

[wdahab]

I have it, and while it's a great lens on the M11 and very affordable, it's *very* not contrasty at f/2.8. It makes for a dreamlike effect, but with the difficult focusing (outside of live view) it can be tricky to use. It's much more reliable at f/4 and higher, where it becomes more contrasty and it's much easier to nail focus.

[lct]

7 minutes ago, wdahab said:

I have it, and while it's a great lens on the M11 and very affordable, it's *very* not contrasty at f/2.8. It makes for a dreamlike effect, but with the difficult focusing (outside of live view) it can be tricky to use. It's much more reliable at f/4 and higher, where it becomes more contrasty and it's much easier to nail focus.

Are you sure you have an Elmarit v2 (with built-in hood)? If yes you may wish yo have it CLA'ed or adapted for digital. That's what i did with mine and i never regretted the expense.

[charlesphoto99]

36 minutes ago, wdahab said:

I have it, and while it's a great lens on the M11 and very affordable, it's *very* not contrasty at f/2.8. It makes for a dreamlike effect, but with the difficult focusing (outside of live view) it can be tricky to use. It's much more reliable at f/4 and higher, where it becomes more contrasty and it's much easier to nail focus.

This sounds like an earlier version than we are talking about. I've owned 90 APO, 90 'cron (late), and currently also a 90 macro-elmar, and the 90 Elmarit-M is anything but dreamy wide open or difficult to focus. In fact, it's probably the best handling out of all of them I would say, and the optical quality of my copy very near APO (which is too sharp sometimes imo, and a heavy/expensive lens to use/carry, esp if rarely using it wide open. The fast and expensive lenses were often a must in the film days, but now with sensors as they are a 2.5/2.8 is plenty to suffice in most situations, at a third of the price, and less to worry about. Unless one is aiming for a specific effect that is, and the premium adds value to your work. 

Below, M10-R, 90mm Elmarit-M, wide open, handheld and somewhat underexposed. 

 

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[Ouroboros]

On 10/5/2022 at 10:46 PM, charlesphoto99 said:

This sounds like an earlier version than we are talking about. I've owned 90 APO, 90 'cron (late), and currently also a 90 macro-elmar, and the 90 Elmarit-M is anything but dreamy wide open or difficult to focus. In fact, it's probably the best handling out of all of them I would say, and the optical quality of my copy very near APO (which is too sharp sometimes imo, and a heavy/expensive lens to use/carry, esp if rarely using it wide open. The fast and expensive lenses were often a must in the film days, but now with sensors as they are a 2.5/2.8 is plenty to suffice in most situations, at a third of the price, and less to worry about. Unless one is aiming for a specific effect that is, and the premium adds value to your work. 

Below, M10-R, 90mm Elmarit-M, wide open, handheld and somewhat underexposed. 

 

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

I recently sold my 90mm elmarit-m f2.8 because I bought a new 90mm apo-summicron a few months ago and rarely used the elmarit-m since then.

The elmarit-m is ok, not a bad lens at all, but I prefer the 90mm apo-summicron in every way, including handling.  Despite being heavier and larger, the apo to me feels more balanced in use and the images on my M10-R have a clarity that I never saw with the 90mm elmarit-m. 

The 90mm apo-summicron is one of my favourite lenses on film and digital.

Expensive, yes, but I've never heard of a lens that's too expensive to use!

[sdk]

I went with the Voigtlander 90mm/2.8 Apo Skopar, which is a fantastic and petite lens. If you don't already have a nice 90mm, it is the one to get right now. FYI, the higher fidelity sensor camera has will always improve the performance of a lens because optics work this way: System MTF = sensor MTF X lens MTF. So if you have a lens that has 0.6 MTF and multiply that by a camera with 0.9 MTF rather than a camera with 0.7 MTF you get a higher overall MTF. Similarly a better lens with higher lens MTF will improve the performance of an older lower resolution or lower SNR (which both can lower MTF) sensor.

[lct]

On 10/12/2022 at 3:00 PM, sdk said:

I went with the Voigtlander 90mm/2.8 Apo Skopar, which is a fantastic and petite lens. If you don't already have a nice 90mm, it is the one to get right now. [...]

Superb little lens apparently. Just received mine and it seems to outperform both my Elmarit 90/28 v2 and Tele-Elmarit "thin" 90/2.8. It is a contrasty lens with modern rendition though so i don't plan to use it for gentle portraits but otherwise i'm impressed i must say. Focuses spot on at f/2.8 on my M11 but i did not check for focus shift if any.

[Jeff S]

On 10/12/2022 at 9:00 AM, sdk said:

…System MTF = sensor MTF X lens MTF. So if you have a lens that has 0.6 MTF and multiply that by a camera with 0.9 MTF rather than a camera with 0.7 MTF you get a higher overall MTF…

As Roger discusses, you get an overall MTF in this case of .54, which is pretty good.  Whether that’s higher of course depends on what the prior system was.

In the Appendix…

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2019/10/more-ultra-high-resolution-mtf-experiments/

Jeff

[lct]

On 10/19/2022 at 7:15 PM, lct said:

Just received mine and it seems to outperform both my Elmarit 90/28 v2 and Tele-Elmarit "thin" 90/2.8.

True for sharpness at f/2.8 and resistance to flare. Less so for color fringing and even less so for vignetting that is not the Apo-Skopar's forte. Easy to adjust in PP though.