Small 90mm for travel cityscape and landscape photography?

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The 90/2.8 Tele-Elmarit M really is the way to go.  The so-called "thin" TEM.

[Jean-Michel]

12 hours ago, TheEyesHaveIt said:

Received the macro-elmar 90mm lens today - seems like the hood is definitely less than ideal. It doesn't seem like I can leave it attached if I want to put the lens cap back on, and there's also no way to keep it attached in the reversed direction - which then makes for either carrying it separately or leaving it attached the right way, which doubles the length of the lens.

Hi,

My lens is the model the one before the newest one. You should be able to reverse the hood – mine does – basically for storage purposes. Th hood number is 12575. The plastic cap that goes over the reversed hood was of course designed by the Leica Department of Self-removing Lens Caps; the engineers in that department toil incessantly to prevent M users from the ignominy of taking photographs with the lens cap on 😀 When using this lens I usually keep the hood on. I do no collapse it when on the camera as I see no point in doing so.

[erudolph]

I'm not sure who makes it or where I got it, but this collapsible rubber hood has been good on the version 1 Macro-Elmar 90mm f/4.

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[Kl@usW.]

vor 15 Stunden schrieb TheEyesHaveIt:

Received the macro-elmar 90mm lens today - seems like the hood is definitely less than ideal. It doesn't seem like I can leave it attached if I want to put the lens cap back on, and there's also no way to keep it attached in the reversed direction - which then makes for either carrying it separately or leaving it attached the right way, which doubles the length of the lens.

Exactly, that was the reason why I sold this otherwise excellent lens in frustration: it’s useless as a travel lens. When extending the tube, you break your fingernails because there's no place to grip other than the aperture ring—aside from the fact that this puts strain on the aperture ring's mechanism. Then there's the issue with the lens hood: to avoid scratching the front of the lens, I always placed a small cloth over the front, then slipped the reversed lens hood over it, wrapped everything up, and put it in the bag. To take a photo, I had to do everything in reverse. A lens that doesn’t want to be used...I then bought a TEM and never looked back. 

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M7, TEM, Ektachrome 100

 

Leica M7, TEM, Ektachrome 100

Edited July 26, 2024 by Kl@usW.

[TheEyesHaveIt]

6 hours ago, Jean-Michel said:

Hi,

My lens is the model the one before the newest one. You should be able to reverse the hood – mine does – basically for storage purposes. Th hood number is 12575. The plastic cap that goes over the reversed hood was of course designed by the Leica Department of Self-removing Lens Caps; the engineers in that department toil incessantly to prevent M users from the ignominy of taking photographs with the lens cap on 😀 When using this lens I usually keep the hood on. I do no collapse it when on the camera as I see no point in doing so.

The new model has a new design apparently and you can no longer reverse the hood sadly.

 

3 hours ago, Kl@usW. said:

Exactly, that was the reason why I sold this otherwise excellent lens in frustration: it’s useless as a travel lens. When extending the tube, you break your fingernails because there's no place to grip other than the aperture ring—aside from the fact that this puts strain on the aperture ring's mechanism. Then there's the issue with the lens hood: to avoid scratching the front of the lens, I always placed a small cloth over the front, then slipped the reversed lens hood over it, wrapped everything up, and put it in the bag. To take a photo, I had to do everything in reverse. A lens that doesn’t want to be used...I then bought a TEM and never looked back. 

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M7, TEM, Ektachrome 100

 

Leica M7, TEM, Ektachrome 100

Yes I have noticed that it is quite resistant to extending the lens to get it ready for shooting. I worry I’m going to break it by being too rough! I do like the very small collapsed size and weight - and I’m excited to try macro with it. Have you done any macro with the TEM?

[Kl@usW.]

vor 59 Minuten schrieb TheEyesHaveIt:

The new model has a new design apparently and you can no longer reverse the hood sadly.

Have you done any macro with the TEM?

No, I used or rather tried to use the lens for travel.  Macro I did with a digital SLR  or my Hasselblad.   But if you have a digital M and possibly a Macro-Adapter, the lens will give you outstanding results. 

[Jean-Michel]

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FYI: this article by Jonathan Slack may be of interest to you: http://www.slack.co.uk/2014/Leica_Macro_Elmar.html

The Macro-Elmar, extended, is probably as short a 90 mm lens can be. I am past carrying 2 or 3 Ms on jobs and walks but that was my method, I changed cameras and not lenses. Today it is one body and pretty much only one lens for most of the time. If your plan is to photograph with the 90, your newly purchased lens will serve you well, just keep it extended and ready to use.

[MarkP]

On 7/25/2024 at 5:08 AM, erudolph said:

@MarkP, what’s the part number for that hood?

 

thanks,

12250 in black as mentioned. If you check the Leica Wiki link you can see it.

[MarkP]

On 7/25/2024 at 5:39 AM, TheEyesHaveIt said:

Tough to find it seems!

That may be the case now as it’s an old part. Maybe on eBay?

[MarkP]

On 7/26/2024 at 10:30 AM, TheEyesHaveIt said:

Received the macro-elmar 90mm lens today - seems like the hood is definitely less than ideal. It doesn't seem like I can leave it attached if I want to put the lens cap back on, and there's also no way to keep it attached in the reversed direction - which then makes for either carrying it separately or leaving it attached the right way, which doubles the length of the lens.

It is reversible on the original version of the lens which is designed to use with the macro goggles.   I  never use the lens in macro, although I have the goggles. 

[henning]

I have the macro-Elmar (first version), thin Tele-Elmar and Apo-Skopar. If I was doing mainly portraiture, I would mostly use the T-E, but for general photography and particularly travel photography I find the other two much better, especially if you want to make use of a higher megapixel camera. The macro-Elmar and  Apo Skopar are close in performance, but overall, with my samples, I would give the nod to the macro-Elmar. It's also the smallest by a little; the weight is probably the same.

I use the hood from the 50 Elmar (12550) as it is almost ideal; the clip on hood that comes with it is just too cumbersome and now with the newer lens even worse. Just as good is the Heliopan 39mm short hood, onto which you can attach a 39mm clip on cap but these hoods have been discontinued and are now hard to find. The 12550 works best with the Leica slip on caps. These hoods work as well on the current version of the macro-Elmar as on the first version. I think the hoods from the current Voigtlander 28/2.8 and 50/2.2 Color-Skopars would also work and be just fine, but as far as I know are not available separately right now. You just need a short hood to keep fingers off the front and some modicum of shading.

On trips this is an outstanding solution as the macro-Elmar is fast enough with recent sensors to be useable under almost all condition; subject isolation is not as good as with an f/2 lens obviously, but the weight and size advantage are usually more important. It's a lens that can always be with you.

[TheEyesHaveIt]

Seems like that 12550 hood used to be $69-99. The only one for sale I’ve seen now is $299. Wish Leica manufactured them still - or there was a third-party knockoff.

[RexGig0]

The Leica 12549 hood can be easily found, in good condition, on the “evil bay.” I had saved this search, some time ago, and have never bothered to discontinue it, so, I still get the notifications. (Originally, I had wanted to accumulate a couple of extra hoods for my Elmar-M 50mm..)

Edited July 29, 2024 by RexGig0

[Stuart Richardson]

The thin tele-elmarit M truly is tiny. I can't really recommend it, however. I found that it has a lot of chromatic aberration and is quite soft compared to modern 90mm lenses. I don't think I have a bad copy, as it is sharp enough and ok if stopped down significantly (f8 etc), but I found that it could not keep up with my other M lenses. Back at the time I was using it more, Konica was still making lenses and I found a 90mm 2.8 Konica, which I found to be a better performer. It is also fairly compact and light, but not to the same degree. If I were looking now, I would definitely look at the Summarits or the CV 90mm 2.8 APO. I would only recommend the 90mm TEM if you want a soft, vintage look. If you are thinking edge to edge sharpness and lack of chromatic aberration, lack of flare etc, I don't think it is the best choice.

[TheEyesHaveIt]

Back from my trip and was very surprised just how much I relied on the 90mm macro-elmar. It was a game changer in terms of the type of shots I was able to take (as part of a two lens kit with the Steel Rim 35). Didn't take the hood(s) and never had any issues despite that.

This shot would not have been possible without the lens (no cropping and that compression). I don't think a 50mm would've given me the same shot possibilities. Very happy with the lens!

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[3D-Kraft.com]

Received the Macro-Elmar-M 90/4 ASPH (v1) and I am very impressed by its compactness:

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I also like the option to put on the lens hood reversed (only possible with v1):

 

On the Sony A1 with Techart Pro LM-EA9 Adapter even more usable: You get an autofocus and in-body-stabilization:

[3D-Kraft.com]

Some test-shots on the Sony (click on the image to see full resolution):

At f/4.0:

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At f/8.0:

 

Bokeh at portrait distance:

 

Macro:

 

1:1 crop:

 

 

[3D-Kraft.com]

Does anyone know a source where I can find particularly flat rear lens caps?

I would like to be able to put the Macro-Elmar-M 90/4 in my bag as compact as possible and the normal M-mount rear caps are unnecessarily long.

[lct]

4 hours ago, 3D-Kraft.com said:

Does anyone know a source where I can find particularly flat rear lens caps?

Leitz 14051:

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[3D-Kraft.com]

Thanks. According to this post, there should be one, that is even shallower than the 14051 cap (9.5mm instead of 13mm). Anyone knows, which could be meant?