1:4 90mm Elmar-C - whats its purpose?

[panerai]

I picked one up at a good price as someone told me it was a good portrait lens.

90mm frame lines are tighter than the 40mm, but nothing a bit of cropping won't achieve with a picture taken with a 40mm.

I thought it was a small telephoto type lens, but not

Couldn't really find much info on the lens other than some images or posts asking about the quality.

Thanks

DON

 

[Cagliostro73]

Hi!
I use it quite often and i can say IMHO that's a good lens even at f4.
Here's a sample shot taken last week (CLE and Summicron 90 f4)
I apologize for the quality, I should invest more in film scanner... 🙁
I hope this could be of help...

 

[sojournerphoto]

Following the cropping logic you could shot everything with a 15 and crop to taste. But, doing that you lose both quality as grain/noise is icnreased and resolution falls. Also the depth of field of a 90mm lens is less than that of a cropped 40 etc.

The Elmar 90/4 is, iirc, the same as the M-Rokkor 90/4. I had one and it's a very sweet and sharp little lens. It makes a very good carry round short tele and portrait lens as it is both high quality from wide open and smal and light.

Put it on and only use it for a couple of weeks and you'll get it🙂

Mike

 

[panerai]

Will try it out. Little nephew is coming over tomorrow and if I can get him to sit for more than a few seconds. Might get a picture, but most likely a blur

Thanks

DON

 

[t6un]

Also the depth of field of a 90mm lens is less than that of a cropped 40 etc.

At f/4 it's about the same as cropped 40 at f/2.

 

[Rob-F]

I picked one up at a good price as someone told me it was a good portrait lens.

90mm frame lines are tighter than the 40mm, but nothing a bit of cropping won't achieve with a picture taken with a 40mm.

I thought it was a small telephoto type lens, but not

Couldn't really find much info on the lens other than some images or posts asking about the quality.

Thanks

DON

It was designed and made by Leitz in Germany for use on the Leitz/Minolta CL. It is a "long focus" lens, not a telephoto; but such lenses are often informally described as "telephoto." It is certainly a good portrait lens, but it's good for much more than that. Use it also for landscapes, travel, and wherever a small and light 90 is wanted.

 

[kbg32]

I own one. It's my only 90. Small, sharp, with wonderful color.

 

[mathomas]

It's for getting some really nice, sharp, landscapes (for me anyway):

Much Larger
(Any black specks you may see in the sky are birds.)

 

[underbyte]

What is the 90mm Elmar-C good for? Portraits!

What is the 90mm Elmar-C good for? Portraits!

PORTRAITS! I use this wide open or at f/5.6. I don't use it often enough, but when I do, I vow that I would never sell it. It could be faster, and in fact, I wish I had an SLR lens that looks like this, but this is a great lens if you get a good sample. This lens renders wonderful head and shoulders portraits, and street telephoto shots as well.

 

[Cagliostro73]

Hi!
I use it quite often and i can say IMHO that's a good lens even at f4.
Here's a sample shot taken last week (CLE and Summicron 90 f4)
I apologize for the quality, I should invest more in film scanner... 🙁
I hope this could be of help...

Sorry... I clearly misread the thread... 😛
Best of light.
D.

 

[ianstamatic]

Its nice to see the samples and they are nice shots. Thanks for posting them.

 

[luiman]

I love this lens, not only for portraits.

 

[Vics]

"...I thought it was a small telephoto type lens, but not"
Yes it is a moderate telephoto.
Does anyone have focusing problems using it on an Leica-M camera? I heard the focusing on a CL is different than the M3 etc...

 

[Graham Line]

The focusing cam on the CL 90/4 (and the companion 40/2 Summicron-C) is steeper and straighter than on other Leica M-mount lenses, so changes are a bit more abrupt. That's all. Still compatible. The CL has a shorter rangefinder baselength than an M so it requires a little more attention in critical situations.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

As you said "... someone told me it was a good portrait lens..."

They were telling the truth and it's very nice for picking out details in anything when 50mm is too wide.

Regards, David

 

[Sean Moran]

It is not in fact a telephoto; just a lens with longer focal length than standard.

 

[Marc G.]

sorry to bring up this thread again but I think it's better than just creating a new one.

I dont own a CL but I am thinking about this particular lens, since other leica options would cost at least 3 times as much.

i'd use the lens for portrait and landscape and in case it's lowlight I can use 3200 ASA film anyway...

I've read very little about the performance but since the other CL lens is superb I asked myself whether that lens performs up to its brand name too.

I want a 90 which is small, lightweight to complement my other 2 lenses. I'm fine with f/4

other choices would be 90 summarit and 90 tele elmarit, thing version. but these would set me back at least 800€ compared to 269€ of the elmar-c (can send it back if it doesnt work but said to be in mint condition)

 

[jippiejee]

I've read many people who liked the lens, so this might have been my individual bad copy, but I personally thought it not all that good. It lacked contrast, focus felt soft, and it showed too much color fringing when shot wide open. Sold mine.

 

[Paul T.]

I only use mine for black and white, I've found it a lovely lens, nice contrast but not over-contrasty, crisp, the perfect complemet to the Summicron C. I only ever use mine at f/5.6 and it give a beautiful, gentle fall-off.

 

[rbelyell]

'whats it good for?'--as compared to what? you seem to be complaining about its FL, and specifically about its FL vs a cropped 40mm lens. and if thats the case, one can ask the same question about any 90mm lens, so its unclear why you limit your question to this particular lens?

if youre questioning this lens's IQ, then you either dont have enough of a sample or you have a bad copy as its perhaps the finest 90 of its size.
tony