75mm or 90mm for landscapes on M8?

[yanidel]

I will be going to Argentina for a long trip this winter and I am a bit hesitating on whether to pick the 75mm or 90mm focal length (one tele only for small kit). I have not had time to use them extensively on the M8 so would like to know you experience and recommendations in real life usage (framelines, easiness to compose, ...)
I will be taking a 50mm F2 for portraits and what I am after is compressed landscapes such as in the attached picture (R-D1 with 85mm J9). The two lenses I own are the CV75 and a 90mm old Elmar, so this is really about focal length. I don't plan to invest on a new lens and speed, resolution are not my main concerns (except if I can find a J-9 quickly to replace my broken one).

 

[Andy Aitken]

I'd go with the CV75mm - it's a great lens on the M8, sharp, light compact. With the crop factor it makes a nice "100mm" f2.5. The only thing is that the framelines are pretty far out - you get a lot more than they show in the finder. The final image falls somewhere about 1/2 way between the 50mm and 75mm framelines (on the unmodified M8).

Having said that you might find the 50mm and 75mm are a bit too close together. If so a nice cheap 90mm Elmar C works well too.

 

[icebear]

I second Andy's post. The 75 frame"lines" are bad enough on a film M but they suck on the M8, maybe you are used to it but not my cup of tea. I'd take the 90 Elmar. There's not much gain from 50 to 75 but you'redefinately closer with the 90.

 

[fefe]

My travel kit is made of a 35 cron Asph, a 90 Macro Elmar (collapsed it's the size of the cron with hood) and a CV 15mm. I'd rather go for longer and take the Elmar, especially if you are already carrying a 50mm.

 

[Tom Niblick]

Since you have a 50, go with the 90. The 75 is too close to the 50.

 

[Nemo]

75mm and 90mm give a different look. The 90mm makes pictures more "flat".
You will need shorter exposure values for avoinding shake...
I would go for the Leica 75mm Summarit.

 

[Photon42]

Nobody seems to like the 90mm on the m8, but I do. The framelines are much more precise than the ones for the 75mm focal length. It's not too difficult to focus either, I find. Ultimately, it depends on the other lenses, you take along. I do enjoy the (15-)28-50-90 setup for the m8 very much, but YMMV.

Cheers,
Ivo

 

[yanidel]

I just came back from Switzerland where I spent the weekend. I did a tele-photo weekend mainly, using the 90mm Elmar the first day and the 75mm Heliar the second to choose the one that I will take on my future trip. Overall, most of the observations you have noted above are correct but here are are my findings after viewing the files :
- 75mm is close to 50mm in the finder but it makes a big difference when looking at files.
- 90mm is close to 75mm, no real difference in perspective.
- the CV75mm is more balanced with the M8, way easier to handle. It feels similar to the CV28mm M by the way.
- clickable aperture on the CV75mm, much easier to modify.
- framelines are not on in both cases, 90mm easier as isolated in center of finder.
- significantly less camera shake with the CV75mm, as it is shorter and more balanced. This adding to F2.5 gains 2 stops vs the 90mm IMO.
- in terms of sharpness, the Heliar blows away the 90mm Elmar.
- much more contrast and less flare on the Heliar.

So, not too difficult to guess who is the winner, the Heliar is just way superior in every respect to my 1960 Elmar that will stay home. Both achieved well their main goal, that is compression, yet I found it was less the decision point than I expected.
Here are a few samples of the 75mm Heliar.
Note that I used the 1.25x magnifier for both lenses, makes focusing way more easier for any lens 50mm and above.

 

[Photon42]

I just came back from Switzerland where I spent the weekend. [...]

Tu-es arrivé résoudre la dilemme ... Where have you been, then?

 

[yanidel]

Tu-es arrivé résoudre la dilemme ... Where have you been, then?

A thrilling destination .... close to Yverdon....😉

 

[cam]

yanidel -- if both lenses had been equal, which perspective did you prefer -- the 75 or the 90?

 

[yanidel]

yanidel -- if both lenses had been equal, which perspective did you prefer -- the 75 or the 90?

When trying to compress a landscape, you will many times have several planes (the crete shot I posted above has six). So the longer the lens, the best is the compression effect yet the most diffcult it gets to include various planes as FOV is reduced.
Overall, I doubt (little experience though) the perspective effect differs a lot on 75mm vs 90mm in this particular shots, so I think you might be better off with a 75mm and crop a bit than going for 90mm and have a FOV too short. I did not have a 75mm when I took the Crete shot (J9 85mm) so I elected to reduce the first plane (bush) to include the last plane (mountains).