90 Macro Elmar M

[Tim Gray]

I had posted the other week about 90mm lenses on RF's, and was about to pick up a used Summarit for a good price when the 90 Macro Elmar M caught my eye. I found one used for a good price, with the macro adapter and went for it. I know there's not a lot out there about this lens, so here's how I feel so far.

First of all, its small. Collapsed its about the length of the 28 Summicron (which is a bit smaller than the Zeiss 35/2). Actually its a bit smaller - by the difference of a UV filter ring. Extended its the length of the 50 Summilux ASPH with its hood retracted. It's smaller in diameter than either of those lenses.

Extending the lens is quick and easy. It focuses pretty close without the adapter and I think is going to be perfect for walking around - the extra bit of close focus distance will let you zoom in on details if you need too. With the adapter, which is smaller than I imagined, all of my close focus needs are provided for. I used to shoot macro stuff with a canon SLR, 100mm macro lens, and flash setup. Obviously this won't do that kind of macro, bugs, tiny stuff, etc., but for flower-sized 'macro', it's perfect. Flowers, food, signs, leaves are all fair game with the adapter. If you were going on a real macro adventure, bring your slr, but for travel, you extend your capabilities quite a bit with a unit the size of a deck of cards.

The lens seems sharp with nice bokeh, etc. Sharp enough, even wide open. It's not the fastest thing in the world, but I have other lenses for that. I think in low light, I'm better with a 50 or a 28 anyway. I can hand hold it to a surprisingly low speed, so all is not lost. I don't know how it does with flare, but I don't have a hood for it, so I would imagine I'll find out at some point.

This has got me to thinking though. When I do go out with my SLR, I'm going to start bringing the appropriate sized extension ring from now on. Tiny and who knows when it might come in handy.

While this lens is expensive new, you can probably find them used for around the $1k mark if you keep your eye out. I've attached picture off the first roll, using the adapter, to give you an idea. I'm taking a trip tomorrow for a couple days and hope to give it a good workout.



For size reference, the 'S' is on a stop sign...

 

[sleepyhead]

Great lens - I have one with the adapter as well (although I rarely use it, I keep it along just in case.)

I find this lens STUNNINGLY sharp (and I own a couple of other sharp lenses, so I have a frame of reference). Using it at f/4 it is about as sharp as stopped down abit, certainly way beyond "what's necessary".

Flare resistance is very good in my experience.

I've owned quite a few Leica and Canon 85/90mm lenses in my day, and this along with the "thin" tele elmarit (f/2.8 is useful for portraits) are the ones I finally settled on as The Keepers.

 

[35mmdelux]

Thanks for the review; interesting. Im sure its as great as you say but for my style of shooting its got to be faster. The 90AA seems to work best for me. Regards -

 

[Tim Gray]

A 90mm for me is an outside lens 99% of the time. Now that I've had the lens for a couple months, whenever I get the urge to use it inside or where the light is poor, I realize that the 50/1.4 is probably a better choice for many reason---for me.

 

[thomasw_]

Thanks for posting, this is a lens that I have been interested in. I use the recently discontinued Elmar-M 50/2,8 and love its look just as much as my Summilux ASPH 50; the faster Lux works best for me. But I would sacrifice the f4 maximum aperature if this Elmar-Macro looks like the 50 Elmar. Does anyone have both?

 

[Tim Gray]

I have the 90 MEM and the 50 ASPH Lux, but no 50 Elmar. I was going to get a 50 Elmar as my super small lens, but went with the CV 28/3.5 instead, as I get along with 28mm better than I do 50mm.

What are the characteristics of the 50 Elmar? The 90 is SHARP. Of course, do to the longer focal length, there's less depth of field than with a 50. I've not seen anything objectionable about the out of focus areas on the 90, but I haven't really looked.

I think the 90 MEM would be a much more popular lens if people got over the f/4 max aperture. When I'm in low light, f/2 1/90s isn't enough. I'm often down at f/2 and 1/15s. Which I don't think I could hack on a 90mm...

It's really a cracking daylight lens. Unlike other 90's, you can really get close in on a detail if you want. And f/4 gives you plenty of speed outdoors AND isolation if that's your thing.

 

[sleepyhead]

I agree with Tim that the f/4 maximum aperture of the 90mm MEM is not a problem - at least not for me - most of the time that I use I 90mm I want to stop down to get a bit more depth of field; I generally don't do portraits with 35mm film anymore.

Anyway, I have the 90 MEM, the 50 ASPH Lux, and the 50 Elmar-M. (My tiny, but versatile travel kit comprises: 15mm CV, 25mm CV, 35mm Summicron, 50mm Elmar-M, 90mm MEM). The 50mm Elmar-M is as sharp as anything I've ever used, including the 50mm Summilux ASPH. There is something very beautiful about the rendition of the 50mm Elmar-M - it is not "character" or some kind of attention-seeking rendition - just smooth but sharp beauty. In fact, I rarely use my 50mm Summilux - I take in instead of the Elmar-M only if I know I'll be in a really low-light situation.

All-in-all, the 50mm Elmar-M is a really nice match with the 90mm MEM.


Here's a recent 50mm Elmar-M shot:

 

[nyx]

I did some testing for flare with and without hood - shooting sun in different positions in and out of frame...and I see absolutely no difference, so I'm leaving the hood at home from now on.

Also, someone mentioned using hood from 50mm elmar, which is tiny...

 

[Tim Gray]

That's good to know. That's the only piece of the kit I don't have. I originally just got the lens and the adapter, and then I saw Popflash selling a new angle finder for a significant discount so I bought that.

I'm not going to buy a hood new because they are so dang expensive. Even looking for one on ebay in good shape for a good price has proven challenging. I'm not going to pay $100 for something I'll rarely use. Maybe $20... haha.

 

[rbrooks]

Just bought a 90mm MEM for myself. So far it really fits exactly what I was looking for. In the past I've only use 90mm maybe 10% of the time. But the other 90s are so big and heavy you never bring them along. Now with the MEM you might as well schelp it along!

And this whole portrait thing at f2 is a bit silly for me. I look back at the old style of portraits and it was considered bad style if the eyes were in focus but the ears and the tip of nose were out of focus. Better shoot f4 with a 90mm and then all the major facial features are in focus and everything else is out!
I think I read this in an old William Mortensen book and it's stayed with me ever since. It really makes sense for me.