90mm worth it?

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espressogeek

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I bought the xpan a few months ago. And while I have been fascinated by crisp images I have not honestly used the xpan panorama much. I am hoping to take a few rolls of 50mm slide film down to the virgin islands on my honeymoon and see what I can do with it.
Anyway the point is, I would like to carry a 90mm with me for portraits. Is the 90mm up to snuff? Is it as good as say elemar 90mm ? I ask because if I dont use this much in panoramic mode I would like to continue to snap with something else that takes leica lenses if not a leica itself and preferrably in the film format.
Can anyone share some stunning portraits with this lens?
 
I own the 90 and like the lens for doing closer up Panoramics. Works great for things like Car Shows and such. Sorry I can't give any advice about shooting portraits in normal mode as that isn't why I bought the camera.
 
I have the 90mm and also a f2.8 Tele-Elmarit for my M4 and have used both for mainly street portraits although I tend normally to the use my 35 or 50mm Crons on the M4 (or R-D1) for street pictures.

The XPan 90mm is easily the equal or better in quality/sharpness to the Tele-Elmarit, but it is a stop slower, larger and 'the action' makes it a bit slower to focus for grab shots than the Elmarit on the M4. It is quite usable though and clearly the size weight would be less than taking an additional camera and lens. You can of course shoot Panoramics with the XPan & 90 as well as in standard format for portraits, an option you don't have with other 35mm/90mm combinations.
 
I have the 45 and the 90 (a nice piece of glass).
For normal pano's I use it for 5% of my shots.
Exception: very high,high,high resolution pano's, I shoot a xy mosaic and stitch the shots into one picture.

For portraits in normal mode OK, but be aware of the min. focal distance.
In this situation I prefer my old trusty Mamiya6-150mm combination.
Wim
 
Holding out for examples ;-)
I could get a black elemarit or someting longer like a nikon 135 and a bessa for the price of the 90mm for the xpan or less! The lens can be carried over to the leica m8 or epson rd-1 and a digital rangefinder is something I am considering down the road. So I was really hoping to get some examples of portraits with the 90mm f4 fuji lens.
 
espressogeek

a few months ago there was a guy on here who did some portraits of a girl (vertical) with the 90mm i think....
he posted the image in the gallery so might be worth havin a look. Ill have a look see if i can find for you.

The other thing to is... if you dont use pano mode that much, then i reckon the xpan is an expensive 35mm camera... great glass yes, but i dunno why you bought it for just normal 35mm mode???

ill get back to u
 
I think thats going to be the problem. You are asking for examples of something that the camera really wasn't designed for so most of us don't have anything to show ya! One can use a camera for anything they choose obviously, but for methe whole point of an Xpan is panoramics, so thats all I really use it for. If I wanted a normal portrait I'd use the Leica, Canon, Yashica or Contax I also own!
 
RdEoSg said:
I think thats going to be the problem. You are asking for examples of something that the camera really wasn't designed for so most of us don't have anything to show ya! One can use a camera for anything they choose obviously, but for methe whole point of an Xpan is panoramics, so thats all I really use it for. If I wanted a normal portrait I'd use the Leica, Canon, Yashica or Contax I also own!
Click to expand...

I would argue the camera was designed to shoot portraits in some capacity or rather its design made it suited for that. It does shoot non pano you know ;-) . I didnt buy it for regular 35 really. I thought I would find pano more useful than I do so it has really ended up being a regular 35mm as a result. Oh well. I suppose I will by another RF with Leica mount and just use that. I really like the xpan though!
 
Well I think it is certainly capable of doing it. It's got nice sharp glass as you have learned! For me though, part of shooting portraits is shooting at nice fast f-stops so I get shallow depth of field.. hard to do with a 5.6 lens especially if you stop it down a bit. I dunno. If you love the camera otherwise then $500-600 for a 90 is a lot better than an entire new camera and lens in another brand.. I don't think you need to worry about the quality of the shot though.. Definatly top notch glass in the Xpan!
 
To quote the original question posted

I bought the xpan a few months ago. And while I have been fascinated by crisp images I have not honestly used the xpan panorama much. I am hoping to take a few rolls of 50mm slide film down to the virgin islands on my honeymoon and see what I can do with it.
Click to expand...

ive never heard of 50mm film?
 
Last edited:
If you're contemplating buying Leica lenses then the xpan 90mm is a comparatively inexpensive purchase. Why don't you buy to try? You could go for second hand or a rental. First hand experience is probably going to be more useful to you.

While I can't say anything about the utility of the 90mm for portraiture, for the sake of other's reading this thread I'd certainly recommend it as a addition to an xpan outfit. I thought mine would sit on the shelf most of the time but instead it's always in the bag. The alternative angle of view and possibilities for depth of field are very helpful.
 
I love my xpanII, and as a matter of course picked up the 30 and the 90 as well. (My sec'y is going to teach me how to scan my prints into a computer reality at some point... I'm a slow learner). My thought on the decision to obtain all lenses available for the xpan was that 1. how will I be able to find out if I can use it without using it?, and 2. in the event I choose to sell the package, would it not be more attractive to someone looking for a discontinued camera to have the entire system? Whether it is for their use or collection, that is what appeals to me.

I did take the xpan along on my last trip due to its ability to go pano as well as single frame... a quality I am growing to appreciate despite its rather slow lenses, which is a dramatic contrast to my speedy leicas.
 
Possessing all three lenses, I would say that I use the 90mm for 5-8% of my exposures. Almost exlusively for animals against a distant background.'

I think that counts as portraits......
 
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