A Comparison of Four 90mm Lenses

[RayPA]

Hi All,

Here's a comparison of four 90mm lenses.

• Leica 90/2
• M-Hexanon 90/2.8
• CV 90/3.5
• Minolta Rokkor 90/4

The sequence is as follows:

1. Wide Open
2. f4 (or stopped down 1 click—5.6 for the Rokkor)
3. f8

The film used was Tri-X, developed in D76h 1:1 10 minutes
Scanned on a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400II with multiscan set to 2X and the same "tweak" applied to every image.

I positioned the model (my daughter—who worked for Skittles) at just outside the minimum focus, and used window light. The focus gets shiftted on a couple of shots. I hope that doesn't affect from anyone's evaluation. Also, I didn't go crazy spotting and retouching these, and a couple negs had quite a bit of "gunk," so I did what my patience and timeframe would allow.

I didn't go the full range of f-stops, because I didn't want to get into tripods, and because my model wanted to go watch SpongeBob. 🙂 BTW, the thing in the upper left background is a fan that has a wire grate around it, and the wall behiind the model is a light green color (if that helps at all).

Also, I did no post scan corrections, so these aren't sharpened or adjusted at all.

I ganged the images onto single "sheets," because I don't do well with comparisons when the images are in separate files. If anyone wants to see something larger, let me know and I'll post it up on one of my galleries.

I'll add the images in separate posts.

🙂

 

[RayPA]

Wide Open

Wide Open

Here's Wide Open

 

[RayPA]

Stopped Down One Click

Stopped Down One Click

Here's Stopped Down One Click


🙂

 

[RayPA]

f8

f8

Here's f8

🙂

.

 

[erudolph]

I am surprised at how light the cron images are.

Ed

 

[doubs43]

Judging solely from your images I'd select the lenses in this order of preference: Leica, Rokkor, CV and Hexanon. Truthfully, I'm not at all overly impressed by the Hexanon.

My order of preference is, of course, just my opinion.

Walker

 

[RayPA]

Judging solely from your images I'd select the lenses in this order of preference: Leica, Rokkor, CV and Hexanon. Truthfully, I'm not at all overly impressed by the Hexanon.

My order of preference is, of course, just my opinion.

Walker

I like that order, too, but I think I like the look of the CV a little more than the Rokkor. The Hex seems to get harsh when stopped down.

 

[Ergo]

I like the green skittles best.

 

[JoeFriday]

excellent review, Ray.. thanks for sharing! and now I feel really good about my 90/2 Summicron 🙂

 

[back alley]

might be wishful thinking on my part but i like the rokkor best overall.

many thanks for this ray!!

joe

 

[wlewisiii]

This was a helpful review for me. I can say that if I need a modern 90 anytime soon, I can get the CV and I'd be very happy with it.

Thanks!

William

 

[markinlondon]

This was a helpful review for me. I can say that if I need a modern 90 anytime soon, I can get the CV and I'd be very happy with it.

Thanks!

William

I already have bought the CV and I'm not changing it. An old Elmar would probably complement it. I like the way the Apo-Lanthar is very consistent stop to stop even wide open.

Mark

 

[kbg32]

Thanks Ray. The 'cron and the CV get my vote. Not impressed with the Rokkor or the Hexanon.

 

[wlewisiii]

Mark,

I do already have an old pre-war uncoated Elmar. Very wonderful lens with a distinctive signature. Which is why I said if I needed a _modern_ lens. 🙂 It looks like it would complement the old Elmar quite well.

William

 

[JJW]

I can't tell all that much....

I can't tell all that much....

Ray:

I can't tell all that much from these sheets. Maybe because my monitor is getting old, like me!

I was interested because I was thinking about getting a 90 and leaning to the Voigtlander.

Can you please characterize your results and provide some further detail? If you post the pictures on a gallery, let us know so we can have a closer look. I presume those would be high resolution scans...

BTW, your daughter has potential as a model. Keep working with her! ;-)

JJW

 

[Fred]

Thanks for shareing that with us. I already have the CV and seeing the test here bolsters my decision to hang on to it. My Bessa will be pleased 🙂

I must say though that the difference between the Rokkor and Hexanon lenses has a totally diffierent character altogether than the Leica and the CV.

 

[KoNickon]

I don't know what you guys are seeing, but to me the Rokkor is clearly the best, followed by the Hexanon. (Yes, the f4 maximum aperture may have something to do with it, but the Rokkor's image quality seems remarkably consistent at each aperture.) I'm unimpressed by the Summicron and the CV isn't so great, either, especially at maximum aperture. As someone else mentioned, it is odd how the Summicron images are so light -- actually that detracts from the image.

Of course, Ray mentioned there being focusing variation in the pictures -- that might account for our differing opinions to some extent.

 

[vrgard]

While I appreciate reading everyone's opinions, I would glean more if they would also state what they are seeing in the different images and/or why they hold that particular opinion. Anyone care to elaborate on their opinions?

Thanks in advance,
Randy

P.S. Oops, forgot to thank Ray for his efforts in putting these test results together.

P.P.S. Not meaning to look a gift horse in the mouth but Ray if you are interested in expanding your test, I have a 90mm Tele-Elmarit and an old 90mm Elmar (just a hair post war which means it is coated) you can use.

 

[back alley]

i thik it's interesting that we are all looking at the same pics but coming to very different conclusions.

i like how the background looks and the contrast and shadow detail of the rokkor the best.
i am assuming the 90/4 elmar c would be much the same.

joe

 

[sf]

Here's f8

🙂

.

why did you expose the Minolta images 1 stop faster (1/60 vs 1/30) than the Leica ones at the same aperture?