newbie 90mm advice please

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WoolenMammoth

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hi, brand new member to the forum, looks to be an excellent resource. Well, after 20 years of photography, I finally got my first range finder. hurray. Im on the hunt for a 90mm lens, scoured the forum here and elsewhere and have wound up with more questions than answers.

Is there anyone that can provide (or has a page online) a baseline comparison between all the different popular 90mm lenses on the market? I would love to see a photo comparison between the old 50's 90mm's and the newer lenses. Prices seem to be all over the map as well.

Ideally Id like to wind up with a 2.8, the extra stop over the 4 would be helpful for the most stuff I shoot. Would like to avoid a giant lens though.

Also, whats the story with the 90mm that was marketed for the CL? How does that lens compare to the other f4 90mm's?

many quesitons...

thanks!!!
 
Hello:

I can recommend a Tele-Elmarit as long as you use a hood. The Elmarit may be as good or better in terms of cost/ performance. The CV 90 has many fans.

Search RFF for comparisons especially Raid amin's.

yours
Frank
 
if you want a great small and sharp lens in that area, buy frank's 100/3.5 canon lens.
very sharp and tiny enough for a shirt pocket.
it compares favourably with the rokkor/leica 90/4 lenses.
you would need a ltm adapter if your camera is m mount.

joe
 
I've used the 90 elmarit version one since 1968 and have a great deal of experience with it compared to the other Leica 90's with the exception of the current 90 elmarit M. The tele-elmarit is a very good lens but does suffer from flare and is not quite as sharp as the elmarit. I still keep a black version 1 of the elmarit and find it outperforms my apo asph summicron at close range and wide apertures. At distances over 10 ft the apo asph summicron wins over all the others. The original 90 summicron is a good lens stoped down a stop or two but nothing to write home about wide open.

My recommendation is the v1 elmarit. I've seen ones with good glass and user exterior for $300 to $400.
 
The four that would attract me would be:

CV 90 APO Lanthar f3.5 - Great performance even wide open...not just OK but great. V Good value.

Leica 90 Elmarit M F2.8- Great performance, a touch faster than above, well made, not too big.

Leica 90 macro elmar M - Tiny collapsed and superb performance from wide open.

Hexanon 90 - By all accounts a great performer and decent value. Sits between the Lanthar and Elmarit M in terms of price. You wont go wrong with any of the above, but I guess you have to ask yourself what you need form the lens in terms of speed, size, what apertures a reimportatn to you, application etc?
 
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The biggest bargain is probably the 90 f4 Elmar which can be had for peanuts but is outperformed by almost all the other 90's mentioned. I can vouch for the Apo-Lanthar, opening the aperture makes absolutely no difference to the image quality and available cheaply used. The "thin" Tele-Elmarit is the one to go for if you want a small, light and reasonably fast 90. It's also a very good performer if a little soft wide open.
 
BTW, guys, how the Elmarit-M 90mm/2.8 I can be distinguished from version II (latest) aside from by serial numbers ? Does E46 thread and built-in sliding hood warrants it essentially version II ?
 
Current Leica 90`s are soft up close except for the Elmar. Thin tele-Elmarits are soft close up as is the first Summicron tele forumla, before the current version ASPH

The original 90 2.8 Elmarit and all 90`s which will go on a viso hold sharpness in close range. 90 2.8 Elmarit original is a very nice lens.

Most seen happy with the current 90 2.8, but it will be soft under 6 feet. I never used it, but it is the same as the second 90 2.8 R lens which I did use.

My current favorite is the 90 4.0 latest version, but I don`t do low light work much. I have a 90 2.0 pre asph if I need a low light 90.

Had a 85 Nikor 2.0 or so. It did not impress me. And mine was hand picked from a whole bunch a friend had when they were brand new.
 
WoolenMammoth, to address your question re the Leica CL's 90mm lens, the Elmar-C was, until the recent 90mm Macro, Leica's last-word in 90mm/4.0 optics. It's a really compact little lens that's as well made as any Leica optic of that era. Image quality is excellent from f4 and gets marginally better up to f8, were it reaches its peak (and is only just behind the current Elmarit).

You may hear from some sources that the CL's optics don't focus correctly on other M cameras but this is largely bull. It's true that the cam profile on the CL differed from the norm, but any differences in focusing are so minute that nobody's been able to measure or demonstrate them at all. You might infer that Leica simply didn't want the Elmar-C to take sales away from the Elmarit M, so started the focusing myth.

To be honest though, it's difficult to go wrong with a lens of this length - budget and size/handling issues are likely to be more important in your choice than quality (which is universally high). If I had the cash spare I'd go for the collapsable 90mm Macro just for its compactness, but I really like my Elmar-C so I'm sticking with that for now.
 
1960s Elmarit

1960s Elmarit

x-ray said:
I've used the 90 elmarit version one since 1968 and have a great deal of experience with it compared to the other Leica 90's with the exception of the current 90 elmarit M. The tele-elmarit is a very good lens but does suffer from flare and is not quite as sharp as the elmarit. I still keep a black version 1 of the elmarit and find it outperforms my apo asph summicron at close range and wide apertures. At distances over 10 ft the apo asph summicron wins over all the others. The original 90 summicron is a good lens stoped down a stop or two but nothing to write home about wide open.

My recommendation is the v1 elmarit. I've seen ones with good glass and user exterior for $300 to $400.
Click to expand...

I followed Don's advice and could not be more pleased! Wonderful lens. I should be chastised for not using it more often! This is the lens...black ones tend to cost almost twice as much. The images will be the same. Save your money.

90_elmarit_1st.jpg


If I were starting over to buy a 90mm I would be very tempted by the 90mm M-Hexanon. Very similar price as the Elmarit. A very nice lens to be sure.

4756.jpg


More on the M-Hexanon lenses...

Dante Stella on M-Hexanon
 
WoolenMammoth said:
...
Is there anyone that can provide (or has a page online) a baseline comparison between all the different popular 90mm lenses on the market? I would love to see a photo comparison between the old 50's 90mm's and the newer lenses. Prices seem to be all over the map as well.
Click to expand...

Go to:

http://www.leica-camera.us/service/downloads/lenses_for_rangefinder_cameras/elmarit-m_90_mm_f28/

And then download "Leica M Lenses -Their Soul and Secrets" It compares all the different versions of the M lenses.

Anyway, I eventually went for used current Elmarit-M 90/2.8. Haven't managed to develop my first roll with it yet though...

Ideally Id like to wind up with a 2.8, the extra stop over the 4 would be helpful for the most stuff I shoot. Would like to avoid a giant lens though.
Click to expand...

I find an extra stop to be important in tele lenses, for narrow depth of field. The Elmarit-M 90/2.8 is not huge.


Good luck! I can't help with "character", "signature" etc. of lenses - I'm with the Leica Glow = lens aberration crowd 🙂

colin
 
wow, thanks for all the great info, its much appreciated!

Think I'll try to find a first version elmarit M 2.8. If anyone has a user they wannt to unload, dont be shy, heh.
 
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