90 Summicron-R (non-ASPH Canadian) performance?

Can anyone please give me an idea of this lens' performance, wide open

and stop down? How does it compare with the legendary 90 Elmarit? Ant

distortion? I like the size of it, not larger than a 35/2. Good for

hiking. Thanks in advance.

Steven

 

It is a good lens all around. A little low contrast at f2-2.5, but fine by 2.8. It is useable at full aperture for portraits, but not really for infinity shots. It is an excellent lens and a bargain. I don't think that ants are particularly distorted when taken by this lens, and I have not noticed distortion otherwise - not that I take precise architectural type shots. You might think twice about taking shots at f2, but the increased brightness for focussing makes the lens very nice to use. Above f2.8 I can't really tell it apart from the Elmarit. Actually, I prefer the Summicron to the Elmarit in terms of ease of use on the camera. Even better is the 80mm Summilux, but that is another story.

When I used the Leica R system, I owned the 90 Summicron and 90 Elmarit lenses. Both are fine performers, although the Elmarit is more highly regarded. I first purchased the Elmarit, but required an f2 lens. I used the Summicron more often than the Elmarit; the additional stop gives greater focusing accuracy with the SLR. The Elmarit is probably the "better" lens, but most of the time I used the Summicron. FWIW, Now I shoot Leica M mostly and use a 90 Summicron ASPH. Rumor has it that the 90 ASPH Summicron will be available shortly in an R mount.

David, there will be an apo-summicron 2/90 asph at photokina.

I also owned both the 90/2-R and 90/2.8-R version II, sold the latter. As with the equivalent M lenses, from f/2.8 they are virtually indistinguishable; however unlike the M lenses the R lenses are very close in volume and with the R's coarse, grainy screens the finder brightness advantage is important for me. Whether there will be a 90 APO-R soon or not, the price of that lens will certainly be at least 3-4 times that of a used 90/2, unlike the M where the 90/2 late E55 pre-APO sells for about 2/3 the cost of the APO.

Right, any new R APO Summicron will cost at at least $1400 or more. If Leica are really foolish they might even make it on a par in price with the APO-Macro Elmarit in which case it will be more expensive still. Nowadays you can pick up a nice 90mm Summicron-R for 300-500.

I have been using this lens for about one year now, and am very

happy with its performance. I've even blown prints up to 24x36,

and they hold up really well. I am, however, selling my R system

and if you are interested in purchasing this lens, please let me

know. Hopefully we could work out a deal!

-jeremyT;

jerthomas@hotmail.com;

www.lifeinblue.com

Brian Bower, in his Leica Lens Book, says that the 90 Summicron is better than the 90 Elmarit. I reserved comment until I could see what others had to say. I have the 90 Summicron-R, and the 90 Elmarit (1st version) for the M. I'd say the Elmarit takes the cake, but this is mixing apples and oranges, because the formulas are not the same (I don't think) between the rangefinder and reflex versions.

I have not been able to compare both Elmarit and Summicron, I just bought a Summicron 90/f2 Canadian since it comes as good bargain these days.

 

One thing nice is the Elpro 3 you can add, giving a good result.

 

The results are very nice and the lens is not that heavy. For most of the photography I'm doing, it's enough!

Cheers. X.

Rob

 

Brian B does say this and this is contrary to all reports and experience of many. But the first version Elmarit-R has a fine reputation too, I agree, and I wager produces a beautiful image. The main thing counting against it is its large size compared to the Summicron and the later Elmarit. In my experience most of the Leica lenses produced in the 1960s have a wonderful look - M and R.

I have used both the Elmarit-R and the Summicron, and find the later to be less contrasty, and generally not as crisp as the Elmarit-R.

The Elmarit also balances better on a R4 thru R7 body. Having said that the Summicron seems to be a nice fit for a R8 body.

My choice was the Elmarit-R, and I am extremely happy with the lens, - one of the best medium telephoto lenses by any manufacturer, at by Leica standards, a bargain price.

The Summicron is preffered by some portrait users, but as an all round lens the Elmarit-R is hard to beat.