Camera show find

[harvey_trautenberg1]

I just acquired a 90mm Type 1 Summicron at the camera show Al Kaplan advised us about.

The show was depressing to me. It once was able to fill every nook and cranny pf a large

armory - now a miniature of its previous self.

 

The lens is excellent plus to mint minus. It looks beautiful on my M3..

 

How does this lens compare to my 105 nikkor will be an interesting test. What is the

general consensus regarding this lens? Any sample images?

 

Of course its been raining since I bought it. By the way I paid $300 for the lens with

proper front and rear caps.

 

Thanks

 

HT

[Rob F.]

Harvey,

 

By type 1 do you mean the SOOZI, the one with detachable hood? Or is it the one with a hood that extends out, like a collapsible drinking cup? Well, in either case, congratulations on a great find! There have been a couple of articles on the early 90's in the Viewfinder.

[Rob F.]

Oh, by the way:

 

"Of course its been raining since I bought it."

 

--Harvey, when I took an architectural photography class, the instructor said, "I want pictures, not weather reports." (It rains a lot in St. Louis.) (Just teasing.)

[SolaresLarrave]

I used to have one... the second version (which is very similar to yours, but mine had a built-in hood).<p>

As for samples of how that lens works... These two are from Costa Rica, with my M6TTL and that 'cron.<p><center><img src="http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/data/5173/CR-05-Silhouette-Awaiting.jpg"><p><i>Waiting...(Scala)</i><p>

<img src="http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/data/5173/CR-Samara-Biker.jpg"><p><i>Samara Beach Triathon Athlete(K-chrome 200)</i><p></center><p>Congratulations on your find!

[harvey_trautenberg1]

Maybe I am confused. This one has the "drinking cup" hhod. I thought it was type 1. Am I

incorrect?

 

By the way, what is VIEWFINDER?

[kens]

Viewfinder is the quarterly magazine published by LHSA - the Leica Historical Society of America. Use the link below and click under Viewfinder Journal...

 

http://www.lhsa.org/

[paul_neuthaler]

...from Key Biscayne, Florida. Harvey, I was at the N. Miami show today as well -- with Al (we had breakfast first at Jimmy's Place)-- first, at least six dealers offered to buy my mint M4-P & 4th generation 35 Summicron (if I wanted to sell it at 30% less than Ebay prices!); secondly, I found no bargains. Oh, well. It was good to see Al. We get together once a year. He looked taller & had even more hair than last year! Picture(s) to come later this week when I return.

[al_kaplan1]

Yeah, that 90 'cron looks beautiful, Harvey, if not Frankly pristine! It's the one with the extendable hood but I think the optics are the same as the earlier removeable hood version. I was sorely tempted, but figured I'd ruin my "image", already badly compromised by the M2 and M3 bodies and 90/2.8 Elmarit I picked up last year "like new" out of an estated sale where they'd languished unused in somebody's closet for near half a century. When I need f/2 and the excersize of schlepping a heavy lens around I have my 85/2 Nikkor with clean glass and the chrome nicely Kaplanized with a tad of grunge in the knurlings, a bit of corrosion hither and yon, and just the very first faint signs of brassing. It looks great.

 

Actually, I was rather proud of you, not only for purchasing such an old lens, but openly being seen in such a public place, surrounded by other photographers, carrying a black body Leica with a chrome lens!

[SolaresLarrave]

Harvey, you scored a second version Summicron 90/2. That's the one with the "drinking cup" retractable hood. The first version has a detachable hood.

 

BTW, that's a reasonable price for a lens of that kind. That's how much I paid for mine. I sold it for exactly the same amount, and got me a third-version 'cron (pre-Aspherical), lighter, slimmer and shorter.

 

Still... that's a good day's find!

[jerry_lehrer]

Harvey.-- It is an honest price for an ENORMOUSLY heavy lens. Very fine optics. Just tF heavy for me. I picked up a mint slim Tele-Elmarit.

[rgh]

Great price on a great lens. Although everyone seems to think its just too heavy and big -

and I agree sometimes, it wouldn't be my first choice for a mountain climb - in actual 'out for

the day' use it balances very well in the palm of the hand, the long focus is accurate and

smooth, and the weight has the advantage of making a good solid mass for steady slower

shutter speeds.

 

For me it represents one of the most 'Leica Like' classic lenses, superb construction,

gorgeous smooth bokeh, very sharp by f4 and wide open beautiful. And it does look fantastic

on an M.

[tony_senzaorbi]

Sounds like you're getting a little moree rain (on your parade)here too Harvey. So just FYI according to my handy-dandy reference book your lens weighs 660g, versus 630g for the Noctilux which everyone around here swoons over. That's a little less than an ounce difference for the metrically-challenged.

[Rob F.]

Harvey, one of the viewfinder articles pointed out that larger lenses can be designed for higher performance than smaller ones. The author said that when the version you have was slimmed down to make the version III (the last pre-asph), some performance was lost. And in another article, Tom Abrahamssohn wrote that he never could get excited about the version III, and it usually stayed home.

 

You got a good lens!