Which 90mm lense should I buy?

[james_wright1]

I am wanting to purchase a 90mm lense second hand in Australia, Singapore, Japan or Hong Kong. My question is: Which lense would be the best? AND Where would be the best place to look?

[john_collier5]

If you scroll down the list of postings you will find many

discussions of the various 90mm Leica/Leitz lenses.

 

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Cheers

[mike_foster]

What is a "lense"? I looked it up in my dictionary and could not find

a definition. So please help me...

[wayne_murphy7]

Mike,

 

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I could not find acgecorp in my dictionery either. No one is perfekt.

[michael_kastner]

If you want a good 90 for a good price get the present day 2.8/90, if

you want to impress Leica that you have their top model get the Apo

2/90 Asph, if you don't want to see all the pimples and scratches on

my face get an older 2.8/90   <FONT

COLOR="#CC33CC">;-)</FONT>

[max_wall]

How does the Summicron 1:2/90 (Canada), #2624106, stack up against all the

90mm lenses that have been mentioned?

[giuseppe_ciccarella]

For me the best 90mm are the heavier 90/2 and the tele elmarit 90/2.8,

Canada each one, good bokeh and not higher contrast. The new Apo-Asph

with hiper contrast, the shadow became darkness, and the softly gentle

nuances of color rendition (of the older lenses) lost forever.

The new lenses with Japan glass (Hoya made) have globalised the

performance near japan taste. I don't like new era of Leica product.

Un saluto a tutti Voi. Ciao.

[w._andrew]

What? APO Summicron 90 F2 Asph made in Japan? Please clarify!

I own one. It's perfect. Hardly believe that it's made by Hoya.

[Robin Smith]

Giuseppe has an interesting point. I sympathize to some extent.

Earlier Leica lenses were less contrasty, but this is often a virtue,

not a defect, although raw resolution suffers. I loved the look from a

friend's DR Summicron and 90mm Elmar - wonderful and so different from

the average high contrast/emphasize the shadows look of today.

 

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Anyway I suggest for the M you buy the 90mm Elmarit-M; A great lens at

a great price. The Apo Summicron 90mm for a great heavy lens at a high

price. If you are talking R then letus know.

[roberto_watson_garc_a]

James it will depend on what do you want that lens for and how much

do you want to spend.

 

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New Summicron is very contrasty and high resolution (acording to

coments here) and $1600 bucks or so.

 

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Latest Elmarit is almost as good, but up to 2.8 and up to $900 used.

 

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90/2 preasph is almost as good as those before from f/4, and softer

at 2.8 and 2.0, great if you are going to make portraits with it, for

less than $900 used.

 

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Older are cheaper and great for portraits.

 

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May be not such a hard choice, if you know what you want it for.

 

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This place is full of information about those lenses, so I recomend

John´s advice, get a dive into this forum.

[angus_ngtg]

I have the current 90mm elmarit m and was pleasantly suprised with its

performance, very sharp and not to contrasty wide open. I think it's

a real step above the previous elmarit and it's not nearly as large as

the Summicron ASPH or previous summicron. Roberto is right however

you would be better served to decide what is most important to you,

price, weight, sharpness and speed.

 

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TG

[bobtodrick]

Let's quickly lay this one to rest. None of the M lenses are made in

Japan, either wholly or inpart. As we all know some of the R glass

has and is made in Japan (currently by Kyrocera, not Hoya - Kyrocera

as in the makers of the Contax G lenses - no slouches). Notice that I

have perfect spelling :-)

 

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Cheers, Bob Tod

[nesrani]

I don't know if this is appropriate, but I have a mint-- elmarit-M 90

(latest, in box with papers and all) looking for a new owner. By mint-

- I mean that it's been used a few times but has absolutely no marks

of any kind. Perfect condition.

 

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Contact me at the address below if anyone is interested.

[james_wright1]

Thanks for the input. Yes I know Lieca lences are not made in Japan,

but it is a great place to purchase second hand stuff.

[Rob F.]

I have the original 90mm Elmarit. This lens is already so sharp, it

may be illegal for civilians to own a sharper one. Nevertheless,

judging from the many posts, in this and earlier threads, the current

90's are sharper. I've no idea what to do with a sharper one, since

I needed Kodachrome 25 to see all that mine could do. And they've

discontinued Kodachrome 25!

[simon_wong]

Leica, Hoya and Schott jointly developed the precision moulding

technique to produce aspherical surfaces in glass elements. Many of

the wide angle lenses for the M Asp lenses are formed by this method.

 

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The 90APO Asph. is manufactured with computer controlled polishing

and grending equipment or Computer based Numerical Control machinery

utilising holograms.

[james_collier]

This is interesting as I was always led to believe that Leica ground

its aspheric lens elements, while Cosina/Voigtlander use moulded

aspheric lens elements and this accounted for their vast price

difference and the large jump in Leicas own prices with the

replacement of a regular lens with an ASPH. Cosina aparently make

these moulded aspheric elements for a few different camera

manufacturers. Buts is this wrong and Leica uses moulded ASPH lenses

as well?

[dan_brown4]

Yes, Leica uses molded ASPH elements (molded glass, not

plastic!) See the .pdf file for the 35/2 ASPH at leica.com. There

is no doubt in my mind that Leica has gone to molded elements

for three reasons (at least) better optical performance, lower

manufacturing cost, and increased per unit profit.

 

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I'm still waiting for the 50/1.4 ASPH, which I will bethe first in line

to buy (with a corresponding ebay post to sell my 50mm 'cron.

[david_page1]

I own 2 Leica 90's: the 90 Summicron APO ASPH and an older (1961)

Elmarit. If $ are a major consideration, you could do worse than the

older version of the Elmarit. Prior to the release of the latest

Elmarit, the older Elmarit was considered by many as the "best" 90. I

frequently carry this lens on my travels and am never disappointed

with the lens quality. The SAA takes advantage of the latest

technological advances and is a tremendous performer, but I still

enjoy using the Elmarit. This lens can be found at good prices, with

many "upgrading" to the newer technology. Good luck and happy

shooting!

[joel_low]

This may be abit late, but there are a few shops in Singapore

dealing with secondhand leicas. I just bought a current 90/2.8 M

for S$850. That should be about US$450. The shops are all

located in the peninsular area. Just ask around, shouldn't be a

problem getting there. Got mine from a shop called Camera

Workshop.

 

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cheers

joel

[msitaraman]

Joel,

 

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Exactly where is that shop? Hope this is not off-topic...

[joel_low]

I think its at peninsular shopping centre. Beside Funan Centre.