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Leica Elmar 90mm f/4.0 3-element does flower on GFX100S
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 2:49 pm
Post subject: Leica Elmar 90mm f/4.0 3-element does flower on GFX100S
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 2:49 pm
Post subject: Leica Elmar 90mm f/4.0 3-element does flower on GFX100S
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The setup:


Reviews will be posted later on my site. The photos below are resized from RAW to 25.5MP jpg using the Velvia preset. It is best to download the photo and view it at 100%.

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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 4:25 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 4:25 pm
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Like 1 very nice! I have only one leica lens. It is the super cheap (by leica standards) Hector.


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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 4:59 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 4:59 pm
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jamaeolus wrote:
Like 1 very nice! I have only one leica lens. It is the super cheap (by leica standards) Hector.

Thanks! Hector 135 is more expensive than Elmar 90/Summaron 35 when these lenses were still in production. Wink


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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 7:05 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 7:05 pm
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Great results. Amazing that this is 3 elements only 👍👍👍


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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 8:43 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 8:43 pm
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Like 1 Like 1


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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 12:10 pm
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 12:10 pm
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caspert79 wrote:
Great results. Amazing that this is 3 elements only 👍👍👍

Yes. It is better than I expected.

kds315* wrote:
Like 1 Like 1

Thank You Dog


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Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2023 7:22 pm
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Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2023 7:22 pm
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Nice!

I love the little Elmar 90 4. I've got an excellent black one from 1939, but I don't think the front unscrews on that one. I also have a silver one with a front group that does unscrew.

Looking forward to information on your adapter setup too.


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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 3:28 am
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Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2023 3:28 am
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KEO wrote:
Nice!

I love the little Elmar 90 4. I've got an excellent black one from 1939, but I don't think the front unscrews on that one. I also have a silver one with a front group that does unscrew.

Looking forward to information on your adapter setup too.

I use a third party adapter to M42. I think you can use the original adapter for visoflex Click here to see on Ebay too.


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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 5:29 pm
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Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 5:29 pm
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calvin83 wrote:
I use a third party adapter to M42. I think you can use the original adapter for visoflex Click here to see on Ebay too.


Thank you!


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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 1:47 pm
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 1:47 pm
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Full review is now available.
https://www.lensfever.com/2024/11/the-tiny-all-rounder-leica-elmar-90mm-f4-3-element.html


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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 4:57 pm
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 4:57 pm
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caspert79 wrote:
Great results. Amazing that this is 3 elements only


There are a few well made triplets with very good overall performance, albeit usually with quite a lot of field curvature (i. e. focus in the image center is not the same as in the corners).

An early such triplet is the Carl Zeiss Jena Triotar 4/13.5 cm. While it is an early construction for SLRs (1938, re-calculated in 1939), it's performance on 24MP FF is pretty good. Especially noteworthy the lack fo CAs - better than with all CaKoMiNiPenOlYashZe 2.8/135mm from the 1970/1980!

Later on (1960) Minolta came out with their version of a 4/135mm triplet: The Rokkor-TC 4/135mm was equipped with rare earth (lanthanum) glass, had good coating and - again - was virtually free from CAs. Field curvature is visible when taking landscape images at f4 and f5.6; stopping down to f11 resolves the issue completely and results in a better image quality than with 1970/1980s 2.8/135mm lenses (mainly because of missing CAs). Its bokeh is smooth and very pleasant indeed.

Another very much underrated triplet is the late Novoflex Noflexar T 5.6/400mm. The lens has a very good detail resolution in the image center, and an excellent contrast over the entire field. It promarily is made for wildlife and sports photography, and for those purposes it by far outperforms e. g. the Canon FD/nFD 4.5/400mm. It even has much less lateral CAs than the Canon nFD/EF 2.8/400mm L (!!). Again - for landscape use it must be stopped down to f11, and focusing should be somewhere in the mid-field (between image center and corner).

@ Calvin: thanks for hinting at the "Elmar" triplet 4/90mm - looks like a nice lens for sure!

S


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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 5:37 pm
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 5:37 pm
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Don't forget the Macro Topcor 135mm f/4.0!


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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 8:14 pm
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 8:14 pm
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stevemark wrote:
An early such triplet is the Carl Zeiss Jena Triotar 4/13.5 cm.


The 8.5cm Triotar is also a great lens.

I've got a 1939 Jena version and a West German version from the early 1950s after the lens was redesigned. The later one is mechanically superior, but surprisingly I like the early version better.

I'd say the 9cm Elmar is slightly better in most respects, but the CZJ has better bokeh. It's one of my all time favorites in that regard.


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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 8:19 pm
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 8:19 pm
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Is it the same as Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm F4?

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSzEWwh2mv1GKkn1UZz22Hfu32bBfWKDWQJyw&s


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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 10:26 pm
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2024 10:26 pm
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LittleAlex wrote:
Is it the same as Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm F4?

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSzEWwh2mv1GKkn1UZz22Hfu32bBfWKDWQJyw&s


Since the lens being discussed is a triplet, I'd say not, but there is a Macro Elmarit 90/4 that does have the same optical diagram as the Minolta.

According to Lens-DB, the one being discussed in this thread looks like this:


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Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2024 12:18 am
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Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2024 12:18 am
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LittleAlex wrote:
Is it the same as Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm F4?

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSzEWwh2mv1GKkn1UZz22Hfu32bBfWKDWQJyw&s


Source: https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/01191/01191.pdf


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Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2024 10:00 am
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Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2024 10:00 am
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adding to Stevemarks info above; the LEitz Elmar C version and the Minolta multicoated one can easily be distinguished by the latest version (for the CLE) having its number on the ring by the mount, while Leitz have numbers on the front ring of the lens.

I swapped my copy for an Alpa lens years ago because I disliked reflexes between the flat rear element and the shiny camera- sensor. BUt now use an ordinary 90C version without problems . the main advantage is that it fits in a pocket, just like its siblings.

p.
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