Size comparisons of small 70-100mm lenses?

[glaebhoerl]

Does anyone happen to have, or can take :), side-by-side pictures of two or more of the below lenses? Ideally, at least for those with big differences between their flange distances (C-mount vs. RF/PEN vs. SLR), it would be nicest of all to see them with adapters to a mirrorless camera attached. (Of course, feel free to include any other lenses in a similar range, or any lenses at all you may want as a reference.)

• 70/2 Olympus Pen-F
  
• 75/1.8 Fujinon-TV
  
• 75/2.5 Voigtländer Color-Heliar
  
• 85/2 Olympus OM*
  
• 85/2 Nikkor (rangefinder)
  
• 90/2.8 Leitz Tele-Elmarit-M ("thin")
  
• 100/2.8 Olympus OM*
  
• 100/3.5 Canon LTM (white+black version)
  
• 100/3.5 Olympus Pen-F

* (The 85/2 and 100/2.8 Zuikos are known to be almost exactly the same size.)


I'm most interested in small lenses because of the true adage that the best lens is the one you have with you, and the bigger a lens is, the more likely it is to just gather dust in a drawer, at least in my case. But I've also found that it's quite hard to accurately judge lenses' relative size based on separate photographs, and specifications found on the internet are also commonly inaccurate (my suspicion is that one site posts low-quality information, and then all the others just copy it instead of doing their own measurements). And even then, I've found that having some numbers expressed in mm is much less useful than actually, visually, seeing the lenses together in one shot. So if anyone wants to assist me in this project, it is much appreciated :)

(I myself have an 85/2 Minolta and 100/2.8 Zuiko, which I might take a shot of once I get back home Wednesday. I'm also starting to have a handful of 180/200mm lenses, and might start a thread to compare those as well, once another order arrives.)

[Pontus]

A few smallish lenses in the range from 60mm to 100mm, quick mobile picture.

Contax 100/3.5
CV 75/2.5
Pen 60/1.5
CV 90/3.5 Apo
Apo-Summicron 75/2

EDIT: I forgot to include the Contax G 90/2.8 which is also small with a short (but annoying) adapter.

[kuuan]

various lenses each including their Sony E mount adapter:


comparison Olympus OM 2/85 and 2.8/100


various lenses in LTM / M39 ( the black Canon LTM 3.5/100as reference )


taken off the hood of the Heliar


3 85mm Takumars ( the Auto Tak to the left, as reference, is features in 1st pic )


2 SLR and 1 LTM 85mm lens with their respective Sony E mount adapters

[calvin83]

For old SLR lenses, the two OM is probably the smallest one of the same class(takes 49mm filter) with good build quality.

[kuuan]

[glaebhoerl]

Thank you both, that's absolutely amazing. Already, I've learned several new things:

• The M-Rokkor 90/4 is not appreciably shorter than the Zuiko 85/2 with adapters. If I recall correctly that the M-Rokkor is the essentially the same size as the 90mm Elmar, and the Elmar in turn is essentially the same size as the 90/2.8 Tele-Elmarit-M, then it doesn't make much sense to invest significant money into a T-E-M if the goal is to have an even shorter lens than the 100/2.8 Zuiko I already have (at best it would be thinner). Would be nice to have this confirmed directly.
  
  
• The 100mm Pen-F is substantially larger than the larger of the two 100mm Canons, to say nothing of the smaller one. So if size is the only consideration, then the latter is clearly the one I should be interested in. (And even there, it's not clear if it'll be any shorter than the Zuiko, instead of just thinner.)
  
  
• From other (separate) images I've seen of them, I had the impression that the 75mm Color-Heliar has approximately the same shape as the T-E-M. But from here it's clear that it's actually shorter and chunkier, so now my interest is rekindled.
  

And as promised, here's the two that I have, the 85/2 MD with the 100/2.8 Zuiko (which is also a good proxy for the 85/2 Zuiko):



The Minolta is a little bit longer, and substantially fatter. (The one I got from eBay had been converted to EF mount, but I think the overall length should be unchanged -- after all, the whole point is that the distance to the sensor needs to stay the same.)

(Now we're only missing the 70/2 Pen-F, the Fujinon-TV, and the T-E-M...)

[tb_a]

[pdccameras]

Here are a few small ones. I think the winner size-wise is the diminutive 100mm f/4.5 Argus Telephoto-Sandmar made for the Argus C3 series. Not a bad performer either!

[calvin83]

You may consider using a helicoid act as an adapter to shorten the total length for storage. Extend the helicoid when you use them. The idea works well on enlargers too.


Left: Steinheil Quinar 85mm f3.5(with helicoid)
Right: Topcon 85mm F1.8

[padam]

Here is the last version OM Zuiko 85/2 (slightly longer than the early 85/2) against the Minolta MD 85/2



With the slightly shorter MD adapter they are nearly identical in length, so I don't think it makes much difference in practice. These are close to being the smallest short tele one can get with an f2 aperture until there are going to be dedicated mirrorless designs that are simpler than the Batis.

That Pen 60/1.5 looks be very desirable in terms of speed/size ratio, and since it almost covers FF, no wonder it is so hard to find.

And I think that apart from the size, handling may also be added to the usability factors (besides the IQ of course) for instance the focusing on these two SLR lenses seem faster than the Canon 100/3.5 that I had. The Minolta MD has a dedicated thread for mounting the hood while the Zuiko uses the filter thread for that. These are minor things though, it is nice to have so many different choices.

[kuuan]

Actually I tend to contradict to some of your conclusions. This may be because I always carry my small NEX5n ( or Ricoh GXR M ) in a smallish waist bag with maximum 3, usually 1 or 2 lenses extra besides the one mounted on the cam, hands free, no shoulder strap, no strain on shoulder. For that compactness is of outmost importance and thickness, the diameter of the lens is just as if not even more important than their length.

[tb_a]

[StillSanj]

*interesting information overflow*
Some of you fools have rather nice lens collections

[Nordentro]

I made this picture a while ago with m39 RF lenses in the 85-105mm range:

Back row = 105mm
Third row = 100mm
Second row = 90mm
First row = 85mm

(The two small Braun lenses needs an extra extension of 15.2mm to achieve the same register distance)

(Click for bigger)

[kuuan]

[tao]

These are some of my smaller lenses. From left to right:

CV 75/2.5 LTM
Early SK Tele-Xenar 75/3.8 Robot
Late SK Tele-Xenar 75/3.8 Robot
Meopta Openar 80/2.8 C
SK Retina-Tele-Arton 85/4 DKL

It is interesting that without hood the CV75 is actually quite compact. On the other hand, when mounting on the adapter the minuscule Arton85 becomes enormous.

[kuuan]

[newst]

Another size comparison.

[tb_a]

[newst]