Hi,

Resently i bought a 90mm Elmarit-R lens (4el./4gr.), i allready had the 90mm Summicron-R (5el./4gr.) for a few years. Both are Canadian made. With the shorter and lighter elma i shot 2 films outside to compare with the cron. I didnt test any other situations yet. But those pics are great! Contrast, outlines, flare in B&W and color are just as good as the cron. I even think that the picture-quality over the full aperture range is more balanced with the elma. Only the color brightness with the elma was slightly less compared to the cron. Maybe this is the result of wear on the coating of the elma?

Sofar i see alot of potential in the elma for landscape fotografy, as alternative for the cron, but for portraits ill keep my cron in reach. Does anyone have experiences with these two lenses or maybe something to say about other cron/elma testing?. I know this is an old topic but its still one of my bigger quest-for-perfection-issues. Purists among you know what i mean ;)

Thanks for reacting

-- Henk (Henksadress@hotmail.com), May 24, 2002

Answers

With the exception of the M-mount APO-Summicron, almost ANY 90 Elmarit is somewhat sharper/clearer/whatever than any 90 'cron - across both the M- and R- lines. Adding that extra f/stop just puts a lot more strain on the optical designer.

But the 90 4/4 Elmarit is the same glass as the current M lens - the best of the f/2.8 bunch, by most accounts.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), May 24, 2002.

I agree that the 90 Elmarit has a crisper fingerprint than the 'cron but the 90 'cron is such a nice portrait lens. Great bokeh and just smooth in color rendition and line. They are both keepers just different from each other.

-- Dave Saalsaa (SaalsD@cni-usa.com), May 24, 2002.

Andy,

Thnx for the post, it clarified alot for me. Optical design for R's and M's are indeed something i didnt pay to much attention to. My lit on optical design isnt that big but correct me if im wrong. The M's 50mm cron(third and present) and the R's 50mm cron(Can.) are brothers and the M's 35mm Cron(present) and the R's 35mm elmarit(first version) are sisters?

-- Henk (Henksadress@hotmail.com), May 24, 2002.