As we all know, Leica lenses are EXPENSIVE!! The current selling price for this 90 Summicron ASPH APO is $3495 and that gets you a shiny silver box, a nice leather case, 6-bit coding and of course the caps. The one I was sent for review was a bit older with no 6-bit coding but as you can see, it works fine on the M8. For lenses with a 50MM focal length or greater you really do not NEED 6-bit coding unless you want the lens info in the EXIF data.
Here is another one I shot as I was walking through an alley. The squirrel was behind someone's house on a garbage can. The lens was either at F2 or F2.8 and below you will see the image and a 100% crop.
After shooting this lens for a week or two I started to really fall for it. For the first time I was able to use some sort of tele on the M8 and I found myself shooting things I normally would not even look at. I was going to put up some shots from F2-F11 to show how sharp this lens is but really that stuff is all bullshit when you are dealing with a lens of this caliber.
The Leica 90 Summicron ASPH APO is a world class lens and being Aspherical with the APO coating will give you great sharpness throughout its range as well as amazing contrast and color. Putting up crops from F2-F11 would be a waste of time and space as this lens is world class. It has no focus shift issues so its sharp at all apertures. As good as it gets here folks!
I am a real world kind of guy and what matters most to me is REAL WORLD results. If it can work well out in the real world and bring home some great images, then to me that makes a great lens. The 90 Summicron ASPH APO IS a great lens and one that will never let you down assuming your eyesight is up to focusing it :)
In reality, it will probably be my least used lens, but it is nice to know I have it available for those times I need more reach and for portraits it is absolutely wonderful. It shines at F2 and shooting with some distance between you and your subject.
If you love taking portraits, if you adore beautiful BOKEH (background out of focus rendering) and would like a lens that delivers sharpness, crazy good color and superior contrast then the Leica 90 Summicron ASPH APO is THE lens to own for your M camera. If you do not need the speed, I hear the 90 Elmarit 2.8 is also an amazing lens and I will be reviewing that one soon.
But for F2, this is the best 90 I have ever laid my hands on. Its fast, semi small (compared to SLR lenses) and fun to use. When it arrived it was pretty much just a review sample but I liked it so much I bought it for myself and sacrificed a couple of lenses to do so. As with the 35 Summilux I have fallen in love with yet another Leica lens.
If you are thinking of buying a 90 for your M you can probably find some great deals on the 90 Summicron APO. I also feel it will make a great investment because when a Full Frame digital M arrives this lens will once again become the standard 90 portrait lens and prices will go up.
I got mine from Ken Hansen and if you are looking for Leica gear he is the man for some great pricing and service. B&H also sells Leica and they also are great to deal with. They also usually have some used 90’s.
So my final word on the 90 Summicron ASPH APO? If you want more reach on your M8/M8.2 then its a no brainer. Buy it. If you shoot film on an M camera then it is even more beautiful. I have found no faults with this lens, and BTW, all images here were shot without 6-bit coding and without an IR filter :) Finally, here are a few more images taken with the 90 and the M8.2. Feel free to leave comments below!
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THE LEICA 90 SUMMICRON APO ASPH LENS REVIEW
Sunday, June 7, 2009
When using the summarit I realized it was pretty much like my 50 Summilux ASPH but slower. It did not provide that much more reach, it did not focus close and when it was all said and done, I realized I would never use the 75. I would always grab my 50 Summilux ASPH as it was faster, and focused closer. If I didn't have the 50, the 75 would be perfect.
I decided to sell my 75 Summarit and research a 90 Summicron. My original plan was to pick up a 90 Elmarit 2.8 as I asked myself how often I would really use a 90. Then, a great camera crazy friend of mine was shooting the 90 Summicron ASPH APO on not only an M7 and M8, but also using the R version on an R7.
After reviewing some portraits he took with the 90 Summicron I was blown away! I realized that this 90 F2 Summicron was much like (but so much better) another lens I used to absolutely adore. When I shot Nikon, I loved the Nikon 85 1.4 lens. I mean, it is LEGENDARY for its build, bokeh and creamy goodness, right?
Well this 90 F2 is not 1.4, but it IS a Leica and before I made any decisions on a 90 I realized I had to at least give the 90 Cron ASPH a try. I spoke with Ken Hansen, who is a WONDERFUL Leica dealer and he sent me a used 90 Cron to test out. I was expecting this huge, heavy monstrosity that was almost impossible to focus on the M8.
Yes, after reading about this lens in various camera forums I was expecting the worst, but then again, I remembered what my friend said about it and seeing some of his samples, I knew the image quality was going to be great. When the lens arrived I was pleasantly surprised. Let me explain...
Not only was it not as heavy as I imagined, it was smaller as well. Now, do not get me wrong though. For an M lens it is not small, but when compared to a Nikon 85 1.4 it IS slim and small. The build is pure Leica, and the aperture ring is silky smooth and easy to turn. My first impressions were that it was a nice looking, smooth focusing lens. One cool thing about the lens is that it has a wonderful built in lens hood that slides in and out, so no need for a big bulky add on hood. Here it is side by side with the 35 Summilux ASPH.
SO HOW DOES THIS LENS PERFORM ON THE LEICA M8/M8.2?
After fondling and going gah gah over it I attached it to my shiny new black paint M8.2 and shot some frames. As usual, my first subject was my son as he was home. The light from the window was pretty good so I bribed him with some Xbox live points and snapped away!
This image has indeed been processed in photoshop so its not the best one to use for evaluating the lens. I love to process my images as this way I can get the images to how I see them in my head. So yea, this one was converted to Black and White and I added some vignetting as well as doing some selective sharpening on the eyes. But really that is about all I did.
After I shot this I went to the other “designated camera testing grounds” at my house which is the boring backyard. Yes, I do this just like YOU do! When a new lens arrives you want to use it so bad you go around the house snapping meaningless, stupid, boring shots of flowers, your dog, your cat, your furniture or whatever you see! But, I had to see how this lens handled some flower action, so off to the yard I went.
So after my first test shots with the 90, I realized one thing. This lens is NOT hard to focus at all! I read so many stories about how this lens is almost unusable on the M8 with it being so hard to nail focus at F2. Not true with this 90 Cron. As a matter of fact, I have not had even one out of focus shot, even wide open at the closest focusing distance. This leads me into what I feel this lens excels at. PORTRAITS!
Yes, a 90 makes for a GREAT portrait lens on a full frame camera, but on the M8 and M8.2 this lens is equal to a 111mm so it is a bit long indoors but great for head shots as you can see from my samples below, all of which were shot at F2 by the way :)
After shooting all of these portraits at F2 and seeing the color, the depth and the brilliance I realized that this lens was in another league, and I was liking it much better than my old Nikon 85 1.4 for portraits. I looked back at some portraits with the Nikon 85 and while they were good, they looked flat, cold and lifeless in comparison. I have said it before and will say it again...there is a little magic in Leica glass. I have yet to try a lens from any other brand that can go toe to toe with the Leica counterpart. You do get what you pay for with Leica and their lenses.
