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M9 Portrait lenses

Mike Hatam

Senior Subscriber Member
OK, I'd like some recommendations for a good portrait lens for the M9.

I have a set of the "modern" Leica lenses (28 cron, 50 lux asph, 75 cron APO, 90 cron APO, 135 telyt). I'll probably sell the 75 cron and keep the 90 cron, but haven't decided for sure.

Those are all razor sharp, and have the newer (some call "clinical") look.

What I want to add is a portrait lens that has the character of older Leica glass, such as the 50 pre-asph lux.

I'll be using it on the M9, so something in the 75-90mm range is ideal. The 75 lux is an obvious choice, but is a bit too bulky and expensive. I'd like to look at other options.

So please post your recommendations for portrait lenses with nice character, and also post a sample image or two if you can.

Thanks,
Mike
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
How about the Zeiss 85/2? I'd imagine if you sold the 75 and 90 it would finance it. I don't have it myself but I've seen pictures taken with it on the M8 on the net and they looked pretty sharp to me.
 
I would suggest the Tele Elmarit M 90/2.8(1st version, 5 lens).
It is small, light and, on my M8, a really stellar performer as a portrait lens.
Cheers,
Ario
 

Paratom

Well-known member
I like the 75 Summarit, maybe it doesnt show the classic look like the 50/1.4 pre asph but still it is sharp and contrasty and not clinical.
The other lens I really like is the 90 Elmarit.
Here is an image with the 90 Elmarit on the M9:


Personally I dont find the "razor sharp" look of some Leica lenses not really that disturbing. Several times I have compared older and newer Leica lenses directly and most of the times I prefered the newer ones since images seemed clearer , less mushy etc etc.

I believe that both , the 75 Summarit and the 90 Elmarit could be lenses which are in the midddle between the new asph lenses and the older lenses.
 

carstenw

Active member
I am not sure that you will find a portrait lens with the classic look in a form-factor much smaller than the 75 Lux, other than if a 50 Lux satisfies you (it wouldn't do for me, by itself). The obvious candidates are the 75 Lux, 90 Cron pre-Asph, and Noctilux. Another interesting lens is the 85 Summarex, another non-tiny lens:

http://www.camera-werks.com/Leica-85f15-SummarexOutfit_Sept04_Pic6.jpg

Some people even prefer a 35mm for environmental portraits... Not I, the 50 fits my style better for that.

If you do get rid of the 75 Cron, then replacing it with the 75 Lux would fit well. The 75 Lux is about the same size as the 90AA. I also own both of these, and neither is a replacement of the other. I also do about half my candids with the 50 Lux ASPH.

Ironically, the 50 Noctilux is an awesome portrait lens on the M8, but a bit short on the M9 :)
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Mike

Excellent question . First I would work with your 90 asph....while it is very sharp..I have found the renderings to be less clinical than say the 75 cron . A really nice balance overall.
The changes from 1.3 to FF is going to mess with my standard set of lenses...again.

Time to dust off the 75lux .
 

Paratom

Well-known member
If I find the time I will shoot 2 comparison images with the 75lux and the 75 Summarit at f2.8 and let you guys find out which image is shiot with which lens. I bet you wont find out ;)
 

jlancasterd

Active member
I've never used a 75mm lens on an 'M' but have just (2 hours ago) taken delivery of a used, mint, CV 75mm Color-Heliar f2.5 as a 'cheap and cheerful' ($390) way of checking out this focal length. I note that this lens gave both the Summarit and Summicron 75s some serious competition in Sean Reid's tests on an M8, so I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do on the M9. I'll be using it with a Milich adapter.
 

carstenw

Active member
Tom, you could be right, but the point of the 75 Lux is not to shoot at f/2.8... If what you say is really true, then that is more an endorsement of the 75 Lux than the Summarit, IMO. The 75 Lux is a very flexible lens.
 

Mike Hatam

Senior Subscriber Member
How about the Zeiss 85/2? I'd imagine if you sold the 75 and 90 it would finance it. I don't have it myself but I've seen pictures taken with it on the M8 on the net and they looked pretty sharp to me.
Thanks for the suggestion, but that thing is big, heavy, and expensive. I'm not selling the 90, so it's also too redundant. I'd go for a 75 lux over the Zeiss 85/2.
 

Mike Hatam

Senior Subscriber Member
OK, some good suggestions here.

The 90 Elmarit sounds interesting. I'll need to come up to speed on the various versions of this lens.

The 75 Summarit would be an economical choice, but I had that lens before, and didn't find it to have the character I am looking for.

The 50 pre-asph lux was my favorite portrait lens on the M8, but just too short for portraits on the M9 (and now I have the asph version this time around).

CV Color Heliar f2.5 is an interesting option - I'll look more into that one.

I owned and loved the 75 lux, but I'm trying to avoid that bulk and cost this time around. Here's one of the shots I took on the M8 with the 75 lux:

 

Mike Hatam

Senior Subscriber Member
Mike

Excellent question . First I would work with your 90 asph....while it is very sharp..I have found the renderings to be less clinical than say the 75 cron . A really nice balance overall.
The changes from 1.3 to FF is going to mess with my standard set of lenses...again.

Time to dust off the 75lux .
Roger - this is a good point. I haven't really had a chance to work the 90 APO with the M9 much yet. I'll try it out as a portrait lens. If it has enough "character", this would certainly simplify my choice :)
 

carstenw

Active member
The 90AA is a really great lens, and I find myself carrying the 75 Lux rarely, but still, look at that shot above, and the results just speak for themselves. The 75 Lux isn't just randomly expensive, it is expensive for a very good reason: its ability to deliver gorgeous results. As such, I don't think that trying to avoid the cost is necessarily the right approach. Waiting a little longer while saving would seem more appropriate.
 

jonoslack

Active member
HI There
I'm not very partial to using very big lenses on the M for portraits, it seems to rather negate the point of having something less than intimidating.

My least used lens on the M8 was the 90 elmarit (last version). I guess it was about the same vintage as the pre-asph 50 lux?

Anyway, I'm loving it on the M9 - it's not clinically sharp like the modern lenses, and it's small with the built in hood (mind you, from what I've seen the summarit looks very similar:



 

Paratom

Well-known member
My feeling is that the 75lux suffers slightly from focus shift and therefore is critical to focus at f1.4.
The other thing is -for my taste - f2.5 in a 75mm lens is wide enough to produce a nice shallow DOF if wanted. Also I find the 75 Summarit easier (faster) to focus because of its mechanics and shorter focus thread.

Anyways- I dont want to convince anybody one lens is better than the other, maybe i have an exceptional good Summarit with very reliable focus- In my case I just use the Summarit much more often than the SUmmilux.
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
My feeling is that the 75lux suffers slightly from focus shift and therefore is critical to focus at f1.4.
The other thing is -for my taste - f2.5 in a 75mm lens is wide enough to produce a nice shallow DOF if wanted. Also I find the 75 Summarit easier (faster) to focus because of its mechanics and shorter focus thread.

Anyways- I dont want to convince anybody one lens is better than the other, maybe i have an exceptional good Summarit with very reliable focus- In my case I just use the Summarit much more often than the SUmmilux.
I worked on this quite a bit last year and I am convinced that the pre six bit summiluxes back focus on most M8s. The tolerances were set for film and are too loose for digital . The mount tolerance is very small and each mount was adjusted to the specific lens...which is why they do these in Solms. They are quite difficult to calibrate...took 3 trips to Solms and a $700 CLA to get my 75 lux right and this was after my 2 M8s were flogged twice. You can t be off at all with the 75 and I was told its harder to calibrate than the Noctilux . We calibrated the body and the 75 to be spot on at 1.4 . If you start on at 1.4 you have a lot less problems with focus shift. We calibrated the 35 lux to be inside 2cm forward at about 2M (how many 2M portraits do you shoot with the 35 at 1.4 ? ) . My point being that even lenses within tolerances can backfocus enough to mess up a 2-3M portrait at 1.4. Leica has completely changed their focus calibration testing for the M9 ..did you see the video with targets at different distances. With that said ...if you buy one used ..send your lens and the body to DAG ....painful but necessary.
 

Paratom

Well-known member
I worked on this quite a bit last year and I am convinced that the pre six bit summiluxes back focus on most M8s. The tolerances were set for film and are too loose for digital . The mount tolerance is very small and each mount was adjusted to the specific lens...which is why they do these in Solms. They are quite difficult to calibrate...took 3 trips to Solms and a $700 CLA to get my 75 lux right and this was after my 2 M8s were flogged twice. You can t be off at all with the 75 and I was told its harder to calibrate than the Noctilux . We calibrated the body and the 75 to be spot on at 1.4 . If you start on at 1.4 you have a lot less problems with focus shift. We calibrated the 35 lux to be inside 2cm forward at about 2M (how many 2M portraits do you shoot with the 35 at 1.4 ? ) . My point being that even lenses within tolerances can backfocus enough to mess up a 2-3M portrait at 1.4. Leica has completely changed their focus calibration testing for the M9 ..did you see the video with targets at different distances. With that said ...if you buy one used ..send your lens and the body to DAG ....painful but necessary.
Roger I agree and I sent my M8 together with my fast lenses (35/1,4, 50asph, 75/1.4 and Noctilux) to Solms for calibration.
Specially for portrait and people I find the 1-3m distance quite important.
1 or 2 cm can make the nose sharp and the eyes slightly fuzzy.
In the end I now just prefer lenses which do not suffer from focus shift.
The 50/1.4asph for example is a lens I can focus very precisly. In the beginning it had some back focus, but after being calibrated it is just dead on at every f-stop.
 
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