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A7/r lens recommendations 90-135mm

biglouis

Well-known member
All

I am now musing about adding a prime which is longer than the 55m 1.8 to my A7. Not quite sure what though.

I was thinking of possibly a last generation Leica Elmarit 90/2.8 - which is reasonably sized (I did see a nice reasonably priced 90 Summicron APO but realistically I think it is too heavy).

But am I missing alternatives which would be cheaper and just as good?

Autofocus would be nice but I am not sure how that would be achieved. As I am already using a CV 21 with an adapter I am not averse to adapted lenses.

Any advice gratefully received.

LouisB
 
D

Deleted member 7792

Guest
Louis,

I'm using a 90mm Apo-Summicron-M with some success. I find that it balances well with the A7R and is razor sharp, just as it is on the M 240. At 135mm, I'm trying a 135mm Apo-Telyt-M. No conclusion yet, but I expect it will do well. Again, the relatively small size complements the Sony. I'm also experimenting with a Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS + Metabones III combo. Large-ish, but retains the AF, IS, aperture and EXIF. Hope this helps.

Joe
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
I also use a Leica 90mm Apo Summicron with spectacular results. Very nice balance on my A7r..... I doubt you would ever be disappointed with this lens. I have not tried the Leica 135 but am very tempted. Joe..... please post your experiences with the 135.

Victor
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
I use a Leica Summicron Pre-AA. Great results. Crisp edges and subject separation. Sharp without being too harsh or unflattering for portraits. It does have a long focus throw.
 

losta

New member
Any chance you could you post a photo of what the a7r with a Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS + Metabones III looks like? Thanks.

Louis,

I'm using a 90mm Apo-Summicron-M with some success. I find that it balances well with the A7R and is razor sharp, just as it is on the M 240. At 135mm, I'm trying a 135mm Apo-Telyt-M. No conclusion yet, but I expect it will do well. Again, the relatively small size complements the Sony. I'm also experimenting with a Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS + Metabones III combo. Large-ish, but retains the AF, IS, aperture and EXIF. Hope this helps.

Joe
 

Ocean

Senior Subscriber Member
I would highly recommend Contax G 90/2.8 and Konica-M 90/2.8. Both of them have similar performance of the latest Leica Elmarit-M 90/2.8 but at about 1/3 of the Leica price.
 

mark1958

Member
I have tried the following
Leica M 90mm/2.8 Elmarit
Voigtlander 75mm/2.5
Voigtlander 90mm/2.5 Apo-Lanthar SLII (Nikon mount)
Zeiss 135mm/2 (Nikon Mount)
Nikon 70-200/4

In terms of size the Leica 90mm and Voigtlander 75mm cannot be beat. Both give great images. The Leica is a bit sharper wide open but at f4 hard to distinguish. The voigt 75mm is just so small and light… I do not see a big problem in terms of fringing, glare with either of them.

The voigt 90mm mentioned above optically is also fantastic but it is a bit larger and weighs more. On the used market relatively inexpensive.

The Zeiss 135mm is the king sharp corner to corner wide open. It is big and heavy though.

I have not tested the Nikon 70-200/4 that much at this point but at 150-200mm wide open-- the images were not great. These were handheld so i would want to try again before i made any conclusions.

All of the other choices are great. Each has their trade-off. The reach of the 75 vs 90 vs 135mm. The cost of the voigt 75mm 2.5 vs leica 90mm/2.8 … etc …
 

darrellc

New member
I was looking for same for the A7... bought a used Canadian Elmarit 90/2.8 "Fat" at my local pro shop, didn't like it wide open, so traded it back in a for a used Summarit 90/2.5, which I like much better wide open. The 90/2 seems pretty spectacular, but I didn't want to spend that much for a focal length I don't use a lot.

I've always liked Contax G 90/2.8 images, and the lens costs much less than the Summarit, but I don't think I'd care for the fiddly focusing adapter situation.

I also tried my Nikon 85/1.8G on the A7, which delivers great results and is light, but I don't like the volume, focusing mechanism and funky aperture control with the adapter.
 

psy501

New member
..olympus om 90 f2 macro..its not small, but one of the best lenses i ever had the pleasure to..btw its not cheap either, but it really is worth its price..
 
D

Deleted member 7792

Guest
Any chance you could you post a photo of what the a7r with a Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS + Metabones III looks like? Thanks.
Here's the A7R with the Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS (and RRS L-bracket):



And here are a couple of handheld tests from late this afternoon:





I've found the combination easy to hold and well balanced, with my left hand holding the lens zoom ring and my right hand around the camera grip. The IS on this lens functions very well on the A7R. The only downside I've found is AF focus hunting. AF with this lens takes patience. I likely will resort to manual focus when landscape shooting anyway.

Joe
 

biglouis

Well-known member
Thanks, all for the input - especially Joe with the exemplar of the 70-200 and the shots.

Ahem... don't know if I have made the right choice here but I just bought a good example Leica Elmar C 90 off of ebay. I figured I would give it a try and if I don't like it I can probably pass it on.

I used one quite a lot on my old M8 and got good results. Not sure if there will be any compatibility issues.

If it works, great, if not then I'll probably go for a 90 Elmarit. I just could not resist the throw away price of the C-90. Also made me think of whether or not a c-40 Summicron would be worth trying.

Thanks again for all the responses

LouisB
 

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
I have the 135 mm Apo Telyt M and tried it for the first time today. This was a test, not a work of art! Processed with C1 defaults only. Wide open.



 

mark1958

Member
I tried the Leica Elmar 90 at a local shop that had one for sale. Really tiny lens. I only tested indoors and not optimal random shots. It was decent. I did not have anything to try side by side. Corners seemed good.

Thanks, all for the input - especially Joe with the exemplar of the 70-200 and the shots.

Ahem... don't know if I have made the right choice here but I just bought a good example Leica Elmar C 90 off of ebay. I figured I would give it a try and if I don't like it I can probably pass it on.

I used one quite a lot on my old M8 and got good results. Not sure if there will be any compatibility issues.

If it works, great, if not then I'll probably go for a 90 Elmarit. I just could not resist the throw away price of the C-90. Also made me think of whether or not a c-40 Summicron would be worth trying.

Thanks again for all the responses

LouisB
 

Taylor Sherman

New member
A good copy of the Leitz Elmar 135/4 (silver body, introduced in 1960) can be had for around $300. It's a bit long since it's not a telephoto design, but still fairly small/light on the grand scheme of things. And very good to great image quality.

The G90 is great and Zeiss would do well to make an E-mount version of it this year.
 

losta

New member
Thanks so much for the photo Joe! I actually have the 70-200 F 4 L IS, though I don't have a Canon camera anymore. I am wondering if it would be worth getting the metabones III adapter just for that.
 
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