[Leica] 90mm

[dmm@bronze.lcs.mit.edu (Andrew M. Moore)]

I'd like to find a portrait lens, and I'm interested in opinions
from those of you who have "already been this route".

My usage & preferences:

- - M6, available light, hand held, candids, black & white
- - I'll probably be doing a fair amount of work wide open or close to it
- - focusing ergonomics are important to me
- - size & weight: don't want too much, but as long as it's well balanced it's ok
- - don't want too much of the viewfinder blocked (consider the hood, too)

In the running:

- - 90/2 Summicron-M
- - 90/2.8 Elmarit-M
- - 75/1.4 Summilux-M

The 75 may be too short (I just sold my 50 for that reason; it hardly
saw any use at all).  The 2.8 is only one stop faster than my Elmar
screw mount (granted, the Elmarit sounds superior in so many other
ways).

I'm leaning towards the 90/2, especially since the release of the
APO version should make second-hand 90/2's nicely priced (anyone
selling one?)

Of course I'm the only one who can make the decision, but I suspect
many of you know much more about these lenses than I do, so I'd be
grateful if I could leverage your knowledge!

And if you do have a 90/2 for sale, email me privately.  With a good
price (especially on a "user" condition one) you may not have to
wait until Friday to sell it :)

Andrew