Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/10

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Subject: [Leica] Re:Bob's 90 mm question...
From: "Nikola Radic" <nikolarl@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 06:13:29 PST

Hi Bob!

...and the rest of you,of course! 

Get the old one, unless you prefer to pay for the same thing twice.
(The new 90 costs double,APO will cost triple the original 900 DM
I have paid for mine.)

The real difference is in the diameter of the focusing ring,and the
ergonomy of the damn thing.(Older is bigger and heavier,of course.)
The old 1959 - 1979 M-Summicron 90/2 was and still is a great lens
for portraits,lanscapes and life.It was also meant for use with
Visoflex,hence the extra metal.

In use,it is very conformtable,just because of it's weight,and I didn't 
lose a picture with it yet,on account of it's "slowness".
(And I do press work,too.)

The 1980 version was scaled down,and made with one lens short,the demand 
being that,the redesign is NOT to be worse than the old lens.
Of course,it is marginally better at f=2,and as I have already 
mentioned,twice more expensive.

The new 90 APO will be a real beast,probably capable of competing
with the medium format optics as a portrait lens.Thus,do not expect
mercy on a pricetag.

For press and life photographers,90/2.8 Elmarit-M is a better user
lens on account of a smaller focusing ring diameter.

Of course I have done MY homework,checking out Erwin's page like a 
good boy should,before buying a lens... 

BTW,can anyone recommend me a good pro supplier in Denver?

Cordially,
          Nikola Radic Lucati                                                           
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