A new toy :)
Well, so I've been shooting with the 90mm Elmarit-M for a while now, and I really like this focal length. The copy I have has a slight front-focus which can cause some troubles wide-open and at minimum focus distance (MFD). That's why I usually shoot with f/4 with it, in which case the front-focus problem goes away. In doing so, I've found that f/4 is quite enough for a 90mm lens to get the bokehs I wanted, with speed being the only compromise.
So... I've been looking around other options and was attracted to this 90mm Macro-Elmar-M. It's been touted as being a worthy competitor to the 90mm APO Summicron in terms of image quality. But I think the most desired feature of this lens is that it is collapsible, which means the lens can retract into a smaller size when not being used. Lens performance and compacted size comes with a premium in the Leica world, I think, and when collapsed, it feels smaller than the 50'Lux, making it easy to carry around and saves space in the bag. The hood can be attached up-side-down to get out of the way and protect the lens body. I feel a lot of thoughts have gone into the design of this lens and will make it a great travel companion.
Well, so I've been shooting with the 90mm Elmarit-M for a while now, and I really like this focal length. The copy I have has a slight front-focus which can cause some troubles wide-open and at minimum focus distance (MFD). That's why I usually shoot with f/4 with it, in which case the front-focus problem goes away. In doing so, I've found that f/4 is quite enough for a 90mm lens to get the bokehs I wanted, with speed being the only compromise.
So... I've been looking around other options and was attracted to this 90mm Macro-Elmar-M. It's been touted as being a worthy competitor to the 90mm APO Summicron in terms of image quality. But I think the most desired feature of this lens is that it is collapsible, which means the lens can retract into a smaller size when not being used. Lens performance and compacted size comes with a premium in the Leica world, I think, and when collapsed, it feels smaller than the 50'Lux, making it easy to carry around and saves space in the bag. The hood can be attached up-side-down to get out of the way and protect the lens body. I feel a lot of thoughts have gone into the design of this lens and will make it a great travel companion.
Washburn...
One obvious advantage with this lens + goggle combo is that it will allow one to shoot some macro photography. I gave it a try today. With the goggle attached, the lens is mounted with a 180-degree turn, with the lens release on the right instead of left, which revealed the DOF markings for the macro mode. I didn't even notice them before... how smart! Once in macro mode, I could focus as close as 0.5 meters. It also comes with an angle finder which allowed me to look through the viewfinder from the top. It's very useful if you're shooting macro shots of a flower on the ground. In fact, I think it can be very useful in general because it will allow me to shoot with a different perspective, and it's small enough to just throw in the bag without a second thought. It was fun while it lasted, but since you can't go between macro to normal without detaching the goggle, I'm afraid it will probably stay in the leather pouch most of the time. However, it's nice to know the option is there. I will share more as I have more time to play with it.
Here are some more shots in the afternoon, without the macro adapter goggle. It is nice and sharp, with perfect color rendition.
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