Leica 90mm Summicron APO ASPH | Perfection Over Practicality? 

Thank you so much for the comment, kind words and support! It really means a lot to me! If you have any questions on the 90 apo I'd be happy to help!

You have no idea how much this means to me! Thank you for the kind and thoughtful words. It can be a struggle to ride the line of sustainable informative videos without feeling the need to cater to the trends and race to the bottom for views.... I have a lot of big plans for the channel and want to keep the production level as high as possible, but at least as of now it means some compromises. Hopefully the situation improves in the future as I want to do more research, more indepth videos and help preserve camera history! Word of mouth is often the most powerful way to spread a message so by all means share the channel with colleagues and friends who like photography!

Thank you for the great comment! I completely relate to your situation, and often justified brining the 90 APO along because it is smaller than the average zoom and takes wonderful photos. Over time though it started to feel like dead weight in my bag as 90% of my Leica use is with a 35mm lens. It's still a fantastic lens when I need it, but unfortunately it doesn't see much use these days.

Thank you very much for the comment! Glad to know you enjoy the summarit, it's one I havent had a chance to test but it definitely seems more compact and light compared to the APO. I'll have more videos out soon!

Thank you for the comment and I'm glad I could help. If you're a fan of the focal length and feel confident in your abilities to get the photos you want at the wider F stops the APO can deliver fantastic results! Glad to hear from a CL user! It looks like a great little camera!

Thank you so much for the comment and sorry for the late reply! I appreciate the kind words and support! I think you summed it up perfectly! For the right scenario or mindset this lens can be magical! Its more specialized nature but with high performance does make it a tough decision though haha and if you have any other questions I didnt cover in the video I'd be happy to give my thoughts on that with a comment! I also appreciate the constructive criticism! I hope to build the channel into a resource for those with similar interests. I do try to add time stamps and even subtitles in English (or other languages) when I can. I've been trying streamline production to make it all more feasible so hopefully big things to come next year! And I missed my chance to watch that in the theaters while I was in the states! I don't know when itll come to Japan... Right now I'm working my way through all the movies of that New Yorker who filmed all those movies in London even though they were set in Vietnam or space. Wild! haha

Thank you for the comment! I haven't tried the previous version but it is slightly smaller and I belive lighter so it could address some of my issues with the APO and be a nice balance if you need the wider aperture. If not the last version of the Elmarit f/2.8 and f/4 macro offer smaller packages that perform well!

Thank you very much! I really appreciate the support!

Thank you very much for the comment! I think you summarized a lot of what I was getting at in a few words. You will often have a lot of room in the finder to survey the scene with a 90 on a Leica, but then focusing accurately can become tricky. While the hood only covers the bottom right corner, it can be intrusive for some scenes more so than say a vented hood. It's a beautiful lens, works well on mirrorless, but on traditional rangefinders it feels very specialized.

Thank you for the comment! The differences between some of the f/2 and f/2.8 options out there in terms of size and weight is pretty substantial. Glad to hear its a good fit for you, hope to check out more 90mm lenses in the future.

Yeah! It's served me well for many years, I've been meaning to talk about it for some time now.

The smallest version of the Elmarit 90mm has always interested me but I haven't had a chance to use it yet. How do you find the performance wide open?

@@TheWholePicture My Elmarit-M is the 11807 version, the latest and last. I went through pixel-peep-rehab and so don't compare sharpness anymore... But from my digital pictures I would say it is just right... Tiny bit nice glow for B&W, sharp enough. On film I always thought it is as good as it gets. I like it so much, I have the (terrible) thought to get the silver chrome version...

That's a beautiful lens! I did test one out actually and going off memory it produced nice images and has a lot of what I like about the 90 apo! Its nice to hear it rides that fine line on digital and with film it really levels the playing field. Other than the need for APO correction in some niche situations, I've found all Leica lenses on film to hit the ceiling of quality haha if I get a chance I'll try it out again! And the silver chrome lenses of that era are beautiful.... wish I picked one up when they were cheap....

Sorry for the late response! Of course you can use this lens on film and I have had some success especially with the M3, but I do tend to stop down a bit to give me some margin for error. Wide open you can get some beautiful images but also I always end up with several that are just a bit off....

Thank you for the constructive criticism, I'm still working on the format and setup. I've found it helpful to have the extra angle to cut to but often my schedule doesn't allow me to polish every aspect so I hope youll stick around and see the videos improve over time!

Of course Leica's are also well loved in the studio, but I am not a studio photographer and so it is difficult for me to comment on its use in other areas. If I had to comment on it, without live view or a computer tether at F/2 and closer focus distances I feel like it would be challenging to consistently focus accurately. In that sense, I feel like other camera systems make more sense studio photography. Leica makes some amazing lenses, but the argument I wanted to make was more along the lines of how they don't feel at home on a traditional rangefinder camera.

@@TheWholePicture I was thinking of more controlled photo sessions outside a studio, including environmental portraits, fashion, and parts of the wedding like bride and groom photos. I agree that the lens is easier to use on a mirrorless camera rather than a rangefinder. I do wonder how much time it would take to get comfortable enough with it to make it useful in those situations. It is an interesting alternative to the 85mm f/1.2 or f/1.4 lenses from Canon, Nikon, Sony, ...

I see what you're getting at, in which case f/2 can come in handy when you can only use available light. I have used this lens for events, but the accuracy needed especially for close focus subjects is pretty demanding on a rangefinder. On mirrorless it gets a bit better, but I still find the manual focus support on most systems to be lacking for lenses like this. If the autofocusing M mount adapters get better and can take heavier lenses, I could see this being a fantastic option, but for now and for me the drawbacks out weigh the benefits especially at the price point. It is interesting as you say though, with the high end sony and canon offerings still being expensive and at times benefiting from lens profiles etc to dial in the quality.

I have a 90mm f/2 for my Leica M6 rangefinder and an 85mm f/1.4 for my Nikon SLR. I use a 21/35/90 lens combination for my Leica. I use a 35/85/180 lens combination for my Nikon. I use either for photojournalism. I use the Leica more for vacation, travel, and street. I use the Nikon more for studio, portraits, and sports.

@@TheWholePicture yes, this Leica 90mm lens is not for most people. For some, however, it is an interesting option instead of the Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 or Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2. Used, the APO/ASPH 90 f/2 costs about the same as the other two. For most uses, with today's camera's high ISO capabilities, f/1.2 is more about depth of field and bokeh than light. For that, it seems that the Leica f/2 can hold its own, and even excel artistically. The best part of "not for most people" is it allows some of us to create a slightly different image which may result in revenue. When the requirement is to get 'THE' right image, it is the wrong choice. But when the goal is to get 'AN' epic image, and a few minutes can be spent in the effort, the Summicron 90mm can stand out.

Thank you for your feedback, but I think you are missing some of the context. We have all carried heavy gear, in fact for my video work the rigs often weigh significantly more than a photo setup, but rangefinder and mirrorless allow for small but high quality optical designs. If you can have the same quality of a larger kit in a smaller footprint, I find that to be beneficial and it is why I often gravitate to rangefinders and mirrorless. In that context I felt the lens was too large and not well balanced on a rangefinder, no where did I say M cameras are too heavy.