I was on ebay and I bid on a mint condition Elmar-C 90mm f4 for 125 dollars minus S and H. I am rather happy about that acquisition even though it isn't a Summicron 90mm pre-ASPH 3rd version for that amount.

Does anyone know how is the performance of the Elmar-C wide open relative to the Summicron 90mm at f4 or the thin Tele-Elmarit? Thanks a lot for your help.

-- Alfie Wang (leica_phile@hotmail.com), March 21, 2002

Answers

Alfie: You bought the lens. Try it and see if it is good enough for you. Lens charts are for ideal conditions, and are not the same as a motorized thumb.

-- Mark A. Johnson (logical1@catholic.org), March 21, 2002.

Sounds like a deal to me. I think you'll get your $125.00 worth. This ought to be a great travel lens. I'd hang onto it even if you get a 90 APO or something like that.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), March 21, 2002.

If you look at the lens diagrams HERE you'll see the Elmar-C 90 (near bottom of the page) is optically related to the current Elmarit-M - same four elements of similar shape and location. Think of it as an Elmarit prototype. I would expect it to be as good as or better than the two 90's you mentioned.

Notice also that Minolta kept the same design for the CLE 90 in 1981 - obviously THEY couldn't come up with anything better.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), March 21, 2002.

it is a very fine lens. i think you will be astonished by its fine performance.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), March 21, 2002.

Alfie,

As others have noted it is a very fine lens even wide open and I'll add you should be ashamed of yourself for paying so little. Were it a garage sale purchase I could forgive you.

BTW-Minolta did more than just "use" the design. The Rokker version for their CL and CLE was manufactured by Leitz in Germany and badged there as Minolta. Exact same lens as Elmar-C. Paired with a Tri- Elmar, they'd make a great couple for "walk-around" shooting.

Best,

Jerry

-- Jerome R. Pfile, Jr. (JerryPfile@msn.com), March 22, 2002.

Sorry Jerome the Minolta 90 for the Minola CL was made by Leitz with the Rokkor Label but the later CLE version was made in Japan by Minolta. The Later version is multicoated with a traditional M cam and Stephen Gandy makes reference to its optical design being very sligtly different.

-- Joel Matherson (joel_2000@hotmail.com), March 23, 2002.

Alfie

You can tell us whether the different "sloping" cam works on your M3 and provide accurate focus. It should do, but not necessarily. You got a real deal.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), March 25, 2002.