LEICA SUMMICRON R 90mm
R-mount medium telephoto lens with new lens barrel
A review and Photo example of SUMMICRON R 90mm F2.
Table of contents
Gallery
- The sample photos were taken with R8 +DMR / LEICA SL / CANON EOS-1DsMKIII / HASSELBLAD X2D.
Review
1．Usage
The Summicron-R 90mm F2 (hereafter referred to as Summicron-90R) is a medium telephoto lens for Leica R. The Summicron-R 90R is a lens that is relatively common on the second-hand market, but this later model is rarely seen.
As the lens has been produced in this form for a long time, it has a smooth bokeh and a clear depiction, making it a lens that can be used with confidence. The depiction at full aperture is a little softer than that of the Apo-Summicron-R 90mm F2 (hereafter referred to as Apo-Summi-90R), but if you consider this as a taste, it is within a tolerable range of depiction. The later model Summicron-90R that I owned is a 3-CAM and unfortunately does not have a ROM terminal.
I have seen an R-mount Elmarit 90mm with a ROM terminal on the second-hand market, but I have never seen a Summicron-90 with a ROM terminal.
The minimum shooting distance is 0.7m, the same as the Apo-Summi-90R, and it is a lens that can get closer than the M-mount version’s 1m. In terms of operability, the focus ring has a range of about 270 degrees from infinity to the minimum shooting distance of 0.7m, which is the standard angle for lenses with a focal length of 50mm or more, so you can focus carefully on your subject with manual focus.
I bought this lens as junk at a map store. The problem was that it couldn’t focus to infinity, so I took it to a familiar used camera shop for repairs, and for about 50,000 yen it came back with perfect infinity and a decent helicoid. However, in the cold season the grease becomes hard and the feel of the helicoid becomes less than ideal.
2．Lens overview
The Summicron 90R is a long-lived lens that was produced for 25 years, with its exterior shape changing until it was replaced by the Apo-R 90mm F2. The old lens barrel had a built-in lens hood with two sections, but the new lens barrel has a simple single section.
The lens is made up of five elements in four groups, with the second and third elements glued together, and has remained the same even though the exterior of the barrel has changed since its release. The minimum focusing distance is 0.7m.
From the third generation of the M-mount Summicron 90mm released in 1980 onwards, the lens configuration is almost the same as the Summicron 90R introduced here. The previous M-mount Summicron 90mm had a lens configuration of six elements in five groups, which was more than the current number of lenses.
3．Mount adapter
The image circle of this lens is wide, and it is 100% usable on the X2D digital medium format 44 x 33mm sensor with a 3:2 crop. There is some shading in the corners and some softness in the image, but the wide image circle, which exceeds that of a 35mm sensor, is a luxury that comes with an old lens.
I have never encountered Error 20 (Err20), which occurs when the rear lens element interferes with the camera sensor because the rear lens element is inside the mount, which is a problem when using it with the EOS 1DS MK-III.
Specification and Competitor
| Item | APO SUMMICRON R | APO SUMMICRON M | SUMMICRON R |
| focal length(mm) | 90.9 | ← | 90 |
| Maximum aperture | 2 | ← | ← |
| Minimum aperture | 16 | ← | ← |
| Leaf blade | 8 | ← | ← |
| Lens configuration | 5groups 5elements | ← | 4groups 5elements |
| Minimum distance(m) | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.7 |
| Lens length(mm) | 59.3(R-mount) | 78(M-mount) | 61.4(R-mount) |
| Lens max diameter(mm) | 71 | 64 | 69 |
| Filter diameter(mm) | 60 | 55 | ← |
| Weight(g) | 520 | 660 | 522 |
| Release date | 2002-2003 | 1997- | 1970-1995 |
| Production Numbers | 2,000- | 14,820 (~2005) | 37,954 |
Reference links
- SUMMICRON 90mm F2 by Leica wiki
- Introduction page for the APO SUMMICRON-R 2/90 ASPH. (link in Shige’s hobby)
Update history
- 2024.02.17:Update article
- 2023.03.16:First draft
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