Re: [Leica] 90 Summicron/Elmarit

[Alan Ball <AlanBall@csi.com>]

B. D. Colen wrote:
> ...<CUT>...
> When ever I used the 90 2.8 to photograph my wife or any of her friends
> they'd hate what I'd get because they could see every charcter line or flaw
> on their faces. With the 90 f2 they complain, but not as much. (;o{ )#x

B.D. (sorry, cannot figure out your first name),

I use the 90 2.8 mainly fo that application (casual portraits), an it
works great, especially on kids and young women (example on
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/AlanBall/aicha.htm ). It is
true it brings the character out of a face and does not allow any
cheating. But I do love the bokeh of that lens, which is an important
factor for portraits, and I find the 'roundness" of the backgrounds
counterbalances the 'sharpness' of the focused point. For some
situations (new born with mum), I mellow it down just a little with a
Nikon Soft nr 1. The effect is very subtle. And is repeatable (which
might not be the case with crushed cellophane). 

I can see no need for the new 90mm asph-apo f2 for my usage: it seems to
me it implies the HM body for reliable focusing wide open at portrait
distances, and I would finally only gain 1 stop at very great financial
cost. Better of with a s/h 85mm f1.4 from virtually any SLR maker for
those low light situations or even with a Summilux. I have not seen any
independent benchmarks for that new lens, but I would be very surprised
if it did better than the Elmarit from f2.8 on.

Friendly regards
Alan.