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Author Topic: Sony FE 90 Macro lens  (Read 2985 times)

Paulo Bizarro

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Sony FE 90 Macro lens
« on: August 11, 2017, 05:46:40 am »

Some initial impressions, I borrowed the lens from a friend. All the recent posts about macro have revived my interest in going out and shooting some close-ups:)

http://blog.paulobizarro.com/?p=525

Regards

Kiwi Paul

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Re: Sony FE 90 Macro lens
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2017, 09:39:48 am »

It's an excellent lens, I love mine, it's well built handles beautifully and the IQ is simply excellent.

Creepy crawlies.
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Sony A7R3 + FE 12-24, 24-105, 70-300
Sony RX100 Mk6

Paul Roark

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Re: Sony FE 90 Macro lens
« Reply #2 on: August 18, 2017, 11:15:30 am »

While I am not a macro shooter (doing mostly black and white landscapes) the title of the thread caught my attention.  I use a Leica 90mm f/4 Macro-Elmar-M with Voigtlander VM-E adapter on my Sony a7rii.  Without a secondary close-up adapter, it covers infinity to 22 inches.  There is, of course, a true macro adapter for it also.  It's a super small and light 90mm that, particularly when the ARC profile is used, is extremely sharp even at f/4.

FWIW,

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com
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adriantyler

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Re: Sony FE 90 Macro lens
« Reply #3 on: August 20, 2017, 04:04:12 pm »

yes paul, i have that exact setup and it's a fantastic combination, the marco elmar produces incredible images, erwin puts recons it' one of leica's best! and the "look" of the out of focus areas is really great.  just wish there was a 50mm that could match it.

oh, and it's pocket sized!
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Paul Roark

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Re: Sony FE 90 Macro lens
« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2017, 10:57:19 am »

yes paul, i have that exact setup and it's a fantastic combination, the marco elmar produces incredible images, erwin puts recons it' one of leica's best! and the "look" of the out of focus areas is really great.  just wish there was a 50mm that could match it.

oh, and it's pocket sized!

I have the (discontinued?) collapsible 50mm also.  It's not in the same league, even when used on a Sony with the Kolarivision ultra thin cover glass.  It's basically a tessar design, which really can't cut it at 50mm compared to what we expect today.  At f8 all but the very corners are up to top notch M standards, but at 2.8 it's a bit soft across the field.  At 4 and 5.6 the center is great, but after about a 25mm image circle the quality drops.  It may be the best 50mm f/2.8 tessar ever made, but the ZM 50mm f/2 (maybe the best 50 double gauss) simply blows it out of the water, and the size & weight difference is not that significant.

This is getting a bit OT, but let me emphasize also that the Sony cover glass is rather thick.  Leica M primes less than 90mm will be affected negatively.     My 75mm f/2.8 Leica M shows corner smearing with the OEM cover glass, whereas the 90mm Macro Elmar M is clean at the corners.  (The WATE is OK with OEM cover glass, but better with the Kolarivision Ultra Thin glass.)

Also, with the 90mm Elmar I recommend using the Adobe Raw Converter's profile in conversion as there is some color fringing. Compared to most lesser lenses it's not a big deal, but with M primes one expects more, and the raw conversion profile gets you there.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com
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Joe S

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Re: Sony FE 90 Macro lens
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2017, 01:59:39 am »

The Macro Elmar is one of my favorites as well for use with Sony full frame.    The following group makes for a nice, high quality, reasonably priced (except for the Macro Elmar!) and very compact landscape kit.   All even work with 39mm filters (except the 15mm) although the Sonys take a little adaptation.   All except for the Leicas will automatically adjust the focal length for image stabilization as well.   I keep it set on 90mm and it adjusts automatically for all but the 135mm which I seldom use.   

Voigtlander 15mm Sony mount
Sony 35mm 2.8
Sony 50mm 2.8 macro
Leica 90mm macro 4.0
Leica 135mm Tele Elmar

Joe
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Paul Roark

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Re: Sony FE 90 Macro lens
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2017, 11:30:09 am »

I bought but then returned the Voigtlander 15mm M mount, intending to use it on the Sony with the Kolarivision UT coverglass.  At the time I had both the Sony and M9, so I was hopeful of an optic that would cut it on both platforms.  But, alas, no such luck.  On the other hand the WATE 16-18-21 is quite good on both, but, again, the 21mm Loxia is so good even at 2.8 that it's the one I want to use, even if that leaves a bit of a hole at the super-wide end.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com
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