Ricoh GXR: M-Mount Unit with Leitz Elmar-C 90 mm

Archive

After Ricoh's official announcement of the M-mount expansion unit, I decided to buy one, although I had not intended to do so originally. Here are my first personal experiences with the lenses that I bought (or tried to buy). This page is devoted to the Leitz Elmar-C 90mm f/4 lens.

Preparations for the M-Mount Unit

In preparation of the Ricoh GXR M-mount expansion unit, I bought one lens, a Voigtländer Super Wide Heliar 15mm f/4.5, and auctioned a second one in August 2011, a Leitz Elmar-C 90mm f/4. Both lenses were meant to extend the range of my two Ricoh GXR A12 units at the wide and tele ends.

The Elmar-C, which I auctioned at Ebay for a little more than 170 EUR (2642706 > built in 1973; source: Olypedia: Leica CL and Leica Wiki) was originally dedicated to the Leica CL and corresponds to a 135 mm tele lens at the GXR. The Leica CL was manufactured for Leitz by Minolta in the 1970s (production era: 1972/3-1977; Version 11540). Minolta also sold its own, improved version of this camera, the Minolta CLE, after Leitz had discontinued the CL. I read that the Elmar was the only Japanese lens that was manufactured in Germany.

Figures: Leitz Elmar-C 90mm f/4 lens (135mm equiv.)

On the M-mount expansion unit, this lens has an equivalent focal length of 135 mm - the classic tele lens.

Body with Lens Attached

Photos: Body with A12 M-mount expansion unit attached and Leitz Elmar-C 90mm f/4 lens

Some Technical Data

Focal length	90 mm (135 mm equiv.)
Angle of view (35mm film)	27° diagonal
Maximum aperture	4
f-stop range	4-22
Number of iris blades	?
Number of lenses/groups	4/4
Shortest distance	1.0 m
Weight	246 g
Length	60 mm
Maximum diameter	51 mm
Filter thread	5.5 type; do not use 39 mm filters - may cause damage!
Lens hood	folding rubber hood; screw mount

Sample Images

Here are a first few samples taken with the Leitz Elmar-C 90mm f/4 lens (click the images to view the unprocessed original files in a new window):

Photos 2014

Conclusions

Disclaimer: I am not a lens expert who sees marked differences between various Leica and/or other lenses. I can check for soft corners, find differences in color rendition, and, in rare cases, may discover a "3D look", but that's all. Please regard therefore my conclusions as the verdict of a "layman".

Manual focusing is generally difficult, but particularly with this Leica tele lens it really is - my results with it are still inconsistent. The focusing aids that Ricoh provides with the M-mount expansion unit (and the new function enhancing firmware update) are useful, but not as useful as I had expected. I looks as if I need a lot of training (and checking after a photo has been taken)...

After a long break in using the M-mount expansion unit and preferring the A16, I used the Leica Elmar-C 90mm f/4 lens again and compared it with the Tele-Elmar 135mm f/4 during a walk. There I found focusing with the Tele-Elmar easier than with the Elmar-C. But that lens is really heavy thanks to the all-metal construction, and it is also large... Thus, the smaller and lighter Elmar-C has an advantage at least in this respect.

In June 2014, I compared both lenses again and used them particularly for nature shots with sort of a "tele effect," but never really evaluated the results. Nonetheless, this experience, which my other lenses/cameras that I own cannot offer, made both lenses look interesting to me again...

All in all, the results that my Leica Elmar-C lens produces with the GXR M-mount expansion unit are very pleasing.