Travel Telephoto Lenses in Leica Thread Mount

You need a lightweight short telephoto lens for travelling. What to get? That was my question. I considered three choices: Komura 105mm f/3.5, Canon 100mm f/3.5, and the Leitz Elmar 90mm f/4. I also did some minor comparison to two heavier and larger alternates, the Nikkor 85mm f/2 and the Nikkor 135 f/3.5.



From Left to Right:
-Nikkor 135/3.5
-Komura 105/3.5
-Canon 100/3.5 (Version 3 according to Canon Camera Museum site)
-Leica Elmar 90/4
-Canon 100/3.5 (Version 2 according to Canon Camera Museum site)
-Nikkor 85/2

Preconceptions and Overall Impression:

Coming into the study, I was under the impression that the Canon would best of the three. I haven't been impressed by the Elmar, so I wasn't expecting much. While I wasn't sure about the Komura, it's lower price signaled that it may not be as good.

I was surprised by the performance quality of the Komura. I find the performance to be almost indistinguishable from the Canon 100/3.5. I was also surprised how all the lenses seemed to perform equally well at mid-aperature at infiniti.

Film & Scanning: Film used was Ektar 100 and scanned on a Epson V500. Sometimes I need to tweak the colors after scanning negative film. I didn't bother to do that. There was no color difference when


Sharpness at Infiniti, mid aperture

I found little difference here. All lenses performed equally well. PLEASE NOTE: Color difference are only the results of uncorrected scanning. Prints were indentically normal colors.


Komura 105mm f3.5:


Komura, deep scan of center:


Canon 100mm f/3.5:


Canon, deep scan of center:



Elmar 90mm f/4: (please ignore the dust)


Elmar, deep scan of center:



Performance at closer distance, mid aperature

Coming Soon.

Performance at wider aperatures

Coming Soon.

Size and Weight

The Elmar (200 g) and the Canon, version 2 (182 g) are roughly the same size and ight, although the Canon is 10mm longer and 1/3 stop faster. The 3rd version of the Canon 100/3.5 is slightly heavier (224 g). The Komura is noticeably larger (about 30%) but it isn't much heavier. I don't have a scale but I'd guess about 260 g, whereas the Nikkor 135/3.5 is 510g.


Price:
A postwar Elmar seems to go for about $90 and Canon 100/3.5 is about $170. Since the Komura is opitcally extremely close to the Canon and only larger, I think the price should be closer to that of the Canon.