Leica APO Summicron SL 90mm F 2 ASPH Review | 54 Data compared

The Leica APO-Summicron-SL 90mm f/2 ASPH is a highly overbuilt, professional-grade portrait lens that offers unrivaled, reference-class optical performance. Constructed with an all-metal design, it features thorough weather sealing, a water-repellent AquaDura coating, and a felt-lined lens hood. It is more compact and significantly less bulky than previous SL primes like the 50mm Summilux-SL, balancing beautifully on the Leica SL body. The lens's standout strength is its off-the-charts sharpness across the entire frame, even when shot wide open at f/2. It captures minute details, such as dust on eyelashes and individual pores. Furthermore, its advanced optical design uses micro-contrast to make subjects dramatically "pop" from the background. This results in a shallow depth of field that mimics a faster lens, paired with exceptionally smooth, creamy bokeh. Autofocus is swift, highly accurate, and virtually silent, utilizing stepping motors with a Dual Syncro Drive system. Despite its near-flawless performance, the review highlights a few notable drawbacks. The most prominent con is the steep $5,150 price tag, which makes it a major financial investment. The lens's extreme resolving power can also be a...

The Leica 90mm APO Summicron-SL f/2 ASPH. is an outstanding short telephoto lens for the L-mount system that delivers exceptional optical performance across multiple photography genres, including portraits, street, and landscapes. Despite the 90mm focal length often being viewed as an uncommon choice, this lens stands out due to its flawless German engineering, superb balance on cameras like the Leica SL2-S, and an incredibly smooth manual focus ring. Optically, its 11-element design includes an aspherical element and multi-layer coatings that effectively eliminate ghosting, flare, and chromatic aberrations, resulting in images with rich tonalities and immense clarity. Lab tests confirm spectacular sharpness from the center to the mid-frame even when shooting wide-open at f/2, alongside lightning-fast autofocus tracking in AF-C mode. However, the reviewer notes a few drawbacks to consider before purchasing. The most significant barrier is its steep financial investment, costing a soul-leveling $5,795 in the US or £4,610 in the UK. On the performance side, the lens can occasionally be "too sharp," and lab results show that corner sharpness is somewhat mediocre at wider apertures, though it improves significantly...

The Leica APO Summicron-SL 90mm f/2 ASPH is lauded as a top-tier L-mount portrait lens, delivering razor-sharp, aberration-free, and creamy bokeh-filled images due to its advanced optical design. Pros include rugged, weather-sealed, all-metal construction and a comfortable, balanced handling on camera bodies. Conversely, the, cons focus on the high cost, with the lens priced at roughly £4,100 or $5,150, alongside a heavier weight compared to some rivals. Additionally, the lens lacks internal image stabilization, requiring reliance on in-body systems.