Leica Thambar M 90mm F 2 2 Review | 54 Data compared

In his Leica Thambar 90mm Review on the Leica Blog, photographer Matt Osborne evaluates the unique Leica Thambar-M 90mm f/2.2 lens during a portrait shoot in London. The primary benefit of this lens is its signature "Leica glow" and distinct ring bokeh, which creates a beautifully soft, dreamy, and romantic aesthetic. This unique rendering acts as an in-camera softening tool that is exceptionally flattering for baby photography and portraits of individuals with less-than-perfect skin, avoiding the clinical, overly sharp appearance of modern digital lenses. Additionally, the 90mm focal length provides excellent background separation for tight headshots. However, the lens presents major drawbacks, particularly regarding usability and cost. A key disadvantage is its removable center spot filter, which Osborne notes magnifies the blur so heavily that images look entirely out of focus, making rangefinder calibration difficult to judge. Operating the lens is further complicated by dual aperture scales (red for filter-on, white for filter-off). Optically, the lens suffers from limited dynamic range on older sensors like the Leica M240, rendering highlights prone to clipping and blooming. Ultimately, Osborne concludes that due...

The MPB review of the Leica Thambar 90mm f/2.2 highlights a modern recreation of a 1930s lens designed for a unique, dreamlike, and soft-focus aesthetic, produced by intentional spherical aberration. Notable pros include exceptional build quality with a premium finish and an included center spot filter that enhances the vintage, ethereal look. Conversely, the lens has distinct cons, including a very high price point and a challenging, non-clinical, low-contrast performance that makes it a niche tool. Its steep learning curve and lack of sharpness mean it is not designed for everyday, predictable photography.

The Leica Thambar-M 90 f/2.2 is a highly specialized, niche lens designed to create a unique, dreamy soft-focus effect and highlight glow that turns ordinary scenes into painterly images. On the positive side, it boasts extraordinary, "polished brass pipe" build quality that is built to last lifetimes, and it delivers a distinct visual thumbprint that cannot easily be replicated in Photoshop. Despite its long focal length, its petite and compact physical size integrates seamlessly with a Leica M body, making it surprisingly comfortable and discreet for street photography. However, the lens presents several usability challenges, including a tedious manual focus barrel that requires extensive twisting to move from near focus to infinity. Its unique center-dot filter—which is required to get the best soft-focus effects at red aperture settings between f/2.3 and f/6.3—must be entirely unscrewed just to put the lens cap back on. Additionally, standard zone or hyperfocal distance focusing is nearly impossible to utilize wide open. Heavy reliance on Live View to verify focus can cause the camera body to trigger heat warning messages. Ultimately, at an asking price...

The DPReview sample gallery highlights the Leica Thambar-M 90mm f/2.2 as a modernized 1930s-style lens designed for a, dreamy, soft-focus aesthetic with romantic bokeh, vintage "glow," and a 20-bladed diaphragm, enhanced by a unique center-spot filter. While it features native M-mount compatibility, the lens carries a high $6,495 price tag, poses manual-focusing challenges due to intentional softness, and lacks versatility as a specialized, non-critically sharp optic.

The Leica Thambar-M 90mm f/2.2 is a specialized, modern reproduction lens designed for a "dreamy" artistic look, featuring a 20-bladed dual aperture system and a unique center-spot filter to enhance romantic, soft-focus portraits with distinct glow. While offering exceptional build quality and versatility to produce sharp, high-contrast images when stopped down to f/6.3 or higher, the lens is notoriously difficult to focus, requiring a significant learning curve to manage its heavy, non-autofocus, and specialized nature. Cons include a high $6,500 retail price for a niche, manual-focus lens, along with the risk of overwhelming, unmanageable flare or soft, unusable images if lighting is not carefully controlled. Its signature look, featuring high spherical aberration, is best suited for portraiture, making it impractical for general-purpose, fast-paced shooting scenarios. Read more on the DPReview website via this DPReview article.