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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
01-26-2010, 12:48 PM
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Steve, you'll enjoy that lens even more, knowing you got it as a steal. It is really great fun to use it and its quality is (despite its large aperture) very, very fine. The next buy should be the 180/2.8 Zeiss Jena lens, which is a nice complement to the 80/1.9, though a bit heavy.
Ben
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
01-22-2010, 02:19 PM
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The 70 should do the job and also should be not really expensive. I even got my 80 for an unbelievably low price, right from Calumet (a showroom piece without box, but otherwise LN). On the other hand the 1.9 is a gem. It is pure fun to use it wide open with that shallow DOF.
I symphathize. I always think, now I am done - until I find the next temptation… It seems, spending money is much easier and faster to accomplish, than bringing cash into the house. Photography is really an expensive profession.
I have been thinking about larger MF formats (especially 67) for many years and have been using Hasselblads and Bronicas, which I found nice cameras. But the quality difference between 645 and 6x6 is not really visible, but having 15 shots on a 120 roll is an advantage, as is the smaller size of the equipment.
Instead I opted for extending my LF gear, adding an ancient Graflex Crown Graphic to my Cambo rail camera. The Graflex is old and has only limited movements - but enough for most outdoor uses. With the right lens, the shift is good enough for nice architecture shots as well. And as the camera folds down into a compact and robust package, portability is not worse, than a 67 system.
The Cambo is for indoor uses only, now.
I know all the thinking about the compromised quality of zooms. But I was surprised by the good quality of the 55-110. It's an f/4 constant aperture zoom. As the zoom ratio is only 1:2 and the wide angle end is not that wide, it offers surprising quality even in the corners. Stopped down to f/8, which is, what I usually use, I cannot detect a difference compared to my primes. It really saved me from buying the 50mm, though the 120mm Macro is still tempring.
Ben
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
01-22-2010, 04:30 AM
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Steve, I have one Mamiya extension tube (which I want to keep and will not convert) and it easily fits under the K10/K20 prism housing. So, that is nice. Now I just need another tube, which I will then convert. Seems to be an easy job with the help of those cheap ebay M42-K adaptors with the flange.
Ben
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
01-21-2010, 12:02 PM
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I don't know the clearance, as I only have my trusted 1000s bodies. Could you measure how much space is there? I can always just take the mount of the extension tube and turn my own tube with the smalles possible diameter.
Ben
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
01-21-2010, 02:35 AM
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Steve, good news in a way. But unfortunately, shipping dead 645s to Germany by KEH is very expensive and costs probably 15 times as much as the camera itself... Ithink, the easiest route to go for making an 645-PK adapter is buying a macro spacer. This also gives the tube for adjusting the flange distance.
Ben
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
01-20-2010, 02:48 PM
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Hi, I got the newer 80mm LS recently, and hadn't time to use it yet. But time will come.
In the mean time, some user opinions for you:
Mamiya 645 Leaf Shutter Lens Advantages - Photo.net Medium Format Forum
If you get a 70mm LS, you wouldn't need another standard lens, I think. I can highly recommend the 55-110mm zoom, though, because it covers all og the range you are contemplating and it is a very good lens (indeed much better, than I hoped for, when I bought it). Other wiese, I personally would jump to the 80/1.9 and forego the 2.8 version.
Ben
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
01-19-2010, 12:49 PM
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That's unfortunately too true. I have been looking for quite while, until I found one - but at a price...
Still thinking about making my own one… if anybody has a spare Mamiya 645 camera mount...
Ben
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Forum: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands
01-07-2010, 04:00 AM
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Congrats for your choice. I opted for the Mamiya 645 system over the Bronica many years ago and am very happy with the choice. First of all, Mamiya has faster glass available ar reasonable prices. Then, I found, that I wouldn't need interchangeable backs (though the later Mamiyas do have those), but instead use two bodies (1000s) and a load of film holders, which can be preloaded and accelarate film change very much. These are dirt cheap now.
Also Mamiya as a system is still alive and you can go digital with only adding a body and a back and still use the old lenses - which is a big plus (quite like Pentax...). And also quite like Pentax, the focal plane shutter of the Mamiya allows the use of older and interesting third party glass, like the Pentaxcon Six lenses (the 300/4 is great and the 500/5.6 quite nice and then there is the cheap Kiew 30mm fish-eye - not quite a fish-eye on the 645).
I alsways wanted to use my Mamiya 70mm leaf shutter lens with my Pentax DSLR though, just have to assemble something for triggering the combo...
Ben
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