Site Supporter Registered: February, 2017 Posts: 2,034 | Review Date: June 29, 2017 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 7 |
Pros: | Shift capability | Cons: | does not focus to infinity, not sharp at edges | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 7
Camera Used: Fuji St605n,Canon FTql, K3
| | I bought this lens for £200 as it seemed to represent good value at the time for a versatile shift lens I could mount on my M42, K, Canon FD and Minolta MD mount cameras for use with film. I also have a Nikon 28mm F4 shift lens. I like shift lenses for film cameras!
Both of these lenses are sharp in the centre, the Nikon also to the edges when the shift is not on. The Arsat however is soft at the edges, markedly so whether the shift is on or not. When the shift is used the Nikon loses edge definition also. I guess this is a weakness of shift lenses generally. The other issue with the Arsat is that it does not quite focus to infinity, so you have to use smaller apertures for many shots.
I have mounted the Arsat on my K3 just for experimental purposes, and can say that it produces lovely colour rendition
Its hard to justify the cost of shift lenses generally for use on digital, but for film they are great fun to use. I actually prefer the perspective of the 35mm over the 28mm. The images from the Arsat have a certain charm especially on B&W, as it gives your pictures an old fashioned look, but I have had to mark it down as the image quality is just not up to scratch really. Its a niche lens in my book and not quite the value I was hoping for. However, for mount versatility there is no real alternative.
So would I recommend it? Maybe,but do not pay too much, do not expect too much and only if you have a lot of different cameras with different mounts.
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