Looks like the thread got archived to 2010, so here's another one ... starting with a question:
Which M645 glass would you suggest as being 'optimized' for infinity focus rather than close or portrait subject distances ... particularly looking at longer than 120mm FL's. Wide open speed is not the critical issue, stopped down IQ is.
It was my first M645, I've had it for a couple years now. I put it head to head against my C/Y 80-200/4 when I first got it and found the C/Y to be slightly better @ mfd & infinity, with the 150/2.8 A taking honors in the 'portrait' (go figure) distances. I'd use other glass for infinty, but I'm wanting the M645 format for a pano project, hence the infinity optimization quest.
jcolwell wrote:
The A 300/2.8 APO is fantastic at all distances, and it's dead sharp at all apertures. You only need to stop down for DOF.
To add to the thread since it may get searched later (though not in your sought price range)...
+300, it's insanely sharp and extremely well behaved. I wish it had more modern coatings, or rather, it's a pity in some ways that digital causes slight internal reflections with strong point light sources, moreso than say a modern (mid-2000s vintage) Canon-made lens.
I've used the 300 APO to create dusk skyline panoramics and it does ghost a bit on Canon DSLRs. But it's not really the lens' fault. Or, perhaps "we are not alone" and they only appear in photos!
About the internal reflections: in some shots with my 200 APO I got the same impression, that there was some veiling flare that should not be there. Perhaps it could be improved by adding some baffle in the rear of the lens, or perhaps not. I'm reading this thread now: http://forum.fourthirdsphoto.com/showthread.php?t=57126
Yeah, Jim I'll say the Mirex has that "branding" stuck in a rather poor place inside the adapter, I don't know what they were thinking. I can't remember how well the flocking paint is done inside my Fotodiox adapter, either, I'll have to check. But my adapters could certainly be the culprit...
Perhaps it was just my inexperience of shooting with a 200/2.8 lens (the Mamiya is my first one)... I only noticed when shooting in the direction of the sunrise that I couldn't prevent the whole image from being veiled. I guess it's nothing out of the ordinary. My fotodiox seems to have a good matte paint on the inside.
It sounds like we (Greg & Benjamin & me) all use the same adapters. Maybe I just haven't shot such challenging subjects. I'm sure I've used both 200 and 300 APO for sunsets, without issues. Maybe it's a doppler thing (unless you believe in relativity, whatever that is).
Hmmm ... I forgot that I've changed adapters since my 'head-to-head'.
My original Arax shift adapter had bad internal reflections off the shift mechanism plate (silver), and even the black interior surfaces were machined smooth. I tried in vain to correct it with flocking material and removal of the shift plate ... eventually biting the bullet and replacing it with a FotoDiox adapter.
Sadly, I found out that the Arax adapter was also the culprit for infinity shots ... AFTER I sold my pristine 35/3.5 N.
Too bad, I liked the shift feature, but it was also the same adapter that my lens kept coming off of. No problems since I switched to FotoDiox.
and they only appear in photos!