That might be due to different reasons : 1- adapter issue . 2- lens issue 3- filter not correctly centered inside the "sandwich" of step rings.
If, when removing the front filter, both sides of this wall are equally sharp ( or unsharp) then the filter alignment is the problem. Wideangle lens are merciless. It takes only a very minor tilt of the front lens to produce uneven results in the corners.
Fred Miranda wrote:
....
By looking at the Proxar 1m lens, I believe it is a 'positive meniscus' optical design with one convex and one concave surface. (Instead of a convex and a plano found on a PCX lens)
In other words it's a convex meniscus (thicker in the middle than at the edges) and a similar optical design as the one found in glasses for folks whot are long-sighted. Basically these lenses shift the plane of focus from infinity to the distance correspondent to the focal length of the close-up lens.
I'm not sure how the Hoya close-up lens is designed but it probably follows the same mold. Those who have one could check if it is also a positive meniscus. (see image below)...Show more →
Yes, I have a Hoya and other close-up lenses of different brands and all are like this, convex-concave designs thicker in the center than in the corners.
With 5m PCX, corner sharpness and field curvature will be improved, but there will be noticeable mid-zone dip at wide-open. The mid-zone recovers from f1.7 and the whole area will be very good at f2.8 or higher stop.
To reach infinity, too-short M-E adapters (Pixco or Fotodiox) may work, as well as ZM35/1.4.
I can't recommend you to remove shim inside such expensive lens.
padam19 wrote:
Thanks for taking the time, looks worthwhile for an experiment (Why did I sell the Hawks adaptor in the first place )
Dear Bastian, may I ask, do they ship the filter outside Germany as well?
I would be nice to try before buy and I do visit Germany for time to time, but not that area unfortunately
Installation is the same as the Contax G28?
Optosigma has different distributors for different countries,
contact Optosigma.com first, they will forward you to your specific distributor.
Delivery time can be very long though...
If there is someone with the Leica lens near Stuttgart reading this he is invited to contact me so we can check out the results.
Installation is pretty much the same for all lenses,
only the x -> 55mm step up ring needs to match the diameter of your lens.
Hi HaruhikoT,
Would the 5M PCX work on the 50/1.4 ASPH as well? Could you do a simulation on this lens in case that you have the required parameters? Thanks.
teeraash wrote:
Hi HaruhikoT,
Would the 5M PCX work on the 50/1.4 ASPH as well? Could you do a simulation on this lens in case that you have the required parameters? Thanks.
Would try to simulate but I can't find Exit pupil distance or Chief Ray Angle of the lens.
Does anyone find these values on the web?
so I got some more rings for the ZM 25, more for the hood side of it more than anything else and i like this setup. So from lens itself going out 46-55 with Proxar inside that 55-52 step down with 52mm retaining ring. This holds the lens the best. I feel the retaining ring is the key to proper alignment inside this rig. Than for the hod part I used a 52-55 step up which gives nice clearance from the Proxar and acts as a hood and protection, plus it looks better. Ill try the Hoya but Im done with this setup as I feel for me at least what I want
GMPhotography wrote:
My 5m just showed up for my ZM 35 . Yahoo
Still waiting for mine. Still said to arrive on friday 10th...
But I can share some good news for Voigtlander 35mm 1.7 fans.
Phillip has sent me the lens (and a "meymoon" step up ring, never ever buy from that junk "brand"!!!)
and I put my Eksma Optics 5m filter on.
Remember: this filter is not the same as the Opto Sigma 5m filter as it is 2mm thicker and it didn't
yield results as good on my ZM 35mm 1.4 (huge midezone dip even at f/5.6).
Keep in mind though: I bought an uncoated filter form Eksma which leads to some issues with the sun in the frame,
as you can see in this album.
They also offer to add multicoating but this will not only increase the price but also the delivery time (to 5 weeks).
PS: with my slowly becoming famous Fotodiox L/M-Nex adapter infinity focus is possible with mounted 5m filter and without any modifications on the lens.
Infinity hard stop is also working starting at f/2.8.
I finally recieved my ZM25 today and had an opportunity to test it out with and without the Proxar 1m. The differences are pretty astonishing, I'm seeing similar results to what Guy posted. I'm struggling with two minor irritants at this point however. My particular lens didn't have any silver shims, there were two gold and two bronze shims, after messing around with infinity focus I'm finding that with only the bronze shim on both my Novoflex and Voigtlander adapter that infinity is achieved just slightly before the hardstop, with the Gold shim I can't focus to infinity before I hit the hard stop. A silver shim likely would be the solution or a Hawk's adapter with an adjustable infinity stop wouldtake care of this. With the TAP in manual more you can focus well past infinity in my current setup.
The other issue I've noticed is that I am unable to add a final step-up ring to act as a "hood" similar to how Guy set his up, I start getting mechanical vignetting and get progressively worse with the hight aperture.
BastianK wrote:
Still waiting for mine. Still said to arrive on friday 10th...
But I can share some good news for Voigtlander 35mm 1.7 fans.
Phillip has sent me the lens (and a "meymoon" step up ring, never ever buy from that junk "brand"!!!)
and I put my Eksma Optics 5m filter on.
Remember: this filter is not the same as the Opto Sigma 5m filter as it is 2mm thicker and it didn't
yield results as good on my ZM 35mm 1.4 (huge midezone dip even at f/5.6).
Keep in mind though: I bought an uncoated filter form Eksma which leads to some issues with the sun in the frame,
as you can see in this album.
They also offer to add multicoating but this will not only increase the price but also the delivery time (to 5 weeks).
PS: with my slowly becoming famous Fotodiox L/M-Nex adapter infinity focus is possible with mounted 5m filter and without any modifications on the lens.
Infinity hard stop is also working starting at f/2.8....Show more →
sweet!
any idea if it corrects the mid distance field curvature for narrow dof shots as well as it does for the zm 35/1.4?
MIRANDA1 wrote:
I finally recieved my ZM25 today and had an opportunity to test it out with and without the Proxar 1m. The differences are pretty astonishing, I'm seeing similar results to what Guy posted. I'm struggling with two minor irritants at this point however. My particular lens didn't have any silver shims, there were two gold and two bronze shims, after messing around with infinity focus I'm finding that with only the bronze shim on both my Novoflex and Voigtlander adapter that infinity is achieved just slightly before the hardstop, with the Gold shim I can't focus to infinity before I hit the hard stop. A silver shim likely would be the solution or a Hawk's adapter with an adjustable infinity stop wouldtake care of this. With the TAP in manual more you can focus well past infinity in my current setup.
The other issue I've noticed is that I am unable to add a final step-up ring to act as a "hood" similar to how Guy set his up, I start getting mechanical vignetting and get progressively worse with the hight aperture. ...Show more →
I believe that shim thickness is batch variant. I've seen two ZM 35/1.4 lenses from different batches that had different shim thicknesses (shim colors were different).
So, what works for Guy may not work for you and you will have to play around removing shims and testing the lens to see if infinity focus is achieved by a modified shim combination.
The same goes for step-up and step-down rings. Different brands may have different lengths and that may influence vignetting.
Make sure your 52mm retaining ring is fully down. Fooled me too . You can tell if you hear the lens shaken inside the mount. When fully down it makes no sound and is tight
The correct description of the filter you need and how to attach the filter is included,
but I will add some more info on the two manufacturers (Optosigma and Eksma Optics).
(Why did I sell the Hawks adaptor in the first place 
)
