Kerry Pierce wrote:
Dave, have you done business with the guy in Atlanta?
Yes Kerry, I bought a Kiev 88 camera and a 80mm and 30mm fisheye from him years ago. The camera was crap and he replaced it and after a while that one broke. Thats when I discovered the Kiev USA guys. They completely rebuilt the camera put in a Hasselblad shutter and it has been rock solid since. I also have had several of my lenses taken apart and cleaned by Kiev USA. Great people. As to the guy in Atlanta, Michael Fourman, he seems like a straight up type of guy, orginally from somewhere in Russia I believe. My experience has been that if you have a problem he will replace the item, no hassle at all. The cameras and some of the lenses he is selling are labeled Hartblei which is a Czech company which specializes in remanufacturing Kiev stuff and putting out tilt/shift stuff. I still would not trust any camera not certified by Kiev USA but I believe the lenses are good and if you have any issues down the road any competent repair facility will work with the ultimate being Kiev USA IMO.
Thanks for the info, Dave. I'll see if I can buy a lens from Mr. Fourman.
There is another cute little device on the Arax Photo site that some of you folks might find interesting. They sell a nikon 11 degree tilt adapter that fits nikon lenses and rotates 360 degrees, for $98. Full manual and loss of infinity focus, like a standard extension tube.
Kerry Pierce wrote:
So, you've been quiet for a day now, Guy. Where are the pics??
Ok here are a few test pics... I have been in Northern France for a few hours yesterday afternoon... and I took a few random pics.
First conclusions:
- the lens is very sharp even fully open
- there is a kind of "ghosting" in the middle of the picture if the contrast is VERY high (not exactly flare) - I'll need to test a bit more to be sure, because not all the pictures exhibit the problem - could also be linked to a metering issue
- sometimes (not consistently) the metering is a bit lost and I need to apply an exposure correction
- BTW there is no link whatsoever between the lens and the body, impossible to even know afterwards which aperture has been used
- the tilt function works very well, is easy to use, but I need some more learning and some more practice to get exactly the effect I want.
- I find that the 80mm focal length fits well on my FX body
- it is difficult to focus (the focus indicator >0< is not available then) above f5.6. Up to 5.6 you can use the focus indicator in the viewfinder
- the performance in general is excellent between 2.8 and 5.6 (I almost never used the lens above 5.6 because of the focusing difficulty), limiting the (strange) DOF
- for the price, it is a keeper and a lot of fun to use - highly recommended
- I might get serious work needing tilt and shift capabilities (architecture and product like photography needing a wide angle - so I might consider a 24 TS for the real stuff) - but as a hobbyist this small lens is definitely a good choice
Thanks much, Guy. Drat, though--this may cost me money.
And I agree, about the fingerless gloves. I sometimes put very thin liner gloves--with fingers--beneath mine. I can still work the camera controls quite well, and have warm fingers.
Wow.... Those are some cool photos, Guy. That lens looks to be a real gem. What a great bargain! I am definitely going to pick up a couple of these gems. I can't justify the cost of the nikkors, but I can handle the rationalization for these.
I ordered that tilt adapter too. I have several lenses I want to try it on, like the sigma 12-24 or 10-20.
gugs wrote:
- there is a kind of "ghosting" in the middle of the picture if the contrast is VERY high (not exactly flare) - I'll need to test a bit more to be sure, because not all the pictures exhibit the problem - could also be linked to a metering issue
Bummer. This is the exact problem I was seeing with the Hartblei stopped down. Does this look familiar?
stompyq wrote:
I don't really see the point of a 80mm tilit shift lens. Yes you can use it for specific shots but most landscapes are done with wideangle lenses. Just to state my point i use a 240mm lens with 4x5 (which is close to 80mm in FX) and a 90mm (which is about 28mm i think). I need a lot of movements with the wide lens but hardly any with the 240mm. The toy "legoland" look that these mild-tele T/s lenses give get old fairly quickly.
I photograph medical instruments, very expensive doing this on 4x5, use 120 f5.6 Nikon Apo Macro, fantastic lens, but no one wants to pay for 4x5 and everyone now wants digital. An 80mm TS would be just what I would need, hmmmm.
This looks like the same problem, and I think I have an idea about the reason. I still have to further investigate but I think that the problem comes from a design flaw of the diaphragm blades: they are reflecting the light (bare metal) while other lenses have black blades.
And another thing: I have been looking at a Hartblei more than a year ago, and they were cheap (like 500EUR), but the business has been taken over by a German guy (exclusive distributor) and it is not possible to find them for less than 2000EUR now. Their business is just dead, I will buy the Nikkors instead if I need one...
The Hartblei's aperture blades aren't "bare metal", so I'm not really sure that's the issue. Could be anything from coatings to internal reflections, etc.
Yeah, it's a shame the Hartblei's are so incredibly expensive now. I lucked out and got mine for about $500.
Has anybody experience with a 4x5 solution combined with a Nikon body ?
I have seen that there are adapters to mount a Nikon camera on such a chamber (you need a specific lens of course) but what about the results ?
