In interests of full disclosure: have an M645 Auto Bellows N kit for sale on BS.
Ok, with that out of the way.. The bellows unit is a nice bit of kit. Well made, nicely laid out, easy to use, assemble and break apart. Fine focus gearing on standards and twin bottom rails is smooth with no backlash or slop. Lock firmly. Whoever designed it was w/o question a photog.
What is nice about it that doesn't get much air-time is that in addition to tilt, you can swap for bag bellows (rare but out there for about $300) in about 5 minutes -- and the unit's bottom rails (both of which have fine focus gearing and lock knobs) can be unlocked and placed at 90 deg to one another so entire camera and bellows can be 'fine-focused' left or right, without moving ballhead, etc., to get the position just as you see fit.
Had never used one before and with 10 minutes of playing with it (who reads instructions?), 5 minutes to mount and adjust and first (crude) test shots were like - holy #$%^. Was seeing detail I didn't even know was there. That was with an 80mm and just a hair of extension. Did a follow-on shot using rig with my M645 120/4 Apo that took things to a whole new level.
That said, reverse-mounting a lens like the 55mm with something like 4.5+:1 fully extended magnification would be unreal.
If you're into macro work, I could see how a nice bellows kit could start a very costly habit ;>
Conner999 wrote:
...you can swap for bag bellows (rare but out there for about $300) in about 5 minutes
Hi Rob,
Mamiya calls it a "balloon bellows". I can switch between normal and balloon bellows in less than 30 seconds. I bought my balloon bellows online from J. Cohen Photography (a great place for MF gear) for $140 CA, incl. shipping.
Hey. What can I say, to me it looks more like a bag than a balloon .. ;> I was being cautious on the 5 min. The existing bellows can be popped off in seconds with two thumbscrews, so I'd go with Jim's estimate folks - maybe a bit longer if you're really uncoordinated .. ;>
JCohen is pretty good - bought some stuff from him in past. Nice price on the balloon bellows - only other units I've seen were in the US$300 range. No, must not keep, must not keep......
Conner999 wrote:
If you're into macro work, I could see how a nice bellows kit could start a very costly habit ;>
I'm certainly into macro but so far I've been doing well with "plain" macro lenses like the 100/2.8 and 60/2.8. Up to now I had no desire for exotic stuff like MP-E 65 or alike but now, this M648 120/4 and T/S adapter are my first foray into the twilight zone. Where it will end nobody knows, least of all me.
Just started playing with my new M645 120/4 and early impressions are holy $%^.
Jim, is there any reason why one of Mamiya's excellent Rz or RB lens could not be adapted to the M645 bellows?
Given the much larger registration distances 105-112mm for RZ and RB vs 63mm for M645, it would appear you'd get infinity focus - in effect creating a Trailer Park RZ IID.
mh2000 wrote:
one thing to consider is that for hand held work, that only the TS-E 90 has an automatic aperture, and for macro shots, certainly anything 1:1, you will be stopping down... and hand held and a dark finder is rather difficult IMO. The Mirex looks way cool to me... but I haven't tried it.
Conner999 wrote:
Just started playing with my new M645 120/4 and early impressions are holy $%^.
Conner999 wrote:
Jim, is there any reason why one of Mamiya's excellent Rz or RB lens could not be adapted to the M645 bellows?
Given the much larger registration distances 105-112mm for RZ and RB vs 63mm for M645, it would appear you'd get infinity focus - in effect creating a Trailer Park RZ IID.
Hi Rob,
I've thought about using 67 medium format lenses, like the RB/RZ system or an absolutely fantastic Fujifilm GW-series lens, but I won’t follow that path for at least two reasons: the lenses are generally large, heavy and slow (like me), partly because they have their own focus helicoids; and, generally as the formats get larger, the lens sharpness diminishes. That’s probably no more true for RZ/RB than for the “small LF” lenses that I’m starting to use, but at least the small LF lenses (with image circles at about 160mm and less) are small and light.
Another issue is to consider exactly why you want to use a particular Alternative (other than the lure of the unknown and the attraction of the incredibly cool ). I'm starting to use two "small LF" lenses on my Auto Bellows N; a Tokyo Kogaku Horseman Professional 105/3.5 (for 6x9, with movements); and, a Schneider-K Xenar 180/4.5 (probably with 4x5 coverage). They achieve infinity focus. I recently made a shorter bellows-to-EOS adapter that reduces the minimum sensor to flange distance by about 40mm, so I figure I can get infinity focus with a 65mm "small LF" lens. I have these LF lenses for “ground shots” at oblique angles, so the tilt available from the Auto Bellows is sufficient (maybe augmented by back tilt from the Mirex) to get the ground plane in focus (depending on tripod height), at focus distances that are far beyond what you can get with most enlarger and reversed "bellows" lenses. Longer LF lenses tend to have much larger image circles (commensurate with lower sharpness), and they need a lot more tilt - it’s easier to get closer. Shorter focal lengths get sufficient movements from the Mirex for most applications, and so the M645 lenses do the trick. I’m using M645 lenses from 35mm to 150mm for the movements, and I’m using the longer ones because they’re just so damn good.
Of course, most of the time that I use the Auto Bellows N system, it's for macro photography with magnification greater than 1.
Huston, this is tranquility base. The eagle has landed.
Captain's log, stardate 47852.3.
We began our journey on late February, boldly going where no Israeli person has gone before. The journey started rather vaguely and we were just wandering around with no specific target ahead.
By mid March the target got clearer with each passing day. We got specific info from friendly life forms in a planet with the unpronounceable name of "jcolwell" in the alternate universe. They told us we would have to get a unique object with is made up of two different parts, each hidden in a remote part of the galaxy. Once attached, the combination would posses incredible powers. Therefore, the hunt was on before the Klingons get their hands on it.
Part one of the mission was quickly completed but part two encountered immense obstacles. The Klingons proved to be a mighty adversary and we were only able to accomplish it by late June.
And now we are deep into part three of the mission, which is the most important one i.e. correctly operating that bizarre object and secure the safety of the galaxy. The object did not reveal its secrets easily. We understood that in order to engage its full powers one would need to move it through all three dimensions. First it needed to be tilted, then to be shifted and last, to be rotated. Combining our wits, Mr. Spock and I managed to unlock the first and second movements but the last one remained elusive.
We now head back to the planet of these friendly life forms in the hope that as they helped us before, they will be able to do it again.
I'm glad to hear that your ship has landed. Here's a Hitchhikers Guide to the rotation locks.
The two rotation locks are located on opposite sides of the adapter, at its bottom-most level, just above the lens flanges that engage the EOS body mount. One of the rotation locks is just below the thumbscrew used to lock tilt. You only have to move one of the rotation locks, as they are ganged together. The outer edge of each rotation lock has small serrated teeth that lets you grip them and then rotate them about 1/4" counterclockwise (looking at the front of the camera, with the Mirex attached - same direction as dismounting the lens). I find it's easiest to move the rotation lock with a fingernail. It has click stops at 15 deg intervals.
Any tips on what are the best ways to increase DoF? There are zillions of options and while I can make controlled tests and see, it'll take some time. I'd thus be thankful for tips to reduce the number of options.
). I'm starting to use two "small LF" lenses on my Auto Bellows N; a Tokyo Kogaku Horseman Professional 105/3.5 (for 6x9, with movements); and, a Schneider-K Xenar 180/4.5 (probably with 4x5 coverage). They achieve infinity focus. I recently made a shorter bellows-to-EOS adapter that reduces the minimum sensor to flange distance by about 40mm, so I figure I can get infinity focus with a 65mm "small LF" lens. I have these LF lenses for “ground shots” at oblique angles, so the tilt available from the Auto Bellows is sufficient (maybe augmented by back tilt from the Mirex) to get the ground plane in focus (depending on tripod height), at focus distances that are far beyond what you can get with most enlarger and reversed "bellows" lenses. Longer LF lenses tend to have much larger image circles (commensurate with lower sharpness), and they need a lot more tilt - it’s easier to get closer. Shorter focal lengths get sufficient movements from the Mirex for most applications, and so the M645 lenses do the trick. I’m using M645 lenses from 35mm to 150mm for the movements, and I’m using the longer ones because they’re just so damn good.