Jim, I've seen these and a lot of your other excellent shots with the 200 on Flickr. Are these wide open? If not, is it sharp wide open? Is that a silly question?
zombii wrote:
Jim, I've seen these and a lot of your other excellent shots with the 200 on Flickr. Are these wide open? If not, is it sharp wide open? Is that a silly question?
Yes. Jim shoots mostly wide open (afaik). This lens is ridiculously sharp wide open (I have it too). It easily outresolves my 5Dmk1's sensor, looking at the detail it captures in the landscape shots I've taken with it.
AhamB wrote:
Yes. Jim shoots mostly wide open (afaik). This lens is ridiculously sharp wide open (I have it too). It easily outresolves my 5Dmk1's sensor, looking at the detail it captures in the landscape shots I've taken with it.
Aham is correct.I rarely stop down any of my lenses.
Is it sharp.Ridiculously so.
-Jim
The 200 APO is indeed nasty sharp. Only 180-200mm lenses I've owned that bettered it WO were the Leica 180/2.8 APO and Leica 180 F2.0 APO - but then only by a very narrow, "tough to justify the price difference" margin.
The 200 was (and remains) famous for it's performance in Mamiya circles and was, IIRC, something like $3500-4000 when in it's prime. Phamiya really should re-release it in AFD form, would sell like hotcakes to Phase owners. Sweet combo of resolving ability wide open, speed (for Medium Format), APO color/clarity, bokeh and compact size (again for a fast MF lens).
Conner999 wrote:
The 200 APO is indeed nasty sharp. Only 180-200mm lenses I've owned that bettered it WO were the Leica 180/2.8 APO and Leica 180 F2.0 APO - but then only by a very narrow, "tough to justify the price difference" margin.
The 200 was (and remains) famous for it's performance in Mamiya circles and was, IIRC, something like $3500-4000 when in it's prime. Phamiya really should re-release it in AFD form, would sell like hotcakes to Phase owners. Sweet combo of resolving ability wide open, speed (for Medium Format), APO color/clarity, bokeh and compact size (again for a fast MF lens)....Show more →
Nice description of this lens.Thanks for sharing
-Jim
No worries. The 200 APO was my first foray in M645. Bought it on a lark, expected nice, but not great, bolted it on and the first-shot reaction was a "holy #$%^!". Away it went from there.
Gah, KEH sold the 200/2.8 out from my order. Hope one of you got it for a bit under $500. Ah well, it was only BGN, picked up one for $700 off ebay today with a few small paint chips; not the greatest price, but fair enough. Guess I won't be getting that 200/2 Nikkor... OTOH... anyone tried both? (Yes, I saw the other FM thread about the APO where the Nikkor 2.0 is brought up, but I never saw a conclusive answer to that question.)
Hmm, I got mine for a bit over $500 (410 euros) with close to no marks of use, except for a few tiny marks on the front lens. I know an offer (private sale on a Dutch forum) for 399 euros including Fotodiox Pro adapter, which I only saw after I bought mine from the bay. I may be able to hook someone up (eps. Dutch/Europeans I think). Give me a PM if you're interested.
I have been far to busy to put my Mamiya lenses to good use lately. I hope to get back behind the camera again soon. When I do I will certainly post a few of my fav shots.
AhamB; thank you for the link. It looks tempting but maybe a bit awkward in normal use?
Considering the price of the non tilt/shift adapter on Ebay I might as well get it though.
GBP 180 is close to what I gave for the lens itself so I am open for somewhat cheaper suggestions...
