p.206 #2 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
sebboh wrote:
it's actually more that i don't like other peoples pictures with the focal length than not having success with it. i feel the same way about ultra wide angle shots. 90% of the shots i see taken with a 135mm lens i think would be improved if the photographer had used a shorter lens. it's a good length for macro and landscapes imo, but i think it's terrible for portraits unless you're trying to get a full body shot with lots of blur. lots of people love it for tight portraits though.
interesting, i haven't tried it on my NEX yet. it seems amazingly good for a mirror lens on FF so far. better than most 300/4.5 lenses from film days in fact.
p.206 #3 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
sebboh wrote:
it's actually more that i don't like other peoples pictures with the focal length than not having success with it. i feel the same way about ultra wide angle shots. 90% of the shots i see taken with a 135mm lens i think would be improved if the photographer had used a shorter lens. it's a good length for macro and landscapes imo, but i think it's terrible for portraits unless you're trying to get a full body shot with lots of blur. lots of people love it for tight portraits though.
I agree. The ridiculously short MFDs (.72M for the ZA and .8M for the CZ APO) lead to 1:4 reproduction ratios, which is basically useless unless you're doing reproduction work on mostly flat objects or are willing to sacrifice some amount of resolution to diffraction-robbing aperture settings. 135 is enough of a telephoto that anything closer than about 2M will be made better with the application of some perspective control, a tilt adapter at minimum, or something with view camera movements for the best control. Otherwise, wider will likely be better, even if you're shooting macros.
For what it's worth, the CZ Sonnar 135/2.8 has a nice 1.6M reminder to switch to a wider lens, and it's a lovely little 135. Good central sharpness, lovely bokeh, and a good amount of the Zeiss-pop. It's one of the few Zeiss lenses I would pick over the comparable Leica for portraits. The Leica Elmarit-R's a little bit better at wider apertures for landscapes and panos, but by f/5.6 it's a hair-splitting difference.
p.206 #4 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
sebboh wrote:
christmas gift arrived last night – rokkor 500/8 reflex lens: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8572/16250979512_3a96cb8dd3_o.jpg
played with it a little today and it is shockingly sharp and contrasty for a mirror lens. i think it'll function just fine as my compact birding lens and it seems up to landscape as well.
The donuts do suck, but having a walk-around APO 500's pretty cool. Congrats!
Oh, and you have another Mandler design, if my understanding of how Leica and Minolta worked out their relationship on that lens is correct.
p.206 #5 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
freaklikeme wrote:
Oh, and you have another Mandler design, if my understanding of how Leica and Minolta worked out their relationship on that lens is correct.
oh really, i always figured the zoom and mirror lenses were minolta designs.
is there a good reference site for info on who did what?
p.206 #9 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
i just picked up a Fuji 680III. the 6x8 format and the movement of the camera sounded really cool, and i hope to shoot more portraits with it. i did a quick calculation and the image size is 5.5555555 times bigger than full frame 35mm i'm looking to use up some of my films which i should've shot more often sooner.
anybody has any user advice for me using my new system?
p.206 #10 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
freaklikeme wrote:
I know, and the Rokkor was produced first, so who knows?
I am happy with it. It's not my fav or most used lens, but it's come in very handy.
yeah, it certainly isn't in the class of the best telephotos i've used, but i've yet to find a modern 70-300mm zoom (same size class) that comes close to it for sharpness at f/8 and 300mm (i haven't tried the L yet, which i certainly hope beats it). for the next 6 months at least i think it will do as my only real telephoto...
p.206 #11 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
Being completely broke after an expensive Christmas vacation, I am naturally nearing the end of negotiations to acquire the Schneider 60/3.5, 80/2 and 90/4 Makro for my Sinar Hy6
p.206 #12 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
After going to the dentist who told me that I need some quite expensive refurb of my eating equipment...
I bought a Sigma Super Wide II 24mm for MD mount to complement my MD 35-70. After reading Phillip's review and looking at the pictures taken with that lens I hope that I like its rendering more than the Canon FD and nFD 24mm's (too much astigmatism for my taste after correcting CA in LR).
p.206 #13 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
Ended up getting back into m4/3 in anticipation of child #2 and wanting a smaller kit and something that I can grab a lens or two, put it in my new Mindshift Gear bag and fill the rest of the contents with baby stuff.
Spent the last week or so moving so finally had a chance to take a picture. Taken with an E-M1 w/ 12-40 and a FL-600R bounced in dim light, so missing them from my new family picture.
p.206 #14 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
sebboh wrote:
yeah, it certainly isn't in the class of the best telephotos i've used, but i've yet to find a modern 70-300mm zoom (same size class) that comes close to it for sharpness at f/8 and 300mm (i haven't tried the L yet, which i certainly hope beats it). for the next 6 months at least i think it will do as my only real telephoto...
I would expect the L to be better at close to mid-range distances, where the mirror lenses seem to be at their weakest. I'd be surprised if it was much better at longer distances, though. No compact super-tele is going to be without it's compromises, but at this point I would say the lens you can find room to pack is the best choice.
p.206 #15 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
Picked up a Kiron 105mm f2.8 and Tamron Adaptall 80-200mm f2.8 30A with Canon FD mounts for $175 for both on CL. Lenses aren't in stunning condition (the Tamron was a KEH BGN lens, and the Kiron looks to have one mild fungus inside but it's under the UV lamp now), but both very ready and capable of shooting nicely. Price was more than fair either way, I'm confident I could probably make the money back if needed!
I quite like the Kiron, at f2.8 it's not the best but at f4 it is quite good. Together with my Mino 50mm f3.5 I have quite a good macro lens kit for product stuff, so I'm happy and definitely want to keep it around. Still unsure about the Tamron, I have a beercan I don't take out too much so this will have to see if it's really impressive at 2.8. Ordered a Sony AF confirm adaptall to use it on the a850, it's a bit much on the a7r size wise for me.
p.206 #16 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
Olympus OM Zuiko Macro 90/2.0 - terrific lens.There are not many like this.
Sonnar 180/2.8 AE C/Y - nice classic.
Compact,black and elegant Yashica AF primes arrived yesterday.They are made mostly of metal and have nice quality feel.28/2.8,50/1.8 and 60/2.8 1:1 macro match in size and weight their Yashica ML mates.28-85/3.5-4.5AF and 70-210/4.5AF are also very solid and similar in apperance to early Minolta AF zooms.Now I wait impatiently for the adapter.
