Mamiya 35 with Zoerk on a 5D

[free1000]

The 28 I will be trying is called Schneider Apo Digitar 28 and is a "digital optimized lens" supposedly to be very sharp.  It costs around 1800 Euro incl. 25% VAT here in Sweden.

Schneider claims their Digitar line are capable of a resolving power of 90-200 line pairs per millimeter.
See this PDF for more information: http://www.schneideroptics.com/pdfs/photo/Digitar_Manual.pdf

/Roberto
www.tabi.se
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Yes, its fantastically sharp, I agree. Unfortunately it makes any straight line look like a banana. I shot a building head on and even straight lines near the center were not straight. If you then shift the lens you see that the lens has moustache distortion, so its practically impossible to correct afterwards in software (at least not within a commercially viable amount of time).

Here's the article that made me think of buying this outfit.  [a href=\"http://www.peimag.com/pdf/pei03/pei1112_03/venerpei1112_03.pdf]article on 28mm and Cambo[/url]. The main image on the home page has plenty of juicy distortion, cut it out and put some guides on in photoshop and see for yourself.

[John_Black]

For grins I played with the image.  Some of the walls are at a slight angle (highlighted with the blue lines) and the left wall has an arc to it (the red plane).  I think there is a slight barrel distortion, but some of the weirdness may be the geometry of the building rather than the lens.

[Roberto Chaves]

Is it the one with the 60mm image circle ? and at f2.8 ? that lens is very distorted, unless you're at the end of your budget and this is a compromise I would suggest trying something else. I just paid a premium for this lens just to discover that the distortion is really really bad. A few others on this board has commented on it but I tot I should tried it for myself. Now I echo their views.

cheers
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I'm not sure. I think it's this one:
[a href=\"http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?CID=1325&IID=1920]http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/C...D=1325&IID=1920[/url]

I was worried about the distortion, too bad it's not good...
May I ask what lens you would recommend instead? Preferable one that works with the Cambo X2-pro.

Free1000 recommended the Schneider 35XL, not sure if it can be made to work on the Cambo..

On the resellers site they say the following lenses work with it:
Schneider ApoDigitar 28, 72, 80, 90, 100, 120, och 150 mm, Rodenstock ApoSironar Digital 90, 105, 135 och 150 mm.

Here the Apo Digitar 28 being the only wide one..

And with some special adapters one can use Hasselblad CF, Mamiya 645 Pro and Mamiya RB/RZ lenses.
Which seems the way to go if I can not use the Schneider 35..  

/Roberto
www.tabi.se

[free1000]

If you can try the 28 Schneider before buying there is no risk except for your time. I can't back up my opinion with test shots because I accidentally deleted them. Mine were much more badly distorted than the image in that article.

Its really difficult to get a shiftable 28mm that is a retrofocus lens and therefore has a long enough distance from the rear element to the sensor plane such that it can be usefully mounted on a view camera.

The Rodenstock 28HR has quite a long distance hence it can be used on viewcams (theoretically)  but then its such an expensive solution.

The Schneider 35XL might just work but I kind of doubt it. Its not retrofocus and needs to be too close to the sensor.

[free1000]

Roberto

If you can try the 28 Schneider before buying there is no risk except for your time. I can't back up my opinion with test shots because I accidentally deleted them. Mine were much more badly distorted than the image in that article.

Its really difficult to get a shiftable 28mm that is a retrofocus lens and therefore has a long enough distance from the rear element to the sensor plane such that it can be usefully mounted on a view camera.

The Rodenstock 28HR has quite a long distance hence it can be used on viewcams (theoretically)  but then its such an expensive solution.

The Schneider 35XL might just work but I kind of doubt it. Its not retrofocus and needs to be too close to the sensor.

I think that these 35mm based VC's can work, but practically I found that the 35mm Mamiya was the shortest practical lens length. Overall, for longer lenses say 85 and up, the location of the sensor buried within the mirror box can hamper movements.

[Roberto Chaves]

Yes, its fantastically sharp, I agree. Unfortunately it makes any straight line look like a banana. I shot a building head on and even straight lines near the center were not straight. If you then shift the lens you see that the lens has moustache distortion, so its practically impossible to correct afterwards in software (at least not within a commercially viable amount of time).

Here's the article that made me think of buying this outfit.  article on 28mm and Cambo. The main image on the home page has plenty of juicy distortion, cut it out and put some guides on in photoshop and see for yourself.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks for the link to the article.
This is bad news.. I really want a lens with as little distortion as possible, it's worth paying more to avoid doing complex distortion correction.

I agree with John Black that the picture from the article might not show what you have experienced.
I rather trust someone saying a lens is bad (meaning they probably are picky, which I am) than someone saying it's good (and then finding out they where not picky!) :-)

I still want to try and see if I can avoid going the MF road as you chose to do and find a lens that works fine with the Cambo X2 pro.


Is this the 35 mm you mentioned?
[a href=\"http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?CID=1325&IID=1886]http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/C...D=1325&IID=1886[/url]
It doesn't say XL anywhere though..

And where I find their XL series (large format) there is only a 38 mm not a 35mm.
http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/C...ay.aspx?CID=168

Would be good to know the exact one (with product#) so that I can check with the reseller here in Sweden.

Thanx again for you input!

/Roberto
www.tabi.se

[Roberto Chaves]

Roberto

If you can try the 28 Schneider before buying there is no risk except for your time. I can't back up my opinion with test shots because I accidentally deleted them. Mine were much more badly distorted than the image in that article.

Its really difficult to get a shiftable 28mm that is a retrofocus lens and therefore has a long enough distance from the rear element to the sensor plane such that it can be usefully mounted on a view camera.

The Rodenstock 28HR has quite a long distance hence it can be used on viewcams (theoretically)  but then its such an expensive solution.

The Schneider 35XL might just work but I kind of doubt it. Its not retrofocus and needs to be too close to the sensor.

I think that these 35mm based VC's can work, but practically I found that the 35mm Mamiya was the shortest practical lens length. Overall, for longer lenses say 85 and up, the location of the sensor buried within the mirror box can hamper movements.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=103709\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hello again free1000,

Maybe I should try the 28 and hope that you had a bad copy, which also is a bit worrying if their production quality is not stable! But this can be solved then.

Yes, I was afraid that the 35XL is not a retrofocus, it seems that the 28 is among the few that are...

How expensive is the Rodenstock 28HR, I saw a figure of $5000 somewhere is this correct?

/Roberto
www.tabi.se

[free1000]

Hello again free1000,

Maybe I should try the 28 and hope that you had a bad copy, which also is a bit worrying if their production quality is not stable! But this can be solved then.

Yes, I was afraid that the 35XL is not a retrofocus, it seems that the 28 is among the few that are...

How expensive is the Rodenstock 28HR, I saw a figure of $5000 somewhere is this correct?

/Roberto
www.tabi.se
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Rodenstock is $4999 at B&H [a href=\"http://www.bhphotovideo.com]http://www.bhphotovideo.com[/url]

[MarkWelsh]

There isn't a ghost of a chance of being able to use any sub-100mm Rodenstock HR on a DSLR body. By the time you subtract the rear elements' depth from the flange distance you're left with less than 20mm in most cases, which is at least 25mm too short for the Canon! You could use it as a stitchable 28mm macro, I guess . . .

As previous posters have confirmed, the Pentax FA35 is by far the best option for DSLR shooters at present. The only upgrade path is an MF back and a system with movements to mount the Rodenstock HRs or Apo Digitars.

As summary of all available stitching methods was recently updated here:
http://www.stitchpix.com

[mahleu]

There is also this http://www.mirex-adapter.de/

I've been toying with the idea of getting a hasselblad shift convertor so I can shift those lenses on my dslr.