Other lenses for Mamiya 645

[BillOConnor]

A year or so ago, I picked up two of the old silver Hasselblad Sonnars, a 150mm f4 and a 250mm f5.6. With a Chinese adapter, I had a lot of fun with them on my Canon T2i. When I was able to pick up a used P65+ and Mamiya AFDII with an 80 AF, I couldn't afford anything else, so I got an adapter for the Sonnars to the Mamiya. In truth, they were surprising.

I finally found a 150 f2.8 in MF for an affordable price and was very happy with its performance. It seemed to be every bit as sharp as the new model 120mm MF macro I'd recently purchased, which was very sharp indeed.

Sooo, I bought a Pentax 6x7 adapter to try out the 135mm macro and 200mm f4 new model that I had laying around. This afternoon, I took them out for some semi-formal testing.

The two 150's, Sonnar and Mamiya, are so close, it's a qualitative difference. The Sonnar is a little cooler and slightly lower contrast than the Mamiya. Living with the Hassie lens is not as pleasant, bayonet filters etc., but still, I'm holding onto it with both hands.

But the 250mm Sonnar got smoked by the 200mm Pentax lens, which even though it's large, has impressed its way into my kit. I cannot believe how good a lens it is.

The 135mm Macro Takumar, old style, was disappointing, but I'll shoot more later because it looks so sharp when focusing, and the wind may have hurt its performance.

One of things I missed coming from large format was that I could use different makes of lenses for different renditions.
I'm so happy no one wanted some of this old glass, it still rocks!

[BillOConnor]

My sincerest apologies to the 135mm Macro Takumar. It is an extremely sharp lens. A gust of wind must have hurt its results earlier. So there's another lens I'm holding onto. Maybe I just have two very good copies, but even Mamiya lenses vary. Of course it's mainly economics, I had these two lenses and was about to put them on eBay, but when the economics are that the new 150mm f2.8 IF Mamiya lens is $3500 I can tolerate a fair amount if of inconvenience.

[Brian Hirschfeld]

Especially with a lower quality adapter it is possible that while it is fine with some lenses, some other lenses depending on their design could be off if the adapter isn't made to precise standards (after writing that I realized you may have been referencing the T2i adapter as the chinese one).

Even if the adapter is of good quality, it is still possible that a certain lens just isn't made for digital, especially since as you say it is older. The newer lenses from companies like Pentax and even Mamiya (think M645 150mm 2.8, 200mm 2.8 APO, 300mm 2.8 APO, 500mm 4.5 APO and I'm sure others) which were made view computer design and machined quite possibly to a higher standard or at least a standard which lends itself to better quality with high resolution digital cameras like you P65+ which although bested by the 80mp sensors from PhaseOne and Leaf, is still an utterly amazing and huge full frame medium format digital sensor which will certainly push a lens to its limits.

Also all of the M645 lenses are excellent designs, and on the whole very affordable, plus they have the proper mount for your 645AFDII and (idk if your adapter and lenses work with it) it will let you have focus confirmation, which is just as good as autofocus, and sometimes may even be faster, and certainly more accurate since its all on you.  Side note and something I recently learned the old Mamiya mechanical leaf-shutter lenses will not work the AFD or DF bodies.

[BillOConnor]

With an slr, as long as the adapter has the back parallel to the front, it matters little if it is not quite the right thickness. AF indicator works with all lenses. The Pentax67-Mamiya645 adapter is a quality piece of work. My particular Hasselblad to Mamiya645 is not, it is very tight, but still, the 150 Sonnar was the equal of the 150 Mamiya A.
Pentax 67 glass is even cheaper than Mamiya MF but I'd written it off because no one uses it on Mamiya cameras and I did not realize it could be so good.
Now I wish I'd kept my Pentax 45mm lens to at least try it, my experience with Mamiya 45's has not been good, nor has it been stellar with the 55mm, finally the 50 shift has solved those issues. There are other Pentax lenses I'd love to try before I buy, the 165mm f2.8, for instance.

The IQ180 might separate the razors from the butter knives, but who knows?

In the large format days, I had Schneiders, Rodenstocks, Fujis, some fine Kodak lenses, a Bausch and Lomb Protar, they all had their uses.

I think it might be splendid to add a few Takkies to my Mammies and Rodies. LOL   

[gerald.d]

Just out of interest, is this trend of looking at alternative, older, cheaper lenses for use on Mamiya AFD's a new thing, or am I just noticing posts on it because it's something I too am in the process of trying to learn about?

Great to see there's yet another line-up available with the Pentax 6x7's, and a quick perusal of eBay throws up some very interesting options.

Not least a 600 f/4 for under $1800 :O Now I'd love to know how that would perform on an IQ180!

I know Brian is working on a review of some of the older Mamiyas, but it would be great to have a central resource of all the options out there, and how well they work with the latest backs.

Regards,

Gerald.