Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Medium Format / Film / Digital Backs – and Large Sensor Photography => Topic started by: Murray Fredericks on July 25, 2009, 02:10:36 am
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Alpa Users,
I require some longer lenses for the Alpa for a project I have coming up.
I am looking at the short barrel 150mm and the short barrel 210mm.
Does anyone have any advice negative or positive on these lenses or lenses of around that length?
Cheers
Murray
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Alpa cameras are designed for wide angle lenses. For longer lenses such as 150 and 210, you need to focus on a ground glass back. It's impossible to shoot fast. Also, vignetting might be a problem due to Alpa design limitations.
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Alpa cameras are designed for wide angle lenses. For longer lenses such as 150 and 210, you need to focus on a ground glass back. It's impossible to shoot fast. Also, vignetting might be a problem due to Alpa design limitations.
What design limitations? Do you own one of these cameras and lenses?
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Murray,
all you need is a ground glass to focus,however knowing you're a 10x8 shooter,what's the big deal?
Alpa has a large range of long lenses.
Maybe time to switch to the arTec?
N.B I really enjoyed the Salt doc!
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Willem,
Thanks!
I will be working at infinity only so the focusing is not a problem. Neither therefore should be the speed at which I can work. I will be using the Alpa as i would with a view camera.
The frames will be stitched and i will be using rise.
I find it hard to believe that there will be any vignteting? Also can I expect any chromatic aberrations etc with rise?
Cheers
Murray
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Maybe time to switch to the arTec?
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Sinar offers no long lenses for the ArTec, max. 135mm.
Alpa has image examples of the 180 on their site
http://www.alpa.ch/index.php?tablesearch%5...ALPA_P45_08.jpg (http://www.alpa.ch/index.php?tablesearch%5Bphotographer%5D&tablesearch%5Bcamera%5D&tablesearch%5Blens%5D=180+-+Schneider+Apo-Digitar+6.8%2F180+mm+T&tablesearch%5Bsolutions%5D&search_table=Search+the+gallery&path=gallery&detailpage=images%2Fgallery%2F889_JVA_ALPA_P45_08.jpg)
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Sinar offers no long lenses for the ArTec, max. 135mm.
Alpa has image examples of the 180 on their site
http://www.alpa.ch/index.php?tablesearch%5...ALPA_P45_08.jpg (http://www.alpa.ch/index.php?tablesearch%5Bphotographer%5D&tablesearch%5Bcamera%5D&tablesearch%5Blens%5D=180+-+Schneider+Apo-Digitar+6.8%2F180+mm+T&tablesearch%5Bsolutions%5D&search_table=Search+the+gallery&path=gallery&detailpage=images%2Fgallery%2F889_JVA_ALPA_P45_08.jpg)
Hi Murray
The above mentioned examples are from me, taken with the Digitar 5,6/180mm T at infinity.
Images taken with it are absolutely stunning, I use it on my P45+ with great joy, usually between f8 and f11.
Of course the usual limitations shooting with telephoto lenses apply: haze, wind and other vibrations cause problems shooting at long distance settings.
Although I sometimes use a laser distance meter (with the other lenses), it's difficult to use for the 180mm: You simply can't see the red laser dot to aim at longer distances in daylight.
It's easy to critically focus on the ground glass though, if you are familiar with 4"x5" or larger. I use the Schneider 6x aspherical loupe for great precision.
I even do some handheld shooting at infinity with 1/500sec (the shortest available shutter speed on the Copal 1), if it's impossible to set up a tripod.
Results then are mixed as expected, so I always shoot every scene several times to be able to choose the sharpest image later.
Before I bought the Digitar, I was able to compare it to the Rodenstock APO-Sironar Digital HR (which is now called the Rodenstock HR Digaron-S 5.6/180 mm): results were practically identical!
I chose the Digitar because of it's shorter available minimum distance setting.
By the way, vignetting is no problem whatsoever, even at the maximum shift of 25mm, and there's no visible distortion.
On the ALPA site, you can find technical information about every lens, including MTF, relative illumination and distortion.
The only little problem I have with the 180mm is the fact that the sync cable on the wake-up handgrip of my ALPA SWA is about 2 inches too short, so I need an extension whenever I use that particular lens.
I also use the Phase One camera, among others with the relatively new 2,8/150mm D to compare: It's is a fine lens, too. The Digitar has the edge, though.
Hope that helps
Jost
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What design limitations? Do you own one of these cameras and lenses?
I am fan of Alpa, and own all Alpa 12 TC/SWA/MAX/XY cameras, five short or long focal lenses and many accessories. Long focal lenses (beyond 120mm) may have vignetting problem when pushed to shift limit. That's one of the reasons Alpa introduced "short barrel" version, which shortens the lens barrel by 34mm. However, for some extremely long focal lenses, such as 210mm, 34mm might not be enough. Below is from Alpa website:
What are the exclusive "Short Barrel" lenses and what are they used for?
ALPA supplies all lenses made by Schneider-Kreuznach from 80 mm to 250 mm focal length besides the standard version also in a special "Short Barrel" version that is 34 mm shorter than the standard version. It is possible to have an existing standard lens changed into "Short Barrel" lens. In order to use the infinity setting on such a lens, the taken out 34 mm have to be restored by an adapter between the camera body and the digital or rollfilm back. Why the effort?
* Shortening the lensboards ("barrels") in the "Short Barrel" lenses by 34 mm permits the use of the interchangeable 0°-6° ALPA tilt/swing adapter. The limitation to focal lengths of 80 mm and longer allows for the construction of a solid tilt/swing mechanism while enabling the employ of the most important medium and long focal lengths for this purpose.
* The "Short Barrel" lenses also allow the better use of given image circles.
* Even with long focal length lenses it becomes possible to utilize the full 6x9 format without any cropping.
* Long focal length lenses can provide the desirable optimal unity of digital or rollfilm back, camera body and lens, both as regards distribution of weight and of aesthetics.