Hcam b1 What lenses?

[henrikfoto]

I am very much considdering the Hcam B1.
The total freedom in lens choices facinates me.

I have heard the canon ts lenses is great for mf backs

I have one specific question:
- Is there any way to use the Rollei Apo Symmar macro 90 mm with the Hcam B1?

Henrik

[nazdravanul]

That is really simple actually : get the new Schneider pc-ts 90 - it's the same lens, in a new barrel, with movements, and "slightly optimized" optical formula (whatever that means .. ) . Get both the hcam and Schneider in Canon mount, and you're good to go (with movements and tripod mounting of the lens, as an added bonus ... ).

[henrikfoto]

Ok, is is really the same lens? I would think the ts-capabillity in the lens would have to cause
some kind of optical compromise?

Henrik

[dchew]

I don't know if it is the same lens or not, but I am testing one right now through the rest of the week.  So far I think it is a very nice piece of glass.  If it just wasn't so darn big!  Compared to the Canon 90TS you would never guess which one was the f/2.8.  The good thing is if the weather gets nasty you can always crawl under the front end; it's big enough to be used for temporary shelter.  I will say for it's size it doesn't seem to weight that much.

The Canon 90TS is very nice in its own right.  However, the Schneider is just a bit better, even wide open at f/4.5.  Beautiful, contrasty rendering.  Out at the edges when fully shifted it is a boatload better than the Canon.  A few nitpicks I have that mirror what Digilloyd wrote in his review.

Anyway, so far so good, but at >$3,000 US, I'm not sure it is worth replacing the Canon for me.  But if I was using it for medium format, the sharpness at the edges might push me, well, over the edge.

Dave

[dchew]

One other thing.  Maybe they call it "Makro" because it is designed for close focus, but as far as magnification goes, it isn't.  0.25 is not what I would call macro.  The Canon goes to 0.29.

Dave

[CptZar]

You can use any Cannon TS lens. If you want a real nice lens get the Hartblei Zeiss lenses. Check diglloyd for a review.

[Peter Devos]

I use practically all lenses i have on my HB1. The Nikon 85mm 1,4 and about every Hasselblad V and F lens i have. The Canon 17 and 24mm are great for architecture, the mamiya 50mm shift is great when some distance from the building is needed. I also have the Hatblei (Zeiss) 80 and 120mm wich are very , very good. For telephoto work, all mamiya APO tele lenses are super.

[henrikfoto]

Hi Peter!

Have you tested the 120 Hartblei against the 120 Schneider ts?
Areyou happy with your Hcam?

Henrik

[Stefan.Steib]

Henrik

We have a lens compatibilty list on our website  at  http://hartblei.de/en/hartbleicam5.htm

http://www.hartblei.eu/downloads/LensList-HCam.pdf

The Schneider 90 TS is working even on large backs so do all our Hartblei Zeiss lenses.
A sample of what you can do with the HCam-B1 and our Hartblei 2,8/80mm TS(=Zeiss Planar) + A leaf aptus II 12 is here(97MB jpg!):
http://www.hcam.de/downloads/Hartblei80mm_HCamB1_4degr_tilt_LeafA12.jpg

I am frequently finding new lenses which are sometimes surprising - lately I found out that the old 2,8/60mm Micro nikkor AF-D (NOT the new one with the gold ring!)
has a huge image circle and works nicely on large backs

Greetings from Munich
Stefan

[nazdravanul]

Ok, is is really the same lens? I would think the ts-capabillity in the lens would have to cause
some kind of optical compromise?

Henrik

Looks the same to me (check out the glass elements layout -they are pretty much the same ) :

http://www.rolleiflexpages.com/lenscharts.html
http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/pdf/foto/Tilt-Shift-lenses.pdf

And the reviews / examples I've seen indicate the exact same performance - check out diglloyd's review, for example. And the only compromise appears to be a 0.5 stop difference between the 2 lenses (made just to compensate for the light falloff into the corners of the lens, not really used / seen on the Rollei version).

[Stefan.Steib]

We do have a Facebook site now that has a collection of Links that also may answer some questions like this:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/HCamde/122001131245665

regards
Stefan