Which Mamiya macro lens?

[haring]

Which Mamiya macro lens should I buy? I would like to use it for product photography.

I have a Mamiya AFD 645 III camera so the latest Phase One LS lenses are out of question.

Thanks!

[mediumcool]

Hi. I got kicked off another forum re my answers on a similar thread begun by you, so keep your fingers crossed!

Three parts to this:

Mamiya 120mm f4 Macro in various models (superb lens by all accounts—never used one)
All to date are Manual Focus; older lenses with an aperture ring are MA*, newer units without aperture ring are Auto Aperture/stop down on your AFDIII.

Mamiya 80mm f4 Macro MF/MA on AFD models (excellent—I have one). Gets to 1:1 with extension tube. Floating elements for close-range correction.

Large format lens or enlarger lens on Mamiya 645 bellows
This is the most versatile and flexible alternative if you can find a Mamiya bellows with movements (645 Bellows N)—then you can use tilt/swing and rise/fall to control depth of field and perspective respectively, just as you would with a large-format view camera.

*MA means manual aperture and stop-down. Not good for, say, candids at weddings, but fine for a non-moving still life.

HTH

[mediumcool]

M645 bellows B&H

[mediumcool]

eBay ad for Mamiya Bellows kit

The 135mm lens looks as though it has white spots in it, possibly explaining the low contrast of the sample shots, way down the bottom of the posting!.

A Componon should do a lot better than this, particularly at close distances.

[amsp]

The 120mm macro is stellar, it's a no-brainer.

[mediumcool]

I like choice.