So...Bradley...in the end..it WAS faulty hardware....
? I'm a bit confused.
What was faulty hardware?
(If you mean the Contax 350/4, I have just the one sample to judge from. If my results are typical, as at least one other poster confirms, then the issues I'm having are endemic to the whole lens line. I'd call that a design flaw, which I guess still amounts to faulty hardware, but picking up another copy of the lens wouldn't resolve the issues I'm seeing.
If you mean the Hasselblad 350/4, pretty much the same thing applies. Not being apochromatic, it is possible that they all behave the way my sample shot shows...)
Either way, no good options if the designs are flawed... I'm holding out a bit of hope that I just had a bad copy of the Contax, but we'll see...
I have no doubt that the APO will out perform most any non-APO out there bar none ... and it darned well better. But I must say that I never never gotten as fuzzy a shot with the 350/4 FE as you show either
I've owned both, BTW.
Thanks, Marc--that's good to know. As I mentioned to Peter, there's a small corner of my brain holding out hope that the copy of the lens I had was bad. Were you shooting digitally with your Contax? If so, I can give you my e-mail address if you wouldn't mind sending me a copy of a file shot with the 350, if that makes it easier for you.
As for the apo vs. non-apo, yes I was expecting a difference, but didn't know how much. Now I know! :bugeyes:
I'll just add that IMO the Mamiya body has a far better dampened shutter than the Contax. I don't currently own the 300, so can't readily post a direct comparison, but don't recall ever getting a not critically sharp image with it the few times I actually used it. Hopefully I can dig around and find a 300 shot at around 1/15th for thread posterity -- even though I generally avoid 1/15th -- or maybe Guy or Bob can post one?
Hi, Jack,
The longest I had for the Mamiya was 200mm APO.
Keep in mind that I'm not seeing this issue with my other lenses, just with the 350. I suspect the foot on the 350 is not sufficiently rigid, but I cannot say for sure.
Of the Mamiya lenses I tested critically (150 and especially the 35) neither delivered enough fine detail for me to stay on the platform, unfortunately. So despite not having encountered a vibration issue, (the AFD III's mirror was *exceptionally* well damped--best in the business, I'd say--I can only believe they did a good job with the shutter as well) I still wasn't getting the subtle rendering of detail I was looking for in the final image.
I picked the 1/15th shutter speed for a reason--I know that speeds in this area are particularly demanding--if the right technique can deliver a critically sharp result here, then one can tackle any speed with confidence. I can mask the problem somewhat with higher shutter speeds, but as you know, available light doesn't always give you good choices here.
-Brad