Ed Hurst
Well-known member
Hello all,
With the impending arrival of my Pentax 645D, I am musing on lens options. Clearly Pentax 645 lenses are the obvious choice, and I already have an extensive collection of Pentax 67 lenses that I will use with an adaptor.
However, other options are occurring to me as well. One of these is picking up used V system Blad lenses and using them with an adaptor (and accepting the need for stopped down metering, etc.).
I know that these lenses were not specifically designed with digital in mind, with the inevitable possibility of quality issues with applying them to digital cameras (especially with the wider lenses). Of course these 'issues' could just be theoretical.
Does anyone have hands-on experience of using these lenses with MF digital sensors? How do they perform compared with dedicated MF digital lenses (such as the H series lenses or the newer lenses designed for use with the Mamiya/Phase offerings)? Resolution? Vignetting? CA? Prejudice makes me feel that the V system lenses may not be quite as good, and that the wider ones in especially may suffer in the edges. But I'd like to know for sure. If they are good, which lenses from the range are particularly recommended? Is there any actual test data available on this?
Also, what about any other good options? I assume that the H series lenses, the newest Mamiya/Phase lenses and the Leica S lenses cannot be used easily with the 645D because they need electronic input to operate the aperture. But are there other options? What about the Contax 645 lenses? Any others?
I don't mind some practical inconvenience with stop-down metering, etc.; my main concern is what is going to yield the best optical results.
All advice much appreciated.
Ed
With the impending arrival of my Pentax 645D, I am musing on lens options. Clearly Pentax 645 lenses are the obvious choice, and I already have an extensive collection of Pentax 67 lenses that I will use with an adaptor.
However, other options are occurring to me as well. One of these is picking up used V system Blad lenses and using them with an adaptor (and accepting the need for stopped down metering, etc.).
I know that these lenses were not specifically designed with digital in mind, with the inevitable possibility of quality issues with applying them to digital cameras (especially with the wider lenses). Of course these 'issues' could just be theoretical.
Does anyone have hands-on experience of using these lenses with MF digital sensors? How do they perform compared with dedicated MF digital lenses (such as the H series lenses or the newer lenses designed for use with the Mamiya/Phase offerings)? Resolution? Vignetting? CA? Prejudice makes me feel that the V system lenses may not be quite as good, and that the wider ones in especially may suffer in the edges. But I'd like to know for sure. If they are good, which lenses from the range are particularly recommended? Is there any actual test data available on this?
Also, what about any other good options? I assume that the H series lenses, the newest Mamiya/Phase lenses and the Leica S lenses cannot be used easily with the 645D because they need electronic input to operate the aperture. But are there other options? What about the Contax 645 lenses? Any others?
I don't mind some practical inconvenience with stop-down metering, etc.; my main concern is what is going to yield the best optical results.
All advice much appreciated.
Ed