Rollei Lenses

[Mitchell]

Some questions:

Where can I find the 35mm equivalents for Rollei lenses on the Hy6?

Are there specs available on current Rollei lenses? I can't seem to find info on the Sinar or Franke web sites.

Are there good dealers for 2nd hand Rollei lenses in US? If not in US, where?

Thanks for any help,

Mitchell

 

[Graham Mitchell]

There are no direct equivalents because the aspect ratio is different.

If you just consider horizontal FOV in landscape orientation, and you have a 48mm long sensor, then the ratio is 4:3-

In other words a 30mm lens on 35mm full frame DSLR is equivalent to 40mm on a 22, 33 or 39MP MFDB.

30:40
37.5:50
41.25:55
40:60
60:80
67.5:90
82.5:110
90:120
112.5:150
135:180
225:300

I probably missed a few

 

[Graham Mitchell]

Are there specs available on current Rollei lenses?

Try the AFD MTF thread in this forum

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I don't know many Rollei dealers in the US that deal in the used dept.

 

[thsinar]

Mitchell,

when you purchase a 6008 lens you get a little book with the specs for (almost) all the available lenses.

I have such a booklet and can make some quick snapshots of the specs of each lens mentioned, and then sent it to you, if you wish.

But I am currently on a business trip and back home on Wednesday only.

Best regards,
Thierry

Are there specs available on current Rollei lenses? I can't seem to find info on the Sinar or Franke web sites.
Mitchell

 

[Mitchell]

Thanks Graham,

Very helpful as usual.

Thanks Guy.

Yes Thierry I have that booklet with my 6008i, but it is pre-Auto Focus.

Is there a current one with the AFD lenses? I will check the thread Graham mentioned.

Come to think of it, you all 3 have a very good record of being helpful.

Best,

Mitchell

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I know B&H sells Rollie. I will keep a eye out. I would love to find someone that sells Alpa used

 

[Mitchell]

Maybe the booklet I have will tell me most of what I want to know. Weight, and apertures, for example. I would guess the auto-focus and AFD would be very close on weight and max aperture to the manual lenses. Is that true?

Thanks,

Mitchell

 

[Mitchell]

If anyone's interested, the pre-auto focus lens book I have has MTFs, but no weight or size info.
My 6008 manual has a page on lenses with weights, etc.

Best,

Mitchell

 

[BradleyGibson]

I have a Rollei 6008 catalogue with lots of lens information. It's reasonably modern, you should be able to find most of the lenses in there.

I also have made a spreadsheet for focal length comparisons.

I can send you both if you'd like. PM me with your e-mail and I'll try to send them later tonight.

Take care,
Brad

 

[David Klepacki]

Hi Mitchell,

For a quick online look at some specs like size, weight, minimum focus distance, filter size, etc., you can look here:
http://www.rollei.jp/e/pd/rl60_lens.html

The above link is not complete though, and you can get more information from the Rollei catalog, which can be downloaded from here:
http://www.franke-heidecke.net/files/images/DB_Sys6000_DE_9.06.pdf

The above is the latest document in German, and the lens data table on page 15 is useful. An older catalog in English can be obtained form here:
http://www.ctrades.com/catalog.pdf

Unfortunately, none of the above information is updated with the AFD lenses, and I know of no online source for such information yet.

David

 

[David Klepacki]

Maybe the booklet I have will tell me most of what I want to know. Weight, and apertures, for example. I would guess the auto-focus and AFD would be very close on weight and max aperture to the manual lenses. Is that true?

Thanks,

Mitchell

Unfortunately not true. The AFD lenses are smaller and lighter weight. However, all other characteristics like max aperture, filter size, min focus distance, etc. are the same.

 

[Mitchell]

Thanks Brad,

That would be great. I'll send you a PM.

Thanks David,

Interesting that the AFD lenses are smaller and lighter. Does that mean they won't work with full sized 6X6 film?

I really appreciate the help one gets on this forum.

Best,

Mitchell

 

[David Klepacki]

Thanks Brad,

That would be great. I'll send you a PM.

Thanks David,

Interesting that the AFD lenses are smaller and lighter. Does that mean they won't work with full sized 6X6 film?

I really appreciate the help one gets on this forum.

Best,

Mitchell

Mitchell, The AFD lens housings have been reconstructed, and the manual aperture ring has been eliminated in favor of electronic aperture selection.

Since the image circles of the AFD lenses are the same as the non-AFD versions, they will work with 6x6 film ... although they are not recommended for film. The AFD lenses have optimizations that were made to improve their capability with digital capture that unfortunately cannot be "undone" when shooting with film.

Whether or not you will experience any difference in practice depends on you and your shooting. There is testimony on the forums that the non-AFD lenses make almost no difference to many people with digital backs; however, there is no such testimony yet from anyone using AFD lenses with film.

David

 

[Jack]

Have they fixed the AF accuracy, meaning are the AF lenses actually auto-focusing properly with the digital back mounted on the body now? I know there was a problem with this a while back, at least on the Sinar version of the body.

 

[thsinar]

Jack,

there was not a "problem" with AF, but improvements were and are made with each firmware update of the Hy6: this is (was) true from the very first firmware to the next version, and will hold true with future updates. Those improvements do not necessarily mean that there was or is a "problem". They mean that we try to get the AF as accurate as possible under more difficult light conditions.

But from the very beginning, the Hy6 AF was at least as good (and faster) as on a H body: that is my experience, when I have tried the first prototypes exactly one year ago, at least with the Schneider 2.8/80mm AFD and the older AFs I have tried and compared with my friend's H3D.

Best regards,
Thierry

Have they fixed the AF accuracy, meaning are the AF lenses actually auto-focusing properly with the digital back mounted on the body now? I know there was a problem with this a while back, at least on the Sinar version of the body.

 

[Jack]

Jack,

there was not a "problem" with AF, but improvements were and are made with each firmware update of the Hy6: this is (was) true from the very first firmware to the next version, and will hold true with future updates. Those improvements do not necessarily mean that there was or is a "problem". They mean that we try to get the AF as accurate as possible under more difficult light conditions.

But from the very beginning, the Hy6 AF was at least as good (and faster) as on a H body: that is my experience, when I have tried the first prototypes exactly one year ago, at least with the Schneider 2.8/80mm AFD and the older AFs I have tried and compared with my friend's H3D in low and good light.

Best regards,
Thierry

Hi Thierry:

Sorry for being thick, but can you clarify further for me: Are you are saying that all Sinar bodies with 80mm AF lenses auto-focused accurately from the start, or are you saying there have been firmware updates that fixed early problems and they all auto-focus accurately now?

Thanks,

 

[thsinar]

Jack,

I don't know why you generalize something by saying "AF accuracy problems" with the Hy6 when we all know that ALL MF cameras struggle under certain light conditions and when the contrast is not high enough. That is what we try to improve.

If you have a particular case or example in mind, then please bring it up clearly and we can discuss it, but don't throw something in the room which is not true. Sorry for being so direct, but I can't let this being said.

I was saying that there was and is no AF problem, but (light/contrast) situations where the AF does not perform the same as under ideal (light/contrast) situations: I think I had been clear enough. There was nothing to fix, as you put it, but we always try to improve if the technology allows it, and in this case it does.

What do you mean with "focus accurately"? Do you have one MF body in mind that AF-focus accurately in all situations? I don't think so. We all know the limits for AF in MF: they are set by the size of the sensors available. However, the Hy6 is using so-called "cross-sensors" which does improve the accuracy by a big step. Further to this, the Hy6 is the only MF camera having a "red-light" projecting a contrasty grid helping the AF focus to hit the target.

Best regards,
Thierry

Hi Thierry:

Sorry for being thick, but can you clarify further for me: Are you are saying that all Sinar bodies with 80mm AF lenses auto-focused accurately from the start, or are you saying there have been firmware updates that fixed early problems and they all auto-focus accurately now?

Thanks,

 

[Jack]

Okay, I'll be more direct...

1) I tried a Sinar camera at my dealers with the 80mm lens and it would NOT af at all in dim light, only hunted continually. BUT my Mamiya AFD2 and 80mm Mamiya lens was able to lock focus instantly in that same situation. (This was a few months ago with the 75 back on it.)

2) The same Sinar camera would not AF accurately in bright light either -- it would lock, but continually missed focus by a large margin, like 20-30 cm off at 3 or 4 meter distance. (Cannot remember if it was front or back, but was always the same.)

3) Then in Puerto Rico, David had this same front-focus (or back) AF problem with his Sinar body and 80mm lens.

So given your response above I am now curious if these are isolated problems with these two cameras, the 80mm lenses themselves, or are they endemic to the entire system? If they are isolated problems with these two cameras, you should be able to fix them ASAP for these two customers... However, neither has been able to get them repaired or replaced with working units and it's been a few months, so that leaves me assuming it is an endemic problem with the camera's AF abilities or possibly a problem with the manufacture of the lenses...

Cheers,

 

[thsinar]

Jack,

Of course I wish you to be more direct, instead of "turning around the pot": I like to know what I am speaking about, not speculating about somebody (in this case you) telling me this or that does not work without background information and clear picture of the situation.

This being said, I can only imagine that there was an issue with the AF mode chosen (spot, center weighted or average), and I believe this issue has been explained and addressed in David's case.

As for your dealer where you tried this out and where you had this problem: it would be nice to know which Sinar dealer this was, that we can contact him and ask about this problem with this body, which I suspect to be an early prototype with the very early firmware: those cameras are from the o-series and should have returned to Sinar. If you feel not appropriate to post the dealer's name here, you can PM it to me, but in any case I wish to know that we can have a look at it.

Thanks and best regards,
Thierry

Okay, I'll be more direct...

1) I tried a Sinar camera at my dealers with the 80mm lens and it would NOT af at all in dim light, only hunted continually. BUT my Mamiya AFD2 and 80mm Mamiya lens was able to lock focus instantly in that same situation.

2) The same Sinar camera would not AF accurately in bright light either -- it continually missed focus by a large margin. (Cannot remember if it was front or back, but was always the same.)

3) Then in Puerto Rico, David had this same front-focus (or back) problem with his Sinar body and 80mm lens.

So given your response above I am now curious if these are isolated problems with these two cameras, the 80mm lenses or are they endemic to the entire system? If they are isolated problems with these two cameras, you should be able to fix them ASAP for these two customers... However, neither has been able to get them repaired or replaced with working units and it's been a few months, so that leaves me assuming it is an endemic problem with the camera's AF abilities or possibly a problem with the manufacture of the lenses...

Cheers,