Falling in love

[Guy Mancuso]

The 55mm and the 150mm. I also put a lot of use on the 35mm which BTW for flash work is great , set at 1/40 and 5.6 with Nikon 800 flash set on A mode and worked a charm. I also used the new 80mm . The 300mm i used for a couple things. Seems like I get use out of all of them . I feel real comfortable with my set 35,55,80 and 150 plus the 300 when I need it. I would not mind having the 45mm also though

 

[harmsr]

I'll chime in on the hand straps. I have the Hassy strap on my H3DII and on my new Phase One body.

I REALLY LOVE THIS STRAP.

For the Phase/Mamiya body, I'm using it in conjunction with the RRS plate. The only issue is that I had to machine the RRS plate for this use. You will need to have milled the slot for the strap to pass through, a relief cut for the strap thickness on the side which mounts to the body, and also a lesser relief cut on the exposed side so that you can mount the camera to the RRS ball head (without removing the hand strap) and have no interference from the strap.

Sorry for the TERRIBLE photos, but I only have my IPhone here today to take pictures of the other camera.

 

[David K]

Ray, nice strap but did you take that pic with your iPhone

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Ray your going to have to cut me that slot on my RRS plate. Right now I have a O ring sandwiched in the pin and the RRS plate which is very secure but not a pretty setup but it works for now

 

[Dale Allyn]

I'm a big fan of L-plates and have one on order from RRS for my Mamiya 645 AFD II. They're not in stock, but we should have an update on the status of them tomorrow or so (I just talked to them). The nice thing about the L-plate is that it has a slot for a hand-strap (right-side).

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Dale keep us posted on that if you would.

 

[Dale Allyn]

Will do, Guy.

 

[woodyspedden]

I have the RRS L Bracket on my H3DII-39 and the strap fits just lovely. No problems whatsoever. RRS make really good stuff.

Woody

 

[Jack]

So the new 150 is that good... Hmm...

Jan, just got mine this afternoon and did a very quick, informal handheld comparison between the 150/2.8 and 150/3.5. (I did hand-held first because that's often how I'm shooting the 150, and wanted a real-world comparison between the two.)

Backing up a bit, I should comment that the 150/3.5 is excellent at f5.6 and up, and slightly softer wider open, making it actually pretty nice for people portraits when you want to camouflage some wrinkles. The 150/3.5 also shows some CA and purple fringing at apertures wider than f5.6, but for the most part the purple fringe and CA tools in C1 remove these.

By way of comparison, the 150/2.8 at 2.8 is even sharper than the 150/3.5 at f5.6. Then pretty much all you see as you stop the 150/2.8 down is more DoF. FWIW, it's even a bit better than the 210 ULD, so I'd say yes, it is that good!

Noteworthy is there is no CA or purple fringe that I can see, even along high-contrast edges wide open. Moreover, it is an IF design optic and focuses closer than the 150/3.5 (1 meter), and even more importantly, appears to nail focus perfectly wide open at f2.8! In summary I'll say it is one of the best lenses I've ever seen from a technical standpoint. :salute:'s Mamiya!

But for all of its operational perfection, there are a few drawbacks. First it is pretty big. It has the more robust, higher-quality build of the newer Mamiya lenses (a good thing), but is perhaps twice as long and half-again as heavy as the f3.5 version. IOW it's no featherweight and more on the scale of its competitor's similar focals. Next is the price. The 150/3.5 new at B&H is $1189 (and good copies can be had used for around $400 on the boards), while this new lens retails for over $3,000 -- or now basically the same realm as it's primary competition.

I'll try and get some comparative images up soon.

 

[Jack]

Here are some images of the two lenses side-by-side (with a normal 12 ounce can of Coke between them) so you can get an idea of how they compare:

Cheers,

 

[KurtKamka]

So, bottom line, Jack ... will you still be selling your 150/3.5 version?

 

[Jack]

It's been listed in the B&S for a few days already, but no bites.

 

[PeterA]

Re the strap..you would think RRS would actually figure that hand straps are a good idea and provide for same in their L plates..oh well ...looks liek I will have to get the old mill fired up myself...

personally I find the Hasselblad grip a touch on the short side for my hand - just a touch - enough to make it a bother for long term holding - however, the L plate provides a second holding point for the other hand when shooting hand held - it does make for a steadier shot - same reason I use the larger Alpa 12 with two handles as opposed to a TC...

 

[Jack]

Here's what I did for my hand-strap. This is a Canon hand-strap and a Kirk plate. Normally I prefer RRS plates, but in the case of the Mamiya AFD body, the Kirk L-bracket hugs the body far better than the RRS did so that's what I chose. (I understand RRS may have a redesign available soon.)

PS: Please excuse the look to the images --- they were shot with my M8 and I had a 70 year old lens attached

The full monty:

Zoom on the actual strap attachment. Note that I have milled a slot the same width and just deep enough for two layers of strap, and keep the entire strap UNDER the plate so it won't interfere with sliding the plate in and out of a clamp:

Finally, my strap ring mounting solution. I use a metal keeper cannibalized from another strap to hold a snap-ring securely in place, and have an identical one on the other end of the hand-strap. I can then attach a quick-release shoulder strap to those rings and have both the hand-strap and shoulder strap attached and functional on the camera:

Cheers,

 

[Bob]

Reminds me of a sign above a lunch counter I once saw in Brooklyn.
"Don't complain about the coffee, one day you too will be old and weak."
-bob

 

[woodyspedden]

Re the strap..you would think RRS would actually figure that hand straps are a good idea and provide for same in their L plates..oh well ...looks liek I will have to get the old mill fired up myself...

personally I find the Hasselblad grip a touch on the short side for my hand - just a touch - enough to make it a bother for long term holding - however, the L plate provides a second holding point for the other hand when shooting hand held - it does make for a steadier shot - same reason I use the larger Alpa 12 with two handles as opposed to a TC...

Peter

RRS actually does provide a slot for the handstraps on the L brackets (I have one for my H3 and jack has one for his Phase). However for their standard non-L brackets they do not provide the slot. My advice is go for the L. It is more useful in any event as a bracket.

Woody

 

[Jack]

Hey Bob, I resemble that remark!

 

[Jack]

Woody:

Unfortunately, RRS claims they have a new L-bracket for the Phase/AFD and their website claims it "will ship mid-June," but it is now mid August... And their website still says mid-June and they don't have a picture of this new plate up either. Personally, I would not be holding my breath...

Cheers,

 

[Dale Allyn]

Woody:

Unfortunately, RRS claims they have a new L-bracket for the Phase/AFD and their website claims it "will ship mid-June," but it is now mid August... And their website still says mid-June and they don't have a picture of this new plate up either. Personally, I would not be holding my breath...

Cheers,

Jack et al, I've had a RRS L-plate on order for a month or so (maybe six weeks) and spoke to them yesterday about it. I was told that they use two machine shops for their products and that the owner of the machine shop expected to do this item just returned yesterday from vacation. The engineer at RRS was to speak with the shop and get a status report and it was suggested that I call them today for the report. I will do so and report back here.

 

[Dale Allyn]

OK, just spoke to RRS again. The engineer spoke to the owner of the machine shop and "it's on the long, long list" of items to get through. Apparently, a back-order of 200 Nikon D700 plates is in the way, so I blame Nikon users. :ROTFL:

Anyway, he said to keep calling (and I will). He was hopeful that "a couple of weeks" would be the time frame, but those of us who have waited for RRS stuff in the past know how this can go.

Dale