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90mm HRSW or 70mm HR

If you are not limited on price. Go with the 90HRSW. You WILL NOT be disappointed. I've used both. The 70 was a great lens. But the 90 is a WOW lens. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think the re-sell value on the 90 will be a little better than the 70 as it is much harder to get your hands on.

I had to make the same decision as you. I first planned on 40, 70, 120 as focal lengths.

However, they didn't have any 70's in stock. But I had the chance of getting one of the very first 90 HR SW's so I decided on 32, 50, 90, (and now looking for a 210) - quite a bit more expensive, but a broader range and more useful for my work.

If you are planning on tilting, the 90 is top notch corner to corner.

Here are some photos I took of my RRS tripod.

The full photo taken with p65+ and 90HRSW


And a close up crop (not from same photo, but same distance and same lighting)


And a photo with 8-10 degrees of downward tilt to get hand and glasses in focus. Taken at almost wide open (wider than f8)

 

Dogs857

New member
At this time I am not stitching much at all.
But everyone tells me that will change with the technical camera. 90mm does offer a much broader set of stitching possibilities, along with its reportedly stellar image quality even with large shifts. That does open up a lot of options.

70mm HR does that too but to a lesser extent.
Ok fair enough, it certainly is addictive :)

I have used the 70mm shooting landscapes and looking for the 617 crop. I tended to dial in about 5mm rise and then shift 15mm L/R on the Rm3di with the IQ180 and got great results. I would frame for the bottom of the image then crop the sky for a pano. Your Credo 60 should handle this even better than the 180 did.

I can't comment on the 90mm as I have never used one. The 70mm is small light and extremely sharp. I dont think you would be disappointed with either lens, there are no real lemons in tech cam lenses.

Have you considered the following:
You can get a 70mm in T/S second hand from an apparently very respected member of this forum for a steal. Buy it, use it and give it a real honest assessment for your shooting style.if you find that you don't like it then you should be able to sell it for pretty close to what you bought it for. So long as you are not in a hurry to sell as the market is pretty small.

I don't know John at all, but I do know a good bargain when I see one and this will get you shooting with an excellent lens.

Just a suggestion.
 

Jamgolf

Member
If you are not limited on price. Go with the 90HRSW. You WILL NOT be disappointed. I've used both. The 70 was a great lens. But the 90 is a WOW lens.

If you are planning on tilting, the 90 is top notch corner to corner.
Thanks for your input and for the photos. Very helpful.
Yes - the ability to tilt (and shift) is the primary motivation.
I was already leaning this way but I think you have me convinced now :)

Cheers!
 

Jamgolf

Member
Have you considered the following:
You can get a 70mm in T/S second hand from an apparently very respected member of this forum for a steal. Buy it, use it and give it a real honest assessment for your shooting style.if you find that you don't like it then you should be able to sell it for pretty close to what you bought it for. So long as you are not in a hurry to sell as the market is pretty small.
I had not thought about it but its an idea worth considering.
So thanks for presenting the option.

Achieving a 6x17 panoramic aspect ratio is something I would like to experiemnt with when an opportunity/vista presents itself. I think both 70mm and 90mm with their respective 100mm and 120mm image circles allow that. 90mm obviously has more ways to do that - but possible with both for sure.

Thanks again.
 

Jamgolf

Member
Well, actually there's only one solution to this conundrum: You're just gonna have to buy both lenses. :D
Done. Why did I not think of this ... :banghead:

I hear there is a ski-mask or such that I can borrow ... have you got it or is it Guy who keeps it under his watchful eye?
 

Ken_R

New member
I have the Rodenstock 70mm and the 40 (HR-W's). Both are superb lenses. I love the fact that the 70mm does not need a spacer like the longer lenses (like the 90mm and up). Makes it smaller in the pack and easier to use. It is something to consider.
 

beano_z

Active member
I haven't read through every single post, so sorry if there's redundant information here.

1) Please consider the weight and size, the 90 is a lot larger/heavier than the 70 and requires a longer barrel

2) The flare issue is pretty pronounced, even though I've only shot a few images with it, as said by someone above, it comes out of nowhere, without any warning and ruins the entire shot (see attached stitch)

3) I'm running a two lens setup which is a combination of a 32 and a 90, for me, the 70 would still be just a bit too short and because of the 90's large image circle, I find that it covers a lot of ground if you're open to stitching (also depends on your camera, as I'm using ALPA I can't comment on the CAMBO setup)

This is my sort of first-week-experience with both lenses, so hope the fresh opinion will help you a bit.
 

Paul2660

Well-known member
Binbin, that's a good example of the ghosting. Which version of the 90 do you have? HR, HR-W! or HRSW?

Paul
 

beano_z

Active member
Binbin, that's a good example of the ghosting. Which version of the 90 do you have? HR, HR-W! or HRSW?

Paul
Paul, it's the one with the yellow ring, it should be the latest version (HRSW?) as it was just delivered to me last December. There were some powerful floodlights in the neighborhood, but they were all behind me so I still can't figure out where this hosting came from...
 

Jamgolf

Member
I haven't read through every single post, so sorry if there's redundant information here.

1) Please consider the weight and size, the 90 is a lot larger/heavier than the 70 and requires a longer barrel

2) The flare issue is pretty pronounced, even though I've only shot a few images with it, as said by someone above, it comes out of nowhere, without any warning and ruins the entire shot (see attached stitch)

3) I'm running a two lens setup which is a combination of a 32 and a 90, for me, the 70 would still be just a bit too short and because of the 90's large image circle, I find that it covers a lot of ground if you're open to stitching (also depends on your camera, as I'm using ALPA I can't comment on the CAMBO setup)

This is my sort of first-week-experience with both lenses, so hope the fresh opinion will help you a bit.

Binbin, thats very helpful. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
So it appears even the new 90mm HRSW demonstrates the ghosting.
BTW - your focal length choices and mine are identical.

I gave this 70mm vs 90mm a lot of thought and finally ordered a 90mm HRSW yesterday.
 

Paul2660

Well-known member
Paul, it's the one with the yellow ring, it should be the latest version (HRSW?) as it was just delivered to me last December. There were some powerful floodlights in the neighborhood, but they were all behind me so I still can't figure out where this hosting came from...
Binbin, you are right, it's the HRSW with the yellow band. The ghosting you show, is exactly what I have gotten with my much older 90 HR. As you point out, you never know when it's going to show up. I have had images where it showed up with the sun behind me.

From what I have been able to ascertain, certain lighting conditions will create the perfect conditions where the elements will ghost, (not sure if it's ghosting from the sensor or just the lens elements). I have seen this more often on shifting, i.e. the worst of the ghosting shows up on shifts.

The results are very damaging to the image as I have never been able to regain the correct contrast to the areas that were effected.

This is why when the rumors of the Schneider 100mm came out I was very interested. But it seems Schneider is not going ahead with that lens. The Schneider did not need a back extension, which made it very appealing to me.

Paul
 
I'm more interested in the 70mm HR just for the compatibility. Weight and size matters more than optical quality for me. If Schneider offers better options I would also consider.
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
If anyone is interested I own the Schneider 100mm Digitar which is an outstanding lens and very sharp. For the life of me I don't know why it was discontinued (Maybe just Alpa) but if it were available I would recommend it without hesitation.

Victor
 

Paul2660

Well-known member
If anyone is interested I own the Schneider 100mm Digitar which is an outstanding lens and very sharp. For the life of me I don't know why it was discontinued (Maybe just Alpa) but if it were available I would recommend it without hesitation.

Victor
Edit to my post. It may still be available as it's listed on the Schneider website:

https://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?CID=1326&IID=1924

You are lucky. It was pulled pretty quickly. I heard that a large order went to China and then after that, Schneider stopped production.

Small, light weight, and large image circle. Great solution.

It was not shown at Photokina from what I heard.

Paul
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
What a shame..... the lens is light as a feather with a large image circle and VERY reasonably priced. One of my absolute favorites.

Victor
 
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