The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Samples: Sony & Zeiss Macro!

fotografz

Well-known member
Okay kiddies, I was reading the Sony macro thread and thought ... well let's see what a Zeiss macro can do on this A900.

Sony the "One and Only" ... meet my little friend the CFi 120/4 Macro.

A breeze to work with manually because of the big bright A900 viewfinder.

So I grabbed my wife's watch (that I discovered needs a good cleaning :eek:) A lemon, a Pocket wizard, my M8, and my B&O WiFi cell phone ear bud and snapped away. Shown as shot, no crop.

Even I was surprized :thumbup:

I don't know, but I think maybe Zeiss knows what they are doing :ROTFL:
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Oh, obviously I used a Hasselblad V to Sony adapter and extention tube.

And remember ... every Zeiss V lens you mount is Image Stabilized ... even my 350/4 FE ... WHOOOO! :thumbs:
 

jonoslack

Active member
Fine Marc
There is just one thing I don't understand.
Dust - there isn't any - do you live in a dust free environment, or do you clean everything so scrupulously before shooting . . . or do you spot afterwards.

I also think there are two lemons . . the other one being the B&O bluetooth kit (I've got one too - huge and awful I thought). :ROTFL:
 

surfotog

New member
I'm still looking for a macro for my A900, and like many, was disappointed when the rumored Zeiss ZA didn't appear at PMA. Is it possible to use the Contax 645, Zeiss 120/4 APO macro on the A900, or does the electronic aperture control of the Contax 645 lenses make this impossible?
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I'm still looking for a macro for my A900, and like many, was disappointed when the rumored Zeiss ZA didn't appear at PMA. Is it possible to use the Contax 645, Zeiss 120/4 APO macro on the A900, or does the electronic aperture control of the Contax 645 lenses make this impossible?
Yes, Impossible. I tried adapting mine to a number of cameras. No go.

There was some hope that Conrus would indertake that task as he did with the N lenses to use on Canon DSLRs. But those mounts were very similar in size to one another.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Fine Marc
There is just one thing I don't understand.
Dust - there isn't any - do you live in a dust free environment, or do you clean everything so scrupulously before shooting . . . or do you spot afterwards.

I also think there are two lemons . . the other one being the B&O bluetooth kit (I've got one too - huge and awful I thought). :ROTFL:
Canned air. I buy them at Cosco 12 at a time. :rolleyes:

B&O ... a Lemon? Perhaps. But it is better to look good than to feel good :ROTFL:
 

robmac

Well-known member
Sweet!

surfotog

(From a guy who only uses adapted lenses on his 1DS2) For an adapted lens you need the ability to control aperture manually, so Contax 645/Hassy HC, etc are a no go (sadly) - unless you know a good machinist and an even better electronics guru to do the signal conversion. That said, you can use (with/without related bellows as well):

Mamiya M645
Any Cxx lens (in-lens shutter locked open)
Any Hassy Fx lens
Pentax MF
Leica R (see related conversion thread)
Etc.,

Basically if you can find an adapter for it and you can stop the lens-down the good old fashion way, you're set to rock & roll.

Hum, my Mamiya 200/2.8 APO w/SSS...

May need to pop into the local Sony Store with a CF card a little sooner than I thought...
 

jonoslack

Active member
Canned air. I buy them at Cosco 12 at a time. :rolleyes:
Thank you - can't do Cosco, but I can certianly do canned air . . . mind you, with 5 wood burning fires, it's gonna take more than 12!


B&O ... a Lemon? Perhaps. But it is better to look good than to feel good :ROTFL:
:)That's what I thought (and why I bought one). Unfortunately, I can't see it when it's on my ear . . . and I can't hear it either:ROTFL:
 

surfotog

New member
robmac,
I'm waiting on a replacement adapter for my P67 lenses from Cirrus. I have been looking hard at the Mamiya 200/2.8 APO, but am a bit concerned about its lack of a tripod collar, and the fact that it is reputed to be quite front heavy.
Have you ever tried the Mamiya with a close-up lens like the canon 500D?
For a purely macro lens, I may end up with a Tamron 180/3.5 as a stop gap until a Zeiss is forthcoming. It's very reasonably priced, and from what I've heard quite good optically.
 

edwardkaraa

New member
It would be very interesting to try the ZA 135 with extension tubes. I just ordered the Kenko tubes and they should arrive within this week. If things go the way I'm expecting, there might be a new Sony 100 macro for sale soon.
 

surfotog

New member
I'll be interested in seeing how the ZA 135 performs with tubes. The only problem with the kenko tubes is that they're quite flimsy, and with a heavy lens like the 135 you'll see them bend at the mount. I had a set in Nikon mount until I found the Nikon PN-11, and PK-13, those are solid tubes.
A good, solid set of extension tubes is another thing Sony needs to add to it's lineup.
 

edwardkaraa

New member
I'll be interested in seeing how the ZA 135 performs with tubes. The only problem with the kenko tubes is that they're quite flimsy, and with a heavy lens like the 135 you'll see them bend at the mount. I had a set in Nikon mount until I found the Nikon PN-11, and PK-13, those are solid tubes.
A good, solid set of extension tubes is another thing Sony needs to add to it's lineup.
I hope that I won't be needing to use more than one at a time. The longest one is 36mm. I'm not sure what would that give with the 135, which can already do 1:4. I guess if I can get 1:2 or better it would be enough for my use.

Also if some bending occurs, maybe it's a good thing as I will get a tilt effect that would increase DOF :D
 

robmac

Well-known member
Don't do this to me guys. 1/30th with a 150mm? I'm no Sony fan, but they pulled a brilliant intro on this thing by (under)pricing the body and including SSS

I never used the 200 APO for macro use. It's sharp as hell (Leica APO sharp territory) starting WO, built like a tank with an all metal barrel and delivers great bokeh and color. I'd place the contrast and color somewhere between Leica and Zeiss. However, it is a bit front-biased and a tripod collar would require a trip to a machine shop:

- A skinny (vs normal collars) barrel clamp that could take a RRS, etc foot (basically a clamp with a 1/4-20 hole tapped in a base) could be fit around the tube where the plastic red lens alignment dot is fastened. This is an avenue I intend to explore at some time (suitable machine shops are thin on the ground here).

- A collar could be designed to fit around the adapter (or be fastened to the adapter), but this would be far more complex than the first option.

If you can try one, it's worth giving it a go. I've owned the modern Leica 90 and 180 APOs and bought the Mamiya as a lark (from Guy) and was blown away as to the quality of the images. It's like the A900 of the 180-200mm APO world -- but with some ergonomic challenges. It takes a (in my case) Canon 1.4x very, very well, reportedly does well with the Mamiya version and could take a Leica 1.4x APO easily (gobs of clearance) if an adapter could be found. For me this lens is a keeper - and I never seem to keep any glass for long.

John Black at www.pebbleplace.com has some nice shots and reviews of the 200 and is a poster here and on FM.

On the purely macro side, the smaller Mamiya 120/4 is supposedly a barn-burner, APO corrected and (for the M645 version) under $400 used. If you do a search, someone on FM did a test between the Mamiya and some 135mm macro on a DSLR and the results were VERY impressive.
 
Last edited:

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
On the purely macro side, the smaller Mamiya 120/4 is supposedly a barn-burner, APO corrected and (for the M645 version) under $400 used. If you do a search, someone on FM did a test between the Mamiya and some 135mm macro on a DSLR and the results were VERY impressive.
That's the lens I use on the Mamiya ZD and which helped lead me to conclude that I was less than enthusiastic with the Sony 100mm Macro. Maybe its just the Mamiya macro is such a stellar lens (and not expensive used).

Quentin
 

robmac

Well-known member
Yeah, keep thinking I may pick one up for use on 135. Some M645 glass, and to a lessor extent Hassy (due to higher prices) offer some amazing bang/$$.
 

douglasf13

New member
Yeah, keep thinking I may pick one up for use on 135. Some M645 glass, and to a lessor extent Hassy (due to higher prices) offer some amazing bang/$$.
Oh great, now it sounds like Im gonna have to start looking at 645 lenses. Argh! :)
 

robmac

Well-known member
At least their cheap enough that the risk is minimized. I've owned the Hassy 110/2 F ($1300 - great portrait lens, but tough to focus on DSLR, for some reason, at distance).

There's the Mamiya 200 APO of course and I also picked up a lowly 150/3.5C for like $150 (sharp, smooth, built-in hood and very pastel-like colors with nice bokeh).

A nearby shooter uses the Mamiya 300/2.8 APO which is said to even outperform the 200 WO and is just gob-smacked by it. Uses it on a 1D2 to shoot outdoor sports - it has a tripod collar & drop-in filters. $1500+

The Mamiya 120/4 (<$400) we've chatted about. The 80/4 Macro (~$200) is also said to be a great and cheap macro unit. The 80/1.9 ($150-200 ish IIRC) is said be nice low-light lens where bokeh and character matter more than max res. MTFs on M645 glass just don't seem to exist.

Then there's a boatload of Hassy F and Cxx glass like the 120/4 makro, 180/4, 40/4 & 50/4 IF FLEs, etc that from images I've seen and folks I've chatted with are just stellar (but far from cheap in cases like the 40 IF) . Those MTFs can of course be download from Zeiss current/historical database.

Hey, it's only money, right ?
 
Top