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The elusive Phase One 240 LS

ondebanks

Member
You just wouldn't maintain the same FOV. As far as I know, it's not possible to make the lens faster without making it larger.
No argument there.

Regarding fill flash: I don't see the issue there. It's rather the opposite, a longer FL gives you a narrower FOV therefore you have an even greater choice of positioning your flash unit.
Ah, good point. I was only considering on-camera flash - the only way I shoot fill flash.

Ray
 
I had also heard a rumor that there would or could be a 2x teleconverter for this 240mm lens on the horizon. Given that it is an f/4.5 design, a 2x TC just isn't workable from a light loss standpoint.

Wildlife photographers are a tough bunch to please!
 

ondebanks

Member
Interesting rumour about the 2x TC, Andy.

IMHO, the single most overdue item in the Mamiya stable is a 1.4x TC.

Not overdue in the sense that they announced it but have yet to deliver - overdue in the sense that they should have had one 20 years ago, when they introduced the superfast APO lenses!

Ray
 

gazwas

Active member
Well, it's a year since I plonked down my deposit on this lens - anyone heard anything?
Bill
I personally think it is disgusting dealers taking money for a lens that doesn't exist and they should be ashamed of themselves. The dealers pay nothing up front to order stock and I'm surprised after such a long time a refund has not been given.
 

MILESF

Member
Looks like the 240 LS's are finally coming through. Mine (ordered in early 2012) was due into my dealer yesterday though I won't be able to pick it up until the beginning of January.
 

dougpeterson

Workshop Member
Indeed. We've been notified that we should expect imminent delivery sufficient to clear our backlog, and even one extra for sales inventory. So if you want one without waiting I'd estimate you have about 4 hours before it's spoken for.
 

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
My dealer in Toronto tells me mine should be in in January too. Apparently they had to redesign the shutter which was too small for the lens, hence the delay.

Bill
 

MB100

New member
Interesting rumour about the 2x TC, Andy.

Not overdue in the sense that they announced it but have yet to deliver - overdue in the sense that they should have had one 20 years ago, when they introduced the superfast APO lenses!

Ray
Mamiya 300mm f/2.8 APO Lens Review with Sample Images and Comparisons | Brian Hirschfeld Photography

There is a 2x TC for the APO lenses, it is the "Mamiya M645 Teleconverter 2X N" and it works very well with the 300mm f/2.8 APO and I have seen it used with the 200mm f/2.8 APO and it also works with the Mamiya 150mm f/2.8N (and 300mm f/4N etc) which I have been told is derived from the same design or something.... but anyway this TC does not work with the Mamiya 300mm f/4.5 AF lens.....I found out that apparently soon the Hasselblad 1.4x teleconverter will work AF on the H-series cameras via a firmware update....personally I think that the Pentax645D is still the best hope for the "wildlife" photographer since they have a 400mm AF lens.....plus they have the 600mm 67 and the 800mm 67 lenses but then again there are adapters for the 67's to be used with all sorts of medium format cameras....but not AF...
 

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
Well, it was a long wait (more than a year) but my 240LS arrived today. Too late to do any meaningful testing as it was getting dark, but my first impression is that it's heavy and very well built. A couple of hand-held shots at full aperture look very promising.

I'll be putting it through its paces tomorrow and will post some results.
 

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
Here's a quick look at a test shot. IQ180, DF, full aperture, f4.5, ISO 35, MLU, Gitzo, Cube. All processed at C7 defaults with +50 highlight recovery.

First is the full scene composed to get the mast in the top corner.



Next is the light.



And top corner.



It really can't be appreciated in a 72 dpi jpeg, but this is a very sharp lens indeed. The pic above was a full aperture; stopping down gave a tiny, barely discernible, improvement at f5.6. F8 and F11 were identical.

Of great interest to me is that even at shutter speeds of 1/4 to 1/25 sec, there was no blurring - a major problem with the Mamiya 300 Apo at anything less than 1/100 sec.
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
Thanks, Bill.

I almost didn't want to see your findings.... My wallet is bleeding too much lately!

I'll get to try the 240LS next month with CI in Carmel, but now I'm scared to touch it....

:) ken
 

malmac

Member
Bill

Congratulations on the purchase of such a fine lens.

and of course on letting the rest of us down so gently by reassuring us that it really would be too heavy for us to lug around and really enjoy.

Mal
 
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