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ALPA Rumors 2014

narikin

New member
Its good to hear such glowing feedback regarding the new Rody 90. I own the 100 Schneider which is my most used lens and is very sharp but probably not in the same league as the Rody. Time to do some comparisons.....

Victor
Look forward to hearing what you think.

If you can indulge me a little hyperbole: it is the Otus of MF lenses. (imho of course, though I believe Alpa feels similarly)

I owned and compared the three 90mm lenses that Alpa had available- the old Roddy 90mm, the new one, and the Schneider Digitar 90mm. The old Roddy (blue band) was easily weakest, the Schneider surprisingly good (it is a design classic, been available in many variations over years enlarging, taking, macro, t/s, etc) and the new HR 90mm Roddy (Yellow band) clearly the best, with large i.c. So I wouldn't be surprised if your 100mm SK wasn't quite decent.
 

mmbma

Active member
I tired both the Max and the XY, and got the XY instead. For me it's just nothing that does what the XY does. All jobs I do with the XY will always be on a sturdy tripod anyway so the weight doesn't bother me. And it's actually not that bad, since the kit always has about 3 lenses, 2 backs, a big tripod, etc, and I put them. All in all the extra weight of the XY doesn't mean much.

I do interior shots, art reproduction, and on site landscape with the XY. I think it's quite obvious why the XY is indispensable for interior and art repro. The geared movement and the extra reach are the deciding factors, as the camera needs to stay absolutely still.

When I use for landscape, it's usually a shot I've already taken a few times with smaller cameras and that I've decided a winner. I find the heavier body easier to navigate as its more steady. the extra reach again helps.

The gear movements give precise measurements especially when I'm wearing gloves.

I've noticed one extra benefit of the XY. When I take it to jobs, the clients are always VERY impressed. it just looks bad ***. A must for any Alpa collector I believe, especially when now they can be bought relatively cheaply used.
I've looked at adding the XY, but as I already own 4 Alpa bodies, I doubt I'll do it, and its such an ungainly mechanism compared to the Max. I'd just as soon look at the Cambo that offers 25mm lateral shift on its Max competitor, and I feel Alpa should address that as it's maybe loosing them sales, when compared on paper.

To me, 100mp is not 'Prosumer' - forgive me if we have different understandings of that term - but it refers, I thought, to the market between Professional and amateur Consumer. 100Mp backs, or for that matter 80mp and 60Mp, are Pro territory, not Prosumer. (though of course some wealthy hobbyists/'Prosumers' do buy).

I have heard rumors of Canon this and Canon that sensors for over 8 years now, so will only believe it when it comes. Do I hope that Phase, or Canon, release a Foveon style back? Yes I do, it would be awesome, and if I'd been in charge of MF back development, I'd have been right onto Sigma 3 years ago to licence that for MF. I know Hassy were very aware of the Foveon advantages when I visited their factory a few years back.

As for mirrorless, yes that is exciting, but its only a small step to MF mirrorless now. We have the camera bodies (Alpa FPS) we have the CMOS MF backs, we simply need Sony to engineer the chip for EVF readout, and presto. Sony $500 EVF on top of an FPS, plugged into Sony MF sensor-ed back, and wa-la: MF mirrorless. Live view focusing and all. Now that would be sooo great!
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
Look forward to hearing what you think.

If you can indulge me a little hyperbole: it is the Otus of MF lenses. (imho of course, though I believe Alpa feels similarly)

I owned and compared the three 90mm lenses that Alpa had available- the old Roddy 90mm, the new one, and the Schneider Digitar 90mm. The old Roddy (blue band) was easily weakest, the Schneider surprisingly good (it is a design classic, been available in many variations over years enlarging, taking, macro, t/s, etc) and the new HR 90mm Roddy (Yellow band) clearly the best, with large i.c. So I wouldn't be surprised if your 100mm SK wasn't quite decent.
Your comments are very interesting..... You, finding the Schneider 90 to be 'surprisingly good' is 'surprising'! My dealer talked me out of even trying it. He knew how much of stickler I was for sharpness. The 100mm has a reputation for sharpness and I wasn't disappointed. The real challenge is to find a perfectly aligned lens. I have already sent back two lenses to Schneider for alignment issues (including my beloved 60mm) which were properly aligned at no charge. The difference from before to after was/is like night and day. I've had the same issues with Rody's that I have auditioned. But I do feel that the new 90 could be something very special - and really appreciate your post. A little OT but even the Otus isn't without issues.... mine was replaced without question after I questioned alignment and submitted files to Zeiss. QC is expensive and subsequently too much reliability is given to the robots. At these price points there should never be issues with lens alignment.....


Victor
 
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gerald.d

Well-known member
Just a quick note to say that I will be attending Photokina, and if there are any fellow ALPA shooters planning on going, it would be great to meet up!

Not sure of my exact dates - probably 2-3 days in the latter part of the week.

Kind regards,

Gerald.
 
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