tashley
Subscriber Member
My feeling from recent experience testing tripods and heads is that the only way to test lenses accurately at less than 1/125th on a Phamiya, even with MUP, is with flash...
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Best studio portrait lens for Phamiya?
- Thread starter tashley
- Start date
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
I really can't speak too much about the 70-150 except Jack mentioning to me it was good about F8 on. I only played with it for a couple shots in Canyon De Chelley and this was at 9.5 which looks pretty good hand held but I can't speak for it more wide open and this was at the 125mm setting. I can speak about the 150mm D lens which is amazing even wide open. Here is a shot from the zoom at 125mm
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Now here is the 150 D 2.8 lens wide open hand held and as you can see it does not disappoint in the slightest. This maybe my favorite Mamiya lens followed by the 28mm and the 300mm. Frankly I think everyone shooting the Phase system should get a 300mm since they are relatively cheap and just flat out damn good even wide open.
But here is the 150 wide open at 2.8
But here is the 150 wide open at 2.8
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Just for completeness since i am on this wide open lens issue. the 300 F4.5 lens wide open is also very very good . These are ISO 800 shot off a monopod under stage lighting wide open and again another very good wide open lens to work with. But if I want that wide open look in my shots i will grab the 150 before anything else and even the Phase 80d is also very good wide open. Just a side note ISO 800 on the P30+ is just killer clean, so not sure where all those comments come from about MF can't do high ISO stuff. I even have 1600 at my disposal. These are straight out of C1 with no special noise reduction going on
It's the reason I keep the 150/2.8 AND the 75-150 
I use the 75-150 primarily for convenience as a landscape lens. As such, I am shooting it mostly at f11 or 16, and occasionally at f8 or f22 depending on the situation. I have owned TWO copies of this lens and can confirm there is some sample variation. My first one performed very similarly to the example above so I returned it. On a whim, a year later I tried another copy after hearing from others how satisfied they were. To my delight, it was a good stop better than its predecessor and very usable at f8 through f22 at all focals. The other note on this lens is that the performance varies with focal -- mine is better at 75 than it is at 150 by one stop: at 75 my current copy is excellent wide open, but at 150 it is slightly soft wide open, better at f5.6, and shows loss of contrast until stopped down to f8. I would go so far as to say my current copy is essentially as good as the primes it replaces after f8.
Ironically however, I find the lack of performance at the long end and more open apertures on my current one a benefit for portraits if/when I want to exploit the softer, lower contrast rendering -- it's a sort of variable effect from about 120mm wide open on, disappearing almost instantly as you stop down at 120, then gets stronger as you move up to 150 gradually disappearing as you stop down through to around 150 f8. If I need razor sharp, I have the 150/2.8 D, and as Guy said, that lens is a laser even wide open and basically you only gain DoF as you stop down...
One other advantage to the zoom for landscape, is with the #1 and/or #2 extension tubes, it makes a very nice variable macro lens :thumbs:
~~~
FWIW Sidebar: I also own both other AF zooms. I have tested 3 copies of the 55-110 and most are quite good if stopped down to f8 or more. On the 105-210 I've looked at 2. There is some variability, they seem to be weak at the short end, but very good at 210. Mine is best from 150 up (I don't use for anything under that) and excellent at 210 after f5.6. It is only slightly larger than the 210 ULD and nearly as good after f5.6 (the ULD prime is excellent wide open) and they're about the same price.
I use the 75-150 primarily for convenience as a landscape lens. As such, I am shooting it mostly at f11 or 16, and occasionally at f8 or f22 depending on the situation. I have owned TWO copies of this lens and can confirm there is some sample variation. My first one performed very similarly to the example above so I returned it. On a whim, a year later I tried another copy after hearing from others how satisfied they were. To my delight, it was a good stop better than its predecessor and very usable at f8 through f22 at all focals. The other note on this lens is that the performance varies with focal -- mine is better at 75 than it is at 150 by one stop: at 75 my current copy is excellent wide open, but at 150 it is slightly soft wide open, better at f5.6, and shows loss of contrast until stopped down to f8. I would go so far as to say my current copy is essentially as good as the primes it replaces after f8.
Ironically however, I find the lack of performance at the long end and more open apertures on my current one a benefit for portraits if/when I want to exploit the softer, lower contrast rendering -- it's a sort of variable effect from about 120mm wide open on, disappearing almost instantly as you stop down at 120, then gets stronger as you move up to 150 gradually disappearing as you stop down through to around 150 f8. If I need razor sharp, I have the 150/2.8 D, and as Guy said, that lens is a laser even wide open and basically you only gain DoF as you stop down...
One other advantage to the zoom for landscape, is with the #1 and/or #2 extension tubes, it makes a very nice variable macro lens :thumbs:
~~~
FWIW Sidebar: I also own both other AF zooms. I have tested 3 copies of the 55-110 and most are quite good if stopped down to f8 or more. On the 105-210 I've looked at 2. There is some variability, they seem to be weak at the short end, but very good at 210. Mine is best from 150 up (I don't use for anything under that) and excellent at 210 after f5.6. It is only slightly larger than the 210 ULD and nearly as good after f5.6 (the ULD prime is excellent wide open) and they're about the same price.
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
About 1/180 of a second at 4.5 on a monopod. BTW continuous focus which kept up with the models walking right me. I'm using a Mamiya AFDIII
etrump
Well-known member
The image on the left is incredible, she jumps right off the monitor! I can only imagine what this would look like in print.
:thumbup:
Guy Mancuso
Administrator, Instructor
Ed have to say I shot these shows for many years and with all kinds of camera's and even Jack will tell you the look I have been getting with MF from the 35mm days is just completely different looking doing this stuff. The MF stuff just jumps at you. So when you said that I completely agree. There is a look to MF that is undeniable and i don't care what anyone says about it ( the old raging debate 35 vs MF). I can see it and clients love it.
Frank Doorhof
New member
Hi,
For portrait work I love the 120mm macro and the 105-210 AF.
Both for their own purposes.
The 120mm is MF but that's not a real problem and the with the 105-210 you can get some amazing DOF play.
For portrait work I love the 120mm macro and the 105-210 AF.
Both for their own purposes.
The 120mm is MF but that's not a real problem and the with the 105-210 you can get some amazing DOF play.
Bill_Green
Member
Not really the place for this discussion, but yeah, size matters. Always has. However, I will never argue with anyone who thinks that pixels are all that matters, ignorance is bliss. If they think their new DSLR can match MF or 4x5 who am I to push them down the slippery slope? I don't care about 100%, I care about 20x30. :thumbup:
etrump
Well-known member
This assumes a good copy of the 105-210mm. Some are not as good as most. Fortunately I have had great luck with Mamiya glass.
I have yet to see a 120mm MF or AF that is anything but stellar, especially for macro. Do you find it so sharp that you have to smooth things out for tight head shots?
I recently shot our family holiday card portrait using the mammy 150/2.8D with my P45+ in our back yard, tripod and self-timer. We were all dressed up for a nice dinner out and the late afternoon natural light was perfect. Anyway, short version of the story is I need to reshoot it using either my Canon or the 145 SF or one of my zooms on the Mamiya -- the Mamiya 150D is too good and shows every flaw, pore and wrinkle.
I could stop there, but the remaining fact is I used f3.4 - f4 to keep DoF shallow and then slightly front-focused (on purpose) to put our faces just at the edge of the rear oof area for a smoother look. It wasn't enough and I still look like a wrinkly old man...
I could stop there, but the remaining fact is I used f3.4 - f4 to keep DoF shallow and then slightly front-focused (on purpose) to put our faces just at the edge of the rear oof area for a smoother look. It wasn't enough and I still look like a wrinkly old man...
etrump
Well-known member
What aperture did you shoot at? (oops I see you edited and added f/??) The 150 is scary sharp at all apertures.
So bad you can't use the phototools, inverted highpass or soft focus technique?
How big is the holiday card 40x50? :ROTFL:
Hi Ed:
It's usually a whopping 5x7 on half-letter stock. I could probably shoot it with my iPhone and it would be good enough, but then again my standard shooting habits die hard
And more unfortunately, even using C1 on those first takes with all sharpening off and downsizing the image straight to a 1200 pix jpeg, I still look ugly-wrinkled! :ROTFL:
Need to reshoot it with the 145 Soft Focus on the Mamiya or maybe use the 80/1.9 on the Canon...
etrump
Well-known member
:ROTFL::ROTFL:Hi Ed:
It's usually a whopping 5x7 on half-letter stock. I could probably shoot it with my iPhone and it would be good enough, but then again my standard shooting habits die hard
And more unfortunately, even using C1 on those first takes with all sharpening off and downsizing the image straight to a 1200 pix jpeg, I still look ugly-wrinkled! :ROTFL:
Need to reshoot it with the 145 Soft Focus on the Mamiya or maybe use the 80/1.9 on the Canon...
If you were close I'd loan you the 75-150mm I'm demoing from Chris at CI, it is EXTREMELY soft at f/4.5.
My 75-150 is awesome -- a little lower contrast wide open, but crisps right up at f5.6 - 6.3...
etrump
Well-known member
I would mostly agree with this statement. You don't see any difference between f5.6 and f8?
Mine sharpens up completely by f7.1, almost identical to the 150mm. Good for all but the most demanding work at f5.6.
Yes, I would agree with that -- by f8 it is as good as any prime in that focal range. (FWIW I have my body set in half stop exposure increments, not thirds...)