I also have the 20mm but have not had a chance to use it much yet as more for landscapes. Test shots so far look great. I remember when 20mm F/4 Nikon AI was the main optic used by the late outdoor photographer Galen Rowell for all his landscape shots while running ultra marathons or climbing in Yosemite. He used an FM2n and the combo was compact and light. He later switched to an F100 but some of his most iconic shots of El Capitan or the waterfalls in Yosemite while hanging on a cliff were made with the older manual gear.
Just made a sample shot of my cat, distance about 20 cm, focus at the eye - I like the outcome 🙂
A7RII, Viltrox 2,8/20, f/7,1, 1/60 sec, ISO4000
A7RII, Viltrox 2,8/20, f/7,1, 1/60 sec, ISO4000
I think you mean perspective distortion on ultra wide lenses.
People in middle get exaggerated noses and people on edges get asymmetric heads and faces. It is not a problem if they are far away from lens. This is not a Viltrox 20mm problem but on all wide lenses. That’s why we use 40mm or 50mm for people shots. Even more flattering is 85mm or 135mm lens which provides image perspective compression. Some professional model photographers use a 300mm lens and stand really far away that exaggerates that “tall skinny small head and long legs” look of runway models. They use a walkie talkie to communicate with the model or assistant located near the subject. 🙂
People in middle get exaggerated noses and people on edges get asymmetric heads and faces. It is not a problem if they are far away from lens. This is not a Viltrox 20mm problem but on all wide lenses. That’s why we use 40mm or 50mm for people shots. Even more flattering is 85mm or 135mm lens which provides image perspective compression. Some professional model photographers use a 300mm lens and stand really far away that exaggerates that “tall skinny small head and long legs” look of runway models. They use a walkie talkie to communicate with the model or assistant located near the subject. 🙂
When early digital cameras came out, many used 18mm diagonal LCDs.
18mm / 25.4 = 0.7 inch diagonal.
Early Hasselblad and early Bronica had 55mm across, 55mm vertical, so had a 77.8mm diagonal ground glass viewing screen.
77.8mm / 25.4 = 3 inch diagonal.
Beautiful waist level finders, and you could bring it to the eye, and use the magnifier.
All in real time, all in real color.
Try it, you will like it.
Opinions?
18mm / 25.4 = 0.7 inch diagonal.
Early Hasselblad and early Bronica had 55mm across, 55mm vertical, so had a 77.8mm diagonal ground glass viewing screen.
77.8mm / 25.4 = 3 inch diagonal.
Beautiful waist level finders, and you could bring it to the eye, and use the magnifier.
All in real time, all in real color.
Try it, you will like it.
Opinions?
AFAIK Mamiya never had a dedicated 4.5x6 rangefinder. You could use the Mamiya Press at 4.5x6 but then you are hauling around a beast of a camera and only using half of its potential.
Could be but it is a very fragile rangefinder. I had mine adjusted (vertical was not aligned anymore). It was ok in the shop. I put it in a camara bag and on the seat in the back of the car. When I arrived home, it was out of vertical alignment again. Contacts are for the lens: motor winding the shutter and time control.
Great camera and optics but not enough focal lengths to make it a versatile camera. That 45mm isn't wide enough and you then have to use a huge extra viewfinder. And the 100/135 isn't really tele enough to make a difference from the 65mm standard lens. The exposure meter is also easily fooled and it isn't very clear how it measueres when you get away from the 65mm. Great camera but they cold just have given it a fixed 65mm. Oh and the exposure compensation has a mind of its own when you get it out of the bag.
Great? It is a disaster to focus (9 out of 10 you have to get the loupe out to focus) and then a pita to frame. If you see anything in the ground glass because when you have a lot of light around it is like the lcd on the back of a digital. And you loose stability when you move away from your face. And after a day shooting you need a chiropractor to get your neck back straight...
I always used a waist level viewfinder on my Hasselblad, and almost always focused using the finder's 'flip' magnifier. Only after focusing, then I could view and shoot at waist level; but admittedly, I almost always shot with the camera at eye level using the magnifier.
My Granddaughter got the Hasselblad. I got a Bronica SQ and 80mm lens, and have only shot one roll of Ilford Delta 400. I did not like the digital scan, that they used to print the photos, at a less than ideal dpi print.
I expect to use Ilford's analog silver prints on my next roll, HP5 this time.
My Granddaughter got the Hasselblad. I got a Bronica SQ and 80mm lens, and have only shot one roll of Ilford Delta 400. I did not like the digital scan, that they used to print the photos, at a less than ideal dpi print.
I expect to use Ilford's analog silver prints on my next roll, HP5 this time.
You got me there. The Mamiya 6 could be used with a screen for 645, but not a truly dedicated 645
When I migrated from Canon DSLR to Sony mirrorless A7R, mostly for portability, I sold off some of my Canon EF lenses, and I do regret selling the Canon 70-200L II, which I used at the 200mm end for proper portraits. People came out gorgeous. Now I find myself on the Sony FE system with widest lens at 35mm Zeiss FE, but I do have 55 and 75mm FE lenses for people shots. What I need is a wider lens for walkaround, landscape, also for video, with occasional humans caught in frame not looking too crazy distorted for purpose of social media, etc.
I've owned one since '96 and love it. Traveled with that and a Hassy SWC when large format wasn't practical. The lens is very sharp. The ergonomics a little odd but ok once you're used to it. It attracts attention - just not a form factor people expect to see in a camera!
Hi @mbose,
So cool to hear that a DIYA member has one of these. I bet this camera gets more notices and mentions than a Leica or Hasselblad does. Please share some photos you took with the Makina 67 if you can.
Thanks!
Btw, do you have a favorite mail order place to process your 120 film? Some places do a scan of the film vs making prints.
So cool to hear that a DIYA member has one of these. I bet this camera gets more notices and mentions than a Leica or Hasselblad does. Please share some photos you took with the Makina 67 if you can.
Thanks!
Btw, do you have a favorite mail order place to process your 120 film? Some places do a scan of the film vs making prints.
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Z6 II, ISO800 Viltrox 40mm F/2.5Z at F/5.6 1/125sec. Downsampled from 16M and converted to mono.
Hi @xrk971
I have scanned a few photos and uploaded them to flickr so that you can see the full resolution. They are in two albums: one with scans at 2400 dpi and another with a section of one photo scanned at 2400 and 3200 dpi.
I don't use a lab for scans, since I stopped shooting color film a while ago. I scan B&W with a 20 year-old Epson Perfection 3170 scanner. It holds its own surprising well against newer, and much more expensive, Epson models owned by friends. I'm not saying it's as good, but the scans are good enough for my purposes. My only complaint is that it doesn't scan 4x5. Anything larger than 4x5 I contact print, but it would be nice to scan 4x5.
Here is the link to Flickr. (Have been going to the site for years, but this is the first time I posted anything there!)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/191200407@N05/albums
BTW, there is a Moire pattern in the photo of the car. I didn't see it until after the upload. I suspect the slide film was touching the glass on the scanner. It's not from the camera.
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Have you guys ever asked Chat GPT to make a cartoon sketch of your pet? It gets close with a few prompts.
Has anyone used the Nikon Df? This was way before the Zf and used F mount and basically an FE body with a full frame sensor.
Two of my favorite cameras: FE and 50mm F/1.2 AIS and GX1 with 20mm F/1.7 lens.
Two of my favorite cameras: FE and 50mm F/1.2 AIS and GX1 with 20mm F/1.7 lens.
I have finally entered the film rangefinder camera club! Been wanting an RF for years and made a trade with a friend for some audio gear and unused lenses for a couple of Konica RF’s. An Auto S from 1963 in pristine condition and an Auto S3 from 1977 in good condition but meter not working. The meter not working makes the S3 a brick because it only works in shutter priority mode (the electronics select the aperture shown by a needle in the window). Both are Copal leaf shutters and all controls are on the lens barrels.
After I got them back to the lab, I managed to fix the meter in the S3. It was a broken solder joint on the battery holder from stress/strain. I extended the wires with soft silicone wire and shrink tube and it all works now. I’ll need to change to rotted black light seal foam on the back lid but otherwise it works well. It is super compact! About same size as my GX1 M43 camera. 38mm F/1.8 Hexanon lens that is purportedly very sharp. The older Auto S works well without any issues. It has full manual as well as shutter priority mode. They called it “EE” mode back then. It is very well made with a super bright view finder that shows the recommended aperture in the VF and active parallel correction frames. A lot of tech for 1963. Also has X and M flash sync (for those who remember M-sync which used actual flash bulbs, they needed 250 milliseconds to achieve full flash). The S has a 47mm F/1.9 Haxanon lens. I have never had a 47mm lens before but it has a sliding built in lens hood.
S3:
S3 repair:
Auto S:
Closeup of the CdS metering cell window with a slider for L or H (outdoors). It activates a sliding color mask in the VF to show valid ranges and engages a mask to limit light to cell (a small pinhole). Pretty slick metering system. The lens has an “A” switch for auto shutter priority mode.
Both cameras have Copal leaf shutters so flash can sync at any speed and this will be useful for natural looking fill-flash.
On both cameras, the film ISO is set with a lever on the bottom of the lens barrel.
I am relieved that the VF images are bright and contrast and free of fungus and dust. The focus patches are yellow tint and easy to see. They don’t focus much closer than 1m though. Can’t wait to put some film through them.
After I got them back to the lab, I managed to fix the meter in the S3. It was a broken solder joint on the battery holder from stress/strain. I extended the wires with soft silicone wire and shrink tube and it all works now. I’ll need to change to rotted black light seal foam on the back lid but otherwise it works well. It is super compact! About same size as my GX1 M43 camera. 38mm F/1.8 Hexanon lens that is purportedly very sharp. The older Auto S works well without any issues. It has full manual as well as shutter priority mode. They called it “EE” mode back then. It is very well made with a super bright view finder that shows the recommended aperture in the VF and active parallel correction frames. A lot of tech for 1963. Also has X and M flash sync (for those who remember M-sync which used actual flash bulbs, they needed 250 milliseconds to achieve full flash). The S has a 47mm F/1.9 Haxanon lens. I have never had a 47mm lens before but it has a sliding built in lens hood.
S3:
S3 repair:
Auto S:
Closeup of the CdS metering cell window with a slider for L or H (outdoors). It activates a sliding color mask in the VF to show valid ranges and engages a mask to limit light to cell (a small pinhole). Pretty slick metering system. The lens has an “A” switch for auto shutter priority mode.
Both cameras have Copal leaf shutters so flash can sync at any speed and this will be useful for natural looking fill-flash.
On both cameras, the film ISO is set with a lever on the bottom of the lens barrel.
I am relieved that the VF images are bright and contrast and free of fungus and dust. The focus patches are yellow tint and easy to see. They don’t focus much closer than 1m though. Can’t wait to put some film through them.