Volna-3 vs Mamiya 80mm

OK...anyone had a chance to compare the Volna-3 80mm f/2.8 to the Mamiya 645 80mm f/2.8n?

 

I'll be using one or the other on a Mirex tilt/shift adapter on an EOS 5D Mk III. I'm currently using Mamiya 35mm, 45mm and 55mm lenses on the adapter with nice results but haven't found a direct comparison of the Pentacon and Mamiya glass.

 

Thanks in advance...

 

JD

A Soviet Volna-3 is not the same as a Pentacon 6 lens. My advice would be to look for a genuine Pentacon Zeiss Jena 80mm f/2.8 Bm (Biometar). These had much tighter quality control than the 'iffy' Volna or whatever Soviet made lenses.

 

In any case, I'm not sure you'd see any increase in coverage or edge-to-edge image quality by using a 6x6 Pentacon lens over the Mamiya version. The difference in image circle between what's needed for 6x6 and 645 is marginal to non-existent.

 

FWIW, Mamiya-Sekor made a quite nice 50mm shift lens of their own for the 645.

Edited March 9, 2018 by rodeo_joe|1

Volna-3 has few of issues. First of all - quality control, as [uSER=2403817]@rodeo_joe|1[/uSER] told. But it gives very different picture in comparsion with Biometar. Bokeh is smoother and swirl. Sharpness, contrast - everything depends of quality of lens you will get. I have Volna with P6 mount wich gives beautiful results. The images was vintage-type.

OK, I've got the lens, it's in great shape. Better, in my estimation, than the seller indicated. I'm very pleased. Mechanically it's superb. Super smooth helical, clean aperture blades, everything you could hope for.

 

It fits the adapter I bought like a glove, which then fits smoothly unto the Mirex tilt/shift adapter.

 

But it's been raining like crazy and other than a couple of shots of my bookshelf I haven't been able to really test it out.

 

Thanks to both of you for your insights. I assumed being a Russian optic that quality control would be at best...lax! But, at $40 I figured it'd be worth a gamble.

 

I'll keep you posted.

 

JD

I used to have a Volna-3, which I used to use to use on a Kiev 35mm SLR with a Nikon adapter. Though I can't compare it to the Mamiya lens, the Volna was well-built and I was pleased with the image quality, though it had some tendency to flare. Hope you enjoy yours.