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Art copying lens on Sony A7r


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<p>For a Limited-Edition Art reprinting facility, I got a studio room with a length of about 22 feet.<br />I need to decide a copying Lens: a flat-field 50mm or longer, say 90, 100 or even 150mm.<br>

I tested the distance with the 24-105 zoom on my Sony A7r. I can copy a size of about 8x5 feet painting in single piece.<br />I read copying from distance with long lens or copying in tiles is better to avoid hot-spots.<br />Considering this, which lens is better for my room for copying 8x5 feet and smaller oil paintings,<br>

a 50mm/2.5 macro or longer as mentioned above?<br>

(I am aware of proper lighting at 45 angle and the like...)<br>

I think better I go for a 150 mm, and capture in tiles and stitch them to make an adequately large file in about 300 resolution.<br>

Am I correct?<br>

Thanks in advance for the time...</p>

 

 

 

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<p>It really depends on what the final use of your copy is. If just for the web or small prints then any decent 50mm+ macro lens should work fine for making a one shot image. But if you want to make large fine art prints then stitching would be better in order to capture the finest detail. And stitching requires a 90mm+ lens.</p>

<p>I use a 90mm f2.5 Tamron macro with the Adaptall 2 mount, which is an excellent lens. They are readily available on eBay under $200. If you want (and can afford) the best then Sony's 90mm macro is supposed to be very good.</p>

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<p>Thank you.<br>

Yes, I too am convinced a long lens, say around 100mm 1:1 is ideal for this work.<br />But I am looking for a lens from the old system, large format.<br /><br />Heard there are many a Jems available, used, very cheap, but real good for this work. But Im not well versed to know which are good glass, compatible on A7r.<br /><br />Please help...</p>

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<p>Large format lenses have several drawbacks:<br>

1. their resolution is far lower than what's required for modern sensors (also they were designed to be used at f22 which causes a lot resolution loss via of diffraction).<br>

2. their image circle is so large that all that extra light inside your camera can cause a lot of flare.<br>

3. and I don't think there is any easy way of attaching them to your Sony mount</p>

<p>Your best bet is to go with a good 35mm lens macro lens (1/2 life size is plenty for what you're wanting to do). The Nikon 200mm lens is supposed to be one of the best. But if economy is important to you then I've made decent pano stitched copies using a Tamron 500mm mirror lens in Adaptall 2 mount (which also sells for under $200). Just stand far enough away (I was about 10') and pan with the tripod head in the same way you'd make a infinity pano stitch. For smaller paintings it works pretty well, but the larger the painting the further away you need to be to prevent distortion.</p>

<p>Also I assume you're aware of the very bad kick the A7R's focal plane shutter causes at slower shutter speeds, which destroys sharpness. This requires you to either use either flash or a very fast shutter speed (over 1/200 sec) or a very slow one (longer than one second) to prevent it. </p>

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<p>I think you are in the right range for focal length.<br /> The Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro is a very fine lens, as is the Canon 100m f2.8 L Macro. Any of these lenses by Canon or Nikon ot Tamorn would probably be suitable with very little to choose between them. As Mike says at this level other issues might be more important than the small difference between these very good lenses.<br>

You would of course need an adapter for the C and N lenses. Why not use pne of the Sony lenses about this focal length as they seem to be decent quality too?</p>

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