Which version of the 110mm should I buy?

[evan_dong1]

I was recently offered (2) choices to choose from for a Mamiya 645

110mm lens. I searched for some informtation rwgarding any reviews

on this lens and came up with no information. What is the difference

between the version and the N Version? WHich version should I go

for? How is this lens optical performance and any reason why it was

discontinued?

[h.d._shin]

My experience based on inspecting 11x17 b&w prints is that my 110mm C is equal to the 80mm f/2.8 N & 150mm f/3.5 N, and perhaps slightly better than the 55mm f/2.8 C. But I don't do rigorous lens tests unless I suspect there's something wrong.

 

I recall that the Mamiya techs on the Mamiya.com forum more or less said there were no optical differences between the N and C lenses. I owned the N versions of both the 55mm and 110mm, but snapped up 2nd hand C versions of both at bargain prices in Tokyo. I took a series of cityscapes with the 4 lenses from a tripod, both wide open and stopped down, and saw no difference between the C and N versions in contrast, color, or sharpness.

 

This is Danny Gonzalez (from Robert Monaghan's medium format site) commenting on the 110:

 

"Star lenses for the Mam 645 are the 45, 110 and the 150's with the 210, 300 2.8 and 500 4.5 coming up great ( but too expensive). An older 500/8 mirror lens can still be found (The image quality of this lens is quite good. You must lock the mirror if you want to see what it is capable of) and a unique 24mm fisheye is offered. Another older lens, the 70mm 2.8 leaf, is a unique length (I've never shot with it).

 

"The 80 1.9 is the fastest production lens for medium format photography and it's sharp; not quite the equal of the 2.8 @ between 5.6 and 16 , but almost imperceptibly close. For an idea of how good it is at wider apertures, it compares well to the Hasselblad 110/2, another very good lens.

 

"The 110/2.8 lens has been discontinued as of late '96. Since it is my favorite of all Mam645 lenses, I recommend that if you want one, you buy one soon, before mint examples become impossible to find."

[anthony_hicks]

Until recently, I owned the 110mm"C" and before that borrowed the 110mm"N" from a friend. I could find no difference between the two, the performance was excellent on both, in fact it was my favourite Mamiya lens. Gawd knows why it was discontinued - if you prefer to stick to primes I think there's too much of a gap between 80 and 150mm otherwise. I only wish Pentax made one to fit my 645Nii, if they did I would bite their hands off!