Mamiya TLR Sharpness

[christiaan_phleger___honol]

I'd still do the foam thing first. There also exists the chance that the foam is sticking

uneven, and depending on where on the screen you focus, could enhance the error. Or,

even more likely, the previous owner tried to unknowingly 'correct' the foam issue by

either fussing with the mirror (that would fully do the front focus) or those three funny

screws. Nadine is right, after doing the foam (its so easy) you have to check it by putting a

ground glass on the film rails and check Inf, 30ft, 15 ft 5ft and 3ft. Then you can deduce

whether or not its the mirror next. Mirror issues are where you see a flat vertical wall have

two different focus. But you'll just be making more work down the line if you don't do the

foam first. Can I say it again? SHeesh, Good Night!

[fwstutterheim]

Using a longer lens there is less DOF. On average MF lenses are quite a bit longer than digital

35 mm lenses. In MF focusing is more critical and choosing the right aperture too. Looking

at some of your pictures I feel there is not much DOF. Have you thought of this?

[j_sevigny]

I've got a C330 and a black 80 mm lens that I used to shoot a lot with Fuji transparency film. It was damned sharp. In fact, the first black and white pic you posted looks good to me, as does the third. I think that if you make some high quality scans of those negs, or some good prints, you'll get a better idea of what your lens is capable of.

 

Good luck.

[conrad_hoffman]

I've noticed a fairly wide range of experiences with the Mamiya TLRs, so YMMV. I've had a few of 'em over the years and my experience with the old chrome lenses was that they did ok on resolution, but lacked contrast. It was near impossible to do crisp b&w work with the thing. Great for portraits, but I sold the whole system off, very disappointed with my first foray into a "professional" system. Much later I bought a C330 with the black 80mm. This was a whole 'nuther beast. The lens is excellent at most any aperture, and I'd put it up against any Rolli. I also have the black 55mm, and that too is very good. A couple cautions- listen to CP about the foam and fix it. I've found many lenses have been messed with, elements swapped, spacers missing or swapped, shutters repaired by people who didn't know what they were doing, and the big one- fungus. These lenses seem more prone to fungus than any others I've seen, and that's a fair number. IMO, one of the internal elements is made of something that looks like candy to the bugs, and they just etch the heck out of it. Do the penlight test. If you have any slight internal haze at all, clean it or get it cleaned ASAP. IMO, what you really need is a checkout by someone who knows these systems. A focus check on an autocollimator is the only way to be sure you're getting all the lenses are capable of. Ground glass and such is better than nothing, but doesn't account for the actual position of the film in the gate.

[gregg_cook]

almost all the lenses focus past infinty for me. YMMV

 

I have a 55 65 80 (all black) and a 180 chrome.