the Hartblei 5.6/500 mm for the Contax 645

[milan_moudgill]

This is regarding our search for the missing tele in the 645 arsenal.

 

Has anyone used the Hartblei 5.6/50? What do you think? How are the optics?

 

Obviously it will need an adaptor... and will lose AF and TTL in the bargain... but seems a

deal for $319. here is a link: http://www.kievcamera.com/camera.php?ID=54

 

Looking forward to some advice

 

THanks in advance,

 

Milan

[mikeseb]

I'd be careful on this one. I bought the Hartblei Tilt-SHift Super-Rotator about 3 months ago, and it is sharp only in the center, regardless of aperture. It's a paperweight, nothing more.

 

THis may not be true for the telephoto, of course, but if I were you I'd proceed very carefully.

[kevin_ing]

I have a few comparison shots here: http://kievaholic.com/LensTestsSuperTele2/index.html

 

Quality control with these lenses can be variable, so my results may not be representative of what anyone else may get. But basically, my 500mm F5.6 lens is very sharp. The F8 is not as sharp, but please keep in mind that these images on a monitor are like looking at huge prints up close.

 

Lenses were the 500mm F5.6 and F8 mirror lenses, and the 500mm F5.6 Prakticar lens for the Pentacon 6. The mirror lenses are actually Rubinars that were made for 35mm cameras. I adapted the F5.6 lens myself before they became widely available as such.

 

The camera was a Contax 645 with a Kodak ProBack 645 digital back rotated 45-degrees... so the Edge shot is pretty close to the horizontal edge of a 645 piece of film.

 

The camera was mounted on a large Gitzo tripod and big Studioball head. The self-timer/mirror pre-release was used to minimize camera shake. I took about 15 shots with each lens, re-focusing between shots... and then presented the sharpest ones online. No sharpening or other image adjustments were done.

 

ps- I'll fix the broken image link when I get home.

[milan_moudgill]

Thanks guys.

 

Sebastien, you may want to look at Zoerk.com for some great TS attachments

(as well some brilliant panoramic and macro stuff)

 

Kevin, very telling results. The Rubinar 5.6, 500 turned up some good images.

However, do you have any knowledge of the Hartblei 5.6, 500?

 

Is the Rubinar available on the market? Will I need to re-engineer it to get it to

fit onto the Contax 645 (skills I do not have), or, is it as simple as getting an

adapter?

 

Do the lenses you have tested, lose AF and other functions?

 

Thanks

 

Milan

[kevin_ing]

Milan,

 

The Hartblei 500mm F5.6 mirror lens is just an adapted and re-branded Rubinar, so my self-adapted lens is optically the same. The warning on variable quality control still applies, though.

 

You can get the lens in Pentacon 6/Kiev mount, and then you need to track down a Pentacon 6->Contax 645 adapter. Expect to pay between $25 and $50 for the adapter.

 

The lens will not autofocus, but you still get focus confirmation in the Contax 645 viewfinder.

[xato]

My result differ from the posters here. The Hartblei 45 T/S is my most used lens and is very sharp where I use it, i.e. at f11 or f16. Admittedly, it can't be used wide open for much. On the other hand, my Hartblei 500.5.6 is not very sharp. Based on the photos I see here, the problem seems to be either one of technique or I have a bad sample.

 

Warren

 

PS. These are used on a P645N.

[steven_stone3]

I just bought a Prakticar 500mm 5.6. It looks to be in great shape and I can't wait to get the Pentacon 6 / Pentax 645 adapter to try it out.

 

As for my Nikon, one of the adapters I saw for an M42 / Nikon mount adapter mentioned that it would not allow the lens to focus to infinity.

 

Kevin Ing, did you have any problem with this on your Canon? Were you using an M42 / Canon adapter? Or did you figure out a straight Meyer Orestegor / Canon solution?