P67 Landscape lens....45 or 55?

[chris___10]

OK, I was going to sell my Pentax 67, but had a drastic change of

heart. ( I just couldn't go through with it) Since I already sold

my 35 mm system, I finally have some money to get a wide angle lens

to go with my 135macro. I am mostly looking at the 45 and 55. I am

curious, which do you find most usefull for landscapes? Ans also,

which give a more interesting perspective. It will be primarily used

for landscapes, but I also like wide angle portrature so if anyone

uses either for that, let me know what you think. Thanks. Also....I

am looking to buy used, so if anybody has one for sell let me know.

[photomark]

Chris, I've had the 45mm lens for a couple of years and I've used but

don't own the 55. If I was looking for something to meet your

versitile needs I would probably go with the 55mm. The 45 is too wide

in my opinion for a wide range of things. It can do spectacular

landscapes, but its quickly noticable when its tilted--even a

little--and people are really hard to take with this lens. The 55 will

do just fine with landscapes and a whole lot of other things. Its also

ledgendary in its sharpness. Good luck.

[thomas_earle]

Chris,

 

I have the 55mm and it is a truly awesome lens. I have taken many landscape photos and love its fov and sharpness. I believe it is a perfect match for wide field landscape photography. It stays on my camera 90% of the time.

 

...Wade...

[peter_hughes]

Well, I don't own the 55mm, just the 45mm. But I love it. Very sharp and well-corrected. Main problem is the huge filter size of 82mm. So, rather than spend a small fortune on glass, I simply use 4" gels.

 

Anyway, I don't find ultra-wides a problem to handle, though I hate the "ulta-wide" look--very amateurish. But coverging lines are fairly easy to tame by keeping the camera perpendicular to the subject. And there aren't many converging lines in nature.

 

See some of my earthscapes at: http://www.ravenvision.com/rvapeterearthscapes.htm

[patrick_drennon]

I have the 45, never used the 55. I love the lens and use it at least 50% of the time (along w/ 105, 165 f/4 and 600 f/4). But I can't recommend it for your description. It is very wide and will distort (it is rectalinear though). The people who own the 55 love it too and it will tend to be more widely applicable in a day to day sense. 45 would not typically be recommended for people shots unless you were purposely trying to distort some aspect of the person.

[ken_dunn]

What lens did you use mostly in youir 35mm system, a 24 or 28mm (I think that that is about the same in 67). I have a 35 and a 55 for my Mamiya 645. Sometimes I don't use the 35 at all, other times it hardley ever comes off and vise versa. What ever you chose, you will like it and find a use for it. Remember that it is easier to crop the 45 than streaching the 55.

[patrick_drennon]

45mm in 6X7 roughly equates to a 21mm in 35mm format, 55 is close to 28mm.

[john_macpherson]

Haven't used the 45 but have had loads of work published from the

55mm. Some of the images have been blown up to 4 feet by 3 feet from

Fuji 50, for display boards, and the results were superb. Nice angle

of view - not too wide so not a lot of distortion. Seems to be more of

them available s/h than the 45. Tough as old boots too, I fell over

and cracked the P67 & 55mm off concrete when getting excited at sunset

in Manhattan. Bent the filter thread (sorted with pliers) but

everything kept working just fine.

<P>

[gene_crumpler6]

I'll add my $0.02 on the 55mm. I have the newest version and it is incredible sharp. It also focuses fairly close, so it is the lens that stays on the camera most of the time. It also almost uniformly sharp from f4 to f22. I picked it because 28mm is my favorite 35mm focal lenght. I also have the 105 and 200, but they are not quite as sharp at all F-stops.

 

55mm pentax f4-

 

Centers only

 

 

f4 - 68lp/mm

 

F5.6- 80

 

f 8 - 80

 

f11 --72

 

f16 - 72

 

f22 - 72

[ben_greenberg]

I think you have gotten some excellent advice. While I agree the 55mm lens is more versatile if you plan to shoot people and other subject matter, I don't think you will be unhappy at all if you are going to primarily use it for landscapes. I use it extensively for landscapes and I find it to be wonderful. Someone mentioned that you can always crop down to a narrower view if you want with this lens but you can't always move back with the 55mm to take in more of the view. Due to its wide angle of view, you do need to be careful of the horizen line. As a result, I am very careful with my bubble level on my tripod. I find the depth of field when I stop way down, which is normal for me, to be difficult to match. I tend to love the lens so much that I have to push myself to take it off the camera and try my other three lenses. By the way, I also own the 75 mm and it made sense for me to buy the 45 mm to have more difference between the lenses I own. Hope this helps. I don't think you will be unhappy whatever decision you make.

[chris_patti1]

One other consideration: Even if the 55 is generally more applicable to your work, because of the large negative area the 67 provides, you can always use the 45 and, when necessary, crop down to a narrower angle of view. If you use a 45mm lens and crop down to the same film area as a 645, you will end up with an angle of view very close to a 55mm lens on a 67. Of course, there is nothing you can do to increase the angle of view if you buy the 55. For this reason, where cropping is a possibility, I'd rather have the wider lens.

[clint___]

I have the old 55mm with the colossal 100mm filter and love it. Many people like the new 55mm better and some actually prefer the old 55mm. It's a better portrait lens than the 45mm and still great for landscape. I also have the 135mm macro. Good luck! Clint

[colin_monteith4]

The 45mm is the best one for landscapes. Ask any dealer which is the most popular Pentax 6x7 lens (outside of the standard lens) and they will tell you its the 45mm. People sell them so rarely used and they hardly ever come up on ebay for example which confirms my point. Hope you have fun with the evaluation or selection process and the best of luck.

[ben_greenberg]

In my haste to provide my input yesterday on this matter, I left out a reference to the 45 mm lens early in my statement. Therefore, it might have been confusing about which lens I was recommending. I was trying to make a case for the 45 mm lens if landscapes are one's primary interest. Sorry for the confusion. I never did enjoy proof-reading.

[chris___10]

Well, I did it. I ordered a used 55f4 from George Ury yesterday. It arrived today in absolute mint condition. I am very pleased. Havn't had a chance to use it yet, but I will on Sat. Thanks for all the advice!