Rollei Lens Choice

[christiaan_phleger___honol]

Aloha!

 

I will have to shoot another bikini calendar soon, yeah I know, Really

Tough Job, and I am thinking of going longer than 80mm on my 6008i. I

am considering these 3 lenses, the 120, the 150 and the 180. The 120

seems closer in length to my 135 I use for Mamiya, and the closer

focussing would me very useful for head shots and details and the

extra usefullness would help with the justification department(see

Wife), but the reports of it being only optimized for closer distances

cause a bit of concern, although most of the swimsuit shots would not

be from very far. The 150 would be a bit cheaper (see wife above) but

may not have the flexibility of the 120. I have heard nothing but

raves about the 180 but the much larger size, filter wise is a big

issue, as well as handling in tough locations like the beach etc. I

would appreciate any thoughts and ideas about these lenses, or even

the Hassy equivilent.

 

Most of the shots for the previous calendar can be seen at

pualanihawaii.com under swimwear.

Thanks for looking and any advice.

Aloha!

[dale_dickerson2]

The truth is the 120mm lens is sharp at all distances. At close distances it very very sharp.

 

I would recommend the 150mm. It is very useful general portrait work focal length. As you use it you can see if the longer or shorter lens might be useful. The 250mm is a lens to think about to buy after the 150mm.

 

With any of these lenses the problem is being to sharp for photography of women. You might think about a Zeiss softar 1 to keep the details sharp, but smooth out the skin.

[s._c.]

Funny! I just did a bikini shoot two weeks ago. I used the 80 for full length shots and the 150 sonnar for torso shots on my Hasselblads. The 150 will not be as tightly framed (without a short extension tube) as the 180 from what I've heard. With some well considered cropping, I was able to get tighter without any appreciable quality loss.

[desmond_kidman]

If you already know that you would like the focal length of the 120 since you use 135 on 6 x 7, then I vote for this lens. I've owned Zeiss 80, 100, 120, 150, 180, 250, 250SA. The BEST lens for shots of women for me is the 120. Other posters, let's not get in a debate of focal length, that's personal, and I'll stipulate that if someone does not want this length then it's performance is irrelevant. But the rendition of this lens, it's beautiful transition from in focus to out of focus areas, its gorgeous out of focus areas, they're all outstanding.

 

Not much is mentioned about what I think of as the "coherence" of a lens......it's smoothness and uniformity of look across different types of details IN plane of focus. To me it gives a lens like this a very natural (don't read soft or forgiving) look. I am sure that this has to do with the great tracking of the curves in the MTF diagram. In any case, this lens is the best example of that I have seen.

 

I've done tests at different distances, and it's a winner even at 20-25 feet, so don't worry about sharpness.

[OCULUS New York]

Christiaan, If you don't mind the weight, the advantages of the Variogon f4.5 75-150 zoom are obvious. It also has a macro funtion good for about 16 inches.

 

I have found it to be a superb lens in every respect, except the bulk, but when you can't really move and want to get in closer, it's worth its weight.

 

Only other issue might be its PQ/500 speed on a beach. Otherwise, I've used it as a "street" shooter many times. The prices have fallen substantially on them and would put them in a par with the other lenses you are considering, and of course, you get the flexibility for "free!"

 

See it here: http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=995697&size=lg

 

Ray Hull

[christiaan_phleger___honol]

Aloha and many thanks for all your suggestions.

The option of rental is not possible due to the fact I am located in Hawaii and nobody even knows Rollei exists.

I feel that the 120 will be my choice. I maust say that I was very very impressed with the color rendition of the Rollei lenses, I mostly work in B&w and my first test rolls were sharp and all, but the first roll of chrome knocked my slippers off (no socks in Hawaii), it must be the HFT working..

 

Thanks again,

Aloha

[jim_chow]

I'd go w/ either the 90/4 apo symmar or 110/2 planar, and the

180/2.8 tele-xenar. I have the 90, 180 and use these for

portraiture (only resort to the 80 for indoor wedding/large group

shots due to constraits on space; the 90 is sharper, though). I've

tested the 110/2...excellent lens, bokeh is similar to that of the

180 schneider, as it's designed for fashion/portraiture. The 90 is

more useful overall than the 110, though, due to the 1:2 macro

capability.