Mamiya 645- wide angle lenses w/least V. Distortion

[john_rogers3]

I own a Hassey system with 60mm CT*, 80 cT* and 150 C. I just bought an older 645 1000s for the sole

purpose of buying mamiyas superb 24mm fisheye lens. Now i want to get a wide angle lens or 2 with

as little vertical distortion as possible. any recommendations? I see they make a 35mm, that sounds

enticing, but i dont know how much distortion it has, both end to end and vertical. also the 45 seems

very popular. anyone have a lot of experience with these lenses? Jump on in! thanks! I think the

mamiya fisheye is the absolute sharpest lens i have ever used, and think that the 645 system is a

bargain. I also look forward to using the 645 system with telephoto lenses, like the APO 200mm.

I love my Hasey system, but the specialty lenses that i want are prohibitive in cost, or the older

C lenses, like the 40C are just not great lenses, IMHO. Certain other lenses like the 100mm Zeiss

are truely one of a kind, sharp and made for a very particular purpose.

[roger_wong]

I don't know what you mean by vertical distortion, but I couldn't ask for better performance from my 45mm. It's sharpest when you don't go past f11 or so. I have not noticed any pincushioning or barrel distortion with it.

[john_rogers3]

Vertical distortion is like when you shoot a background with lots of

vertical lines, like trees or light poles, or doorways, the vertical

"members" of the backgd or subject curve inward from bottom to top,

rather than just being straight, like you obviously seee with a

fisheye lens, which has a much greater vertical coverage (usually

close to 180 degrees). end to end distortion is when say you

photograph a large gp of people, and the people on the ends of the pic

show somewhat curved, distorted shoulders. that is due to a lens

exhibiting distortion basically visible at the left and right ends of

the field. The zeiss 100mm lens for hassey is famous for no end to

end distortion. A lens in the 35-45 mm range (Med. format) obbviously

has a much greater potential to show vertical and end to end

distortion. I have heard that the 43mm lens made for the mamiya 7

system, for example, is an extraordinary, distortion free wide angle

lens, and it is very expensive brand new also. I am looking for an

somewhat affordable wide angle lens to use with my 645 that has the

least distortion, so I can shoot close up and not necessarily straight

on with the least possible distortion. My 24mm fisheye gives me the

fisheye look when that is called for, but that is not always called

for with my wide angle photography. I owned a hassey 50 CT* lens that

is sharp as a tack, and reasonably low in distortion, although too

high in end to end distortion for my tastes, but i want at least 45mm,

and most preferably 35mm focal length, so i am very interested in

hearing how the mamiya 35mm lens is, and which version is best in

terms of vertical and end to end distortion, if any. thanks for your