don_boyd3

First, In the use of the 24-35/3.5L I'll take the contrarian stand. I have one and I like it a lot (although I am not an

accomplished user of the wide angle lens). Normally, I would have read this thread, blinked and went on to the next

thread. However, I took 5 minutes and extracted some photozone data and I'm stumped to draw the conclusion the anti

zoom crowd supports.

For example, I had always thought the primary use of photozone data is the numerical values listed as wide open and

stopped down. I never knew exactly how the numbers were determined but I thought I knew two things: the higher the

number the better and the larger user population supports a firmer conclusion. Am I right?

Now let's look at the values for the lenses being discussed: 20mm/2.8 PZone 76/93; 20-35L (at 20mm) PZone

80/87; 24mm/2.8 (the best 24mm data) PZone 71/89; 24-35L (at 24mm) PZone 87/93; 35/2.0 PZone 80/92; 20-35L

(at 35mm) PZone 78/85; and 24-35L (at 35mm) PZone 81/87.

It seems a bit of a stretch to say the small differences (not all in favor of the primes) would make a 24-35L beg for mercy

(LoL Mark).

Please know that I fully understand there are some photo styles that favor primes and some styles that favor the

flexibility and compactness of quality zooms. I support your choice of lenses 100% however, I cannot support

condemning a good zoom just because it's a zoom.

Flame suit is on

Don B in Hampton Roads

Mr. Oikawa is alive and well, talked with him last night. This bad boy lens is on it's way for his TLC. I can't find a single

wear mark on the exterior so hopefully he cleans and lubes and sends it back.

Actually Rene, I realize there's a lot of people on this forum that know something of Japan but probably not as much and

you and I do. Your picture is of Tazawa-Ko in Akita Ken. Mine is of Towado-Ko in Aomori Ken. Both are caldera glacier

lakes and are so deep they never freeze. Either one has my vote.

I'm still envious.

Never mind, that was my stupid twin brother (or sister) that posted the above stupid question. I told him (or her) if you

move the aperture off fully open the serial number would suddenly appear. 13391, Family trait I think.

Don B in Hampton Roads

OK users of the FD TS lens. Mine arrived today and I think I'm going crazy. I have the tripod adapter, hood, caps and a POS of a case.

Threw the case out. I have tons of Lowe-Pro stuff for that. My build code is S1001 (Oct 78). I cannot for the life of me find a serial

number. If someone answers turn the Tilt Control Button counterclockwise and the serial number comes up in the viewfinder I'm gonna be

p****d (LoL). Anyway my new toy is going out to be Oikawa-ized before I put it on my F-1n. Stay tuned.

Don B in Hampton Roads

Mark, Sorry friend I have no idea. I don't have a T-90 so the subject never came up in my conversations with Ken. I

suggest you telephone him and ask. Please note, when I once asked Mr. Oikawa when was the best time to call, his

response was, "You know Mr. Boyd there's a lot of golf courses around Sun City". On two occasions I've called got a

Oikawa teenager and arranged a time window for Mr. Oikawa to call me back. Worked like a charm. And if all else fails, send him a

letter with your T-90 question and your phone number asking for a return call. Good Luck.

Don B in DC

Thank you Philip. I have F-1n's (Second Edition). Got a Laser D screen then had it modified with the Brightscreen 20/20

upgrade. ((I also have a Laser G screen but Brightscreen didn't think their modification would make any difference). I am

convinced the MLU function helps any camera between 1/30 and 1/2 second. I do not use the in-camera meters but use a

Pentax 1 Degree Spotmeter with appropriate adjustments for different magnifications. Thank you for your insight.

Don B in Hampton Roads

Rick, I've had several bodies and lens CLA'd by Mr. Ken Oikawa, I'm not sure where you are but IMO it is impossible to

select a better repair person than Mr. Oikawa. Charges were reasonable and and they came back working like new. 28288

West Worcester Rd., Sun City, CA, 951-246-9136. To my knowledge Ken is not on the web. Luck to you.

Don B in Hampton Roads

Rene, Out of all my travels there's only two places that would tempt me to permanently live outside the US. One is

Grindelwald, Switzerland and the other is in your above picture. Not necessarily that specific spot but in the Japanese

Mountains on a lake. Great shot, great camera, I'm sooooo envious.

Don B in Hampton Roads

Thank all who responded to my earlier request for info about this very interesting lens. I couldn't resist. So I just pulled the trigger on lens,

hood, filter, case and manual on the bay. Got it for less than I thought would be needed. I'll be in study mode for some time. I'm pumped.

Don B in Hampton Roads

Good friend Raid, I was merely trying for some gentle humor. I'm not sure where you are but IMO it is impossible to select

a better repair person than Ken Oikawa. I've had several lenses overhauled by him, one a 24-35L. None were expensive

and they came back working like new. 28288 West Worcester Rd., Sun City, CA, 951-246-9136. To my knowledge Ken is

not on the web. Luck to you. Don B in Hampton Roads

Raid, at the risk of sounding impertinent, you answered your own question. You know the 'L' lenses were the best Canon

could make at that time but nothing mechanical lasts forever. Have a competent repair person renew your faith in your

equipment. It's good stuff.

Don B in Hampton Roads

But Rene, are you HAPPY with it -- then keep it and enjoy. Seriously, you're there in Japan and there's got to be some

high quality old-school Canon repair people still around. For what you paid, have your A-1 gone through from top to bottom

(shutter squeak is the only systemic thing I've heard of), put film in it and never look back. You'll leave the thing to

someone in your will. LoL.

Don B in Hampton Roads

How are you #10? Your Fractured-French speaking reference is of course absolutely correct. But your thoughts about

digital world impact on technical parameters of the optical system are interesting. Take a look at the input wizard for the

DOFMaster program: http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html If you drop the camera/format selection window and browse

through the possible selections watching the CoC value change to the right...... I saw values ranging from 0.006 through

0.030. Wow!.........Your Obedient Servant Monsieur

If you google Circle of Confusion you will learn more than you wanted to know. Here's a direct quote from the fcalc

program:

"Imagine a perfect white point in an empty black room. The point has no height, and no width. If you focus a lens on that point, it forms a

perfect point on the film as well, if you ignore lens imperfections. If, however, you focus slightly before or after the point, the point will

image on the film as a small disc, or circle. If that circle is small enough, it will look like a point, not a circle. The "circle of confusion" is

typically calculated as the largest on-film circle that you see as a point when you make an 8×12 print and view it from 10 feet away.

Anything larger is seen as a small circle, and is therefore perceived as out of focus.

f/Calc comes with common CoC values built into it for common film formats, but they are plainly only a generalization. If you plan on

making prints larger than 8 × 12, or viewing them from closer than 10 feet, you will need to use a smaller circle of confusion to get the

same degree of apparent sharpness. The CoC value also takes into account imperfections in the camera and enlarging lenses used, and

the resolution of the film and paper used to make the image. If you change any of these for better or for worse, you will need to use a

different CoC value.

f/Calc uses the commonly-accepted CoC value of 0.033mm for 35mm film, but some companies like Zeiss use a more demanding value of

0.025mm when making the depth of field marks on their lens barrels. That number is calculated as 1/1730 of the diagonal of the frame."

Remember, inquiring minds want to know. LoL

Don B in Hampton Roads

Regrettably, Mr. Peterson did not use the term but what he's really telling you is he used the Hyperfocal distance for his

lens. He shows in the legend to the photo the 20-35mm zoom lens is set at 20mm and the aperture at it's smallest (f/22).

The Hyperfocal distance is then 2 feet. He sets his lens there and everything from 1 foot to infinity is in focus. The

Hyperfocal distance is the distance to focus any given lens with any given aperture for maximum DOF. Here's an on-line

DOF calculator. http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html The calculator is set for a CoC of 0.03mm at 35mm which some

would say is not small enough for good sharpness. Debate continues. Wish you luck.

Don B in Hampton Roads

Richard, I don't see any of the Canon FD Vivitar VMC 90-180mm Flat Field lenses on EBay for the moment however Kevin

Cameras has several on his site. http://www.kevincameras.com/ They're not cheap but the Viv Flat Field zooms are a

very highly regarded cult third party lens. All the ones I've ever read about were made by Kiron which is a good thing.

Wish You Luck.

Charles, I was a long-time user and fan of the Canonflex ancestors of FD. Here's a url of my Flickr set of Canon gear.

The last picture in the set is a guy I knew very well 45+ years ago. He's got two Canonflex RM's around his neck. The

bodies have a 135mm Supercanomatic f/2.5 and a 35mm Supercanomatic f/2.5 attached. There's a SLIK Master tripod

on my off-shoulder and a foam-filled briefcase with the 50mm f/1.8 and 100mm f/2.0 plus an Asahi Pentax 1/3 degree

spotmeter. Lot's of fun. Used those cameras till

Canon would no longer maintain them (no parts) in 1976. Went F-1n and never looked back. My Flicker account has a

group of slide scans from Canonflex equipment and I have several hundred more to sort and scan.

Retirement a blast.

Don B in Hampton Roads.

Mark, if this is more info than you need please forgive me. Here's a couple more points specifically at using your F-1n

(not F-1N) for Macro work. First, Louis is absolutely correct in that the term Macro is used loosely. Generally my

experience has been the cut-off between Close-up and Macro is about at 0.5X with respect to equipment needed for the

shot. Less magnification can be successfully handheld with minimum impact on meter readings. More magnification

places a premium on MLU, exposure reading, tripod and focusing rail. I have used the F-1n extensively up to 2.0X

magnification and found I use the MLU a lot. I also use focusing screen G-L with the f/4 Macro lenses. I find split image

darkening with lenses slower that 2.8 to be distracting. Louis' comment that the older F-1's have only center-weighted

metering is not correct. The older F-1's have partial metering which, at 0.5X and higher magnification behave like a spot

meter. It's just the spot is a little bigger (12% of the viewing area). I have found Louis's comments about the utility of a

electronic flash to be spot on. Makes a big difference. Also pre-testing with various films, metering techniques and

equipment is priceless. Hope this information is of benefit to you.

Don B in Hampton Roads