sebastien_lallement
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Posts posted by sebastien_lallement
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<i> Now if only Zeiss made a TLR . . . </i> <br>
There is the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/2kdo2n"> Contaflex </a> , <br>
the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/2qcmh5"> Ikoflex </a> , <br>
...and the rare <a href="http://tinyurl.com/2pvplc"> Tengoflex </a> . <br>
Cheers,<br>
Sebastien
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The Takumar 3.5/100mm is a very rare lens first introduced as the Asahi Togaku Takumar in 1952 for M37 mount (the 37mm screwmount used on the early Asahiflex camera). A new version was launched in 1957 in M42 mount at the time of the release of the original Asahi Pentax camera. This lens was discontinued at the end of 1957 and was replaced by the faster 2.8/105mm Takumar in early 1958. The 3.5/105 had 3 elements in 3 groups (triplet formula), while the 2.8/105 had 4 elements in 4 groups. Today, the 3.5/105 is highly sought after by collectors because it has only been produced during a few months in 1957 and is therefore very scarce.
Cheers,
Sebastien
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2.8/180mm Zeiss Sonnar, M42 or Pentacon Six mount + adapter.<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
Sébastien
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220 film was mainly used by wedding photographers, photoreporters, or professional photographers working without an assistant to reload their film backs. They liked the extra capacity offered by the long 220 rolls. Unfortunately, these photographers have moved en masse to digital. I am afraid 220 film will not last long now...
Cheers,
Sebastien
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Sorry, I meant 33x44mm CCD.
Cheers,
Sebastien
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Wigwam,
This info was released by Pentax in February:
<a href="http://www.pentax.co.jp/english/news/2007/200708.html
">http://www.pentax.co.jp/english/news/2007/200708.html
</a>
This is the same Kodak CCD sensor as the Hasselblad H3D-31 offering 31.6 megapixels on a 33״4mm chip.
Cheers,
Sebastien
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Alexandre,<Br><Br>
I bought my Arax lens in October 2006 for $398 direct from AraxFoto ($451.60 with shipping & handling). Gevorg Vartanyan (AraxFoto's manager) seems to be a nice guy and offers 1 year warranty on the lenses he sells. The parcel contained a few bonuses: a nice lens pouch, a lens cleaning cloth and two Ukrainian chocolates!<Br><Br>
I have heard good things about Hartblei lenses but they seem to go in and out of production and their website is not up to date. Hartblei Super-Rotator lenses are more expensive than their Arax counterparts, but they are a bit more flexible in use. Their new offer based on Zeiss lenses looks very attractive, but it is priced accordingly.<Br><Br>
Check this <a href="http://www.hame.ca/tiltshift.htm">webpage</a>, there are lots of useful links about T&S lenses, and the owner is offering a second hand Hartblei 35mm in Nikon mount for a good price.<Br><Br>
If you need more details, contact me off forum.<Br><Br>
Cheers,<Br><Br>
Sebastien
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Alexandre,
I ordered an Arax Tilt and Shift 35mm lens a few months ago (not the Hartblei lens, which is a different beast). I am very satisfied and I use it a lot on my *ist D. It is a bit soft in the corners wide open, but still usable. I plan to get the Arax 80mm Tilt and Shift lens in the near future.
Below is a picture taken with my 35mm T&S.
Cheers,
Sebastien<div>
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John,
Welcome to the club. The G690 rangefinder and its interchangeable lens successors (G690BL, GL690 & GM670) are wonderful cameras capable of superb results. Their main drawback nowadays is the difficulty to find additional lenses, especially the rare-as-hen's-teeth 50mm superwide.
I don't have the 8/65 lens, but I use its bigger brother, the 5.6/65, which is a very fine lens. Best apertures are f/8 and f/11. At f/16, image quality is still very good but at f/22, you begin to see the effects of diffraction on larger prints.
You may want to have a look at my modest web page dedicated to these cameras:
Cheers,
Sebastien
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You can do multiple exposures with the older G690 series (those with interchangeable lens), but you have to take off the lens and manually cock the shutter.
Cheers,
Sebastien
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Andrew, the focus indicator in manual mode matches the AF, but not the focusing screen: if I take a picture when it's lit, the photograph will be perfectly sharp, although the focus was off on the focusing screen.
Ton, I have made plenty of test pictures. From these tests, I came to the conclusion that the focus is off by approx. 8%.
Andrew and Max, this has noting to do with diopter adjustment. When one adjusts the diopter, the focusing screen itself goes in and out of focus. On my camera, when I focus manually, the image on the focusing screen appears perfectly sharp -- that wouldn't be the case had the dioper been off. If I take the picture, the resulting photograph is not in focus.
My conclusion is that the focusing plane and the CCD plane are not at the same distance from the subject. Usually, the position of the focusing screen can be easily adjusted by turning a few screws. As I live on Borneo Island, far from the nearest Pentax repair facility, I would like to know how to adjust myself the focusing screen position on the *istD. Or maybe somebody could send me a copy of the relevant page in the repair manual.
Cheers,
Sebastien
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No, when the focus light is on, the image is not in focus on the viewing screen and the other way round. The problem is the same either with the original Pentax focusing screen or with a Katz Eye with split prism image.
Cheers,
Sebastien
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My *istD is not focusing accurately when I use manual focus. I have no problem
in AF, but all the pictures I take with manual focusing are front focused by 8cm
(3 1/4 in) at 1m (3 1/2 ft) distance. If I focus by measuring the distance to
the subject and setting the lens scale accordingly, then the focus is spot on.
As this behavior is consistent with every lens I own, it must be a problem with
the focusing screen position on the camera. Does anybody know how to adjust this
position on the *istD?
Thanks in advance for your answers.
Sebastien
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Tony,
If you can find one, go for the Fuji G690 or GL690 with the 50mm superwide (equivalent to 21mm in 35mm format). The G690 is a great camera and the 50mm lens is outstanding. Here are two pictures taken with this combo:<br>
<br>
<IMG SRC="http://www.lallement.com/pictures/riverbank.jpg"><br>
<br>
<IMG SRC="http://www.lallement.com/pictures/Fish.jpg"><br>
<br>
All the lenses for the G690 series (50mm, 65mm, 100mm, 150mm and 180mm) are superb but quite rare nowadays. There is even a 100mm AE which offers aperture priority auto-exposure (the electronic leaf shutter is also usable in manual from 8s to 1/500s).
And you get those gorgeous 6x9 negatives. The 6x9 format is perfectly suited to lanscape photography and it is possible to crop it to 28x84mm to get a high quality 3:1 panoramic image, without resorting to LF/panoramic gear.<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
Sébastien<br>
<A Href="http://artbig.com">Fujica G690 Resource</A>
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Matt,
Obviously, you will have much more choices if you go with the 6x7 format, even though I find 6x9 to be better suited for landscape/cityscape photography. For panoramas, you will get great results by cropping a 3:1 panoramic photograph from a 6x9 negative.
- In 6x9:
The old Fuji G690 is a very well made camera with interchangeable lenses ranging from 50mm superwide (21mm equiv. @ 35mm) to 180mm tele (77mm equiv.). It's a rangefinder camera styled like a big Leica, meaning that you can use it to shoot handheld like a (huge) Leica. The main drawback is that lenses are quite rare, except for the 100mm standard and the 8/65mm wide angle (28mm equiv.). With a little bit of shopping around, you should be able to find a working body + 65mm lens for around $600. Or go for the fixed lend more recent GSW690 (65mm lens). Check my webpage: http://artbig.com/
More common and less expensive is the Mamiya Press/Super23/Universal, which is also a very good camera offering interchangeable lenses ranging from 50mm to 250mm (107mm equiv.). It's more versatile than the Fuji with its removable back. The Super 23 even has a tilting bellows back. But it is bigger, heavier and more cumbersome to use than the Fuji (e.g. it has no shutter interlock to prevent blank/double exposures). In the same category but more expensive than the Mamiya, there is also the Graflex XL/XLSW: great lenses but delicate focusing mechanism.
If you want something cheaper, go for a 6x9 Speed Graphic with a rollfilm back and a wide angle lens. Or even cheaper, an old 6x9 folder, but forget about the wide angle lens.
- In 6x7:
The Mamiya 7 is a great (expensive) camera with the finest (extremely expensive) lenses you can get. The FOV of its 43mm lens is the same as a 50mm on a 6x9 camera.
The Koni-Omega has great lenses as well and is much cheaper, but it is very heavy and its widest lens is only 58mm.
Nowadays, the best deals are with the 6x7 SLRs: Pentax 67, Mamiya RB, Bronica GS1. Many pro photographers are dumping them by the truckload to jump to the digital bandwagon. Lenses and accessories are plentiful and go for cheap.
Cheers,
Sebastien
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Like John suggested, I also would be happy to contribute to the site hosting fee to express my gratitude for making such a wealth of information available online and keeping it free of advertising. Robert's site is one of Internet's landmarks that should remain accessible for our own as well as future generations' sake.
If anyone knows how to contact Robert, please let us know.
Cheers,
Sebastien
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Harvey,
If you want wide, you'll have to turn to the ancestor of the GSW690 camera. The interchangeable lens G690/G690 BL/GL690 rangefinder cameras can be equipped with a 50mm superwide lens, which offers the same field coverage as a 21mm lens on 135 or a 43mm lens on 6x7. And the big 6x9 negative offers some real estate if you need to crop to panoramic format.
See
Cheers,
Sebastien
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Here is a genuine sports camera (although not really a MF):<div></div>
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Max,
Congratulations for the lens and thanks for posting the pictures. The 50mm is a wonderful lens with superb resolution, even wide open. Its only drawback is a little bit of distortion.
Regarding the need for accurate focusing with the 180mm lens, I think it is actually less than for the 50mm lens. We are speaking depth of focus here, which is shallower for wide angle lenses.
Josh, the G690, G690BL and GL690 are quite similar. The later GL690 feels a bit lighter in the hand than its previous siblings, the viewfinder is a little different and there are a few cosmetic changes but this is obviously the same camera. Unfortunately, the GL690's viewfinder was simplified by removing the lightshield curtain indicator and the frames labelling but the focusing ability remains exactly the same. The pressure plate design is a little different and it's a bit more convenient to switch from 120 to 220 on the GL690, but this is of no consequence regarding film flatness. I never use the GL690's secondary shutter release located near the lens on the front plate but some people might find it convenient. I think the standard strap eyelets on the G690/BL are much more usable than the Mamiya style lugs found on the GL690. The threaded eypiece on the GL690 allows to attach a diopter correction lens or an angled finder.
As you see, it's a mixed bag. I tend to prefer the earlier models (G690 and G690BL), which I find better constructed, but it's my own personal taste.
Hey, I love 6x9 too, by the way.
Cheers,
Sebastien
Fujica G690 online resource:
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Safdari,
If you really need close focusing, there is an close-up attachment for the Mamiya 7, allowing to focus down to 11" (27.5cm) with the 80mm lens. Focusing and framing are accurate, thanks to a wire frame showing the the actual image field in front of the lens.
Cheers,
Sebastien
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A mamiya C330s with 80/2.8 lens is 1/3 heavier than a 2.8 Rolleiflex. And built-in bellows is included!
Apart from the Rolleiflex, there are many more TLRs that never get discussed, like the gorgeous Koniflex with its 5 glass Heliar type lens, or the compact Rex Reflex, the first TLR with interchangeable lens :
http://perso.orange.fr/photoptic/1951rexreflex.jpg
Cheers,
Sebastien
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Hi Richard,
Here is a link to a superb resource on Pentax/Takumar 83/85mm lenses:
http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Pentax_Takumar_85mm.html
According to Frank Mechelhoff (the author of the above web page), the best lens is not the 85/1.9, but the SMC Takumar (M42) or SMC Pentax (K mount) 85/1.8, which has a slightly different optical formula.
Cheers,
S颡stien
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According to McKeown, the ConSol camera (not wearing the Pentacon brand) is "a rare name variation of the Pentacon (Contax D). Identical except for the factory-engraved ConSol Name." This camera first appeared in 1948 under the name Pentacon, then was sold concurrently under several names: Contax D (1952), Hexacon (1954), ConSol (1955) and even as a non branded "no-name" camera. It was produced by the former Zeiss-Ikon factory in Dresden, which eventually became part of the VEB Pentacon firm in 1964. The Contax FM is a later (1957), different model with built-in exposure meter.
Cheers,
Sebastien
Best lenses & flashes for weddings and receptions ?
in Pentax
Posted
If you end up with two bodies (and that is a absolute requirement if you are serious about shooting weddings), I would suggest you stay away from zooms and opt for two good quality prime lenses, so your pictures will stand out from the crowd of other photographers' pictures taken with zooms. Two lenses that I have and I can recommend are the Sigma 24/1.8 lens as a fast wide and the Pentax 77/1.8 Limited for portraits. The 24/1.8 has a very convenient "macro" feature, allowing close-up pictures. Both lenses are very sharp, have pleasant color and bokeh and are very fast. Even if you prefer using flash, it is always good to have fast lenses, if only for throwing the background out of focus. With these lenses, you'll have a small kit, light, versatile and delivering top quality pictures in any circumstances.
Of course, there are other lenses that might be better suited (like the fabulous Pentax FA*85/1.4), but these two lenses are top performers that are readily available within your budget.
Cheers!
Abbazz