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Snow with Mamiya SX 2.8/28mm, 1.7/85mm, and 3.5/200mm
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 8:14 pm    Post subject: Snow with Mamiya SX 2.8/28mm, 1.7/85mm, and 3.5/200mm Reply with quote

Yesterday I went out for a few hours, using the A7II with three Mamiya SX adapted: the Sekor SX 2.8/28mm, the rare SX 1.7/85mm, and the 3.5/200mm. Here are a few impressions.


Apple tree. Mamyia Sekor SX 2.8/28mm @ f2.8.




Forrest. Mamyia Sekor SX 2.8/28mm @ f5.6.



Inside the forrest. Mamiya Sekor SX 1.7/85mm @ f5.6.



In a small cottage hidden inside the forrest, these two Deutz tractors are waiting for better times. Mamiya Sekor SX 2.8/28mm @ f5.6.



Mamiya Sekor SX 1.7/85mm @ f1.7.



Winter mood. Mamiya Sekor SX 1.8/85mm @ f5.6.




Haircut. Mamiya Sekor CS 3.5/200mm @ f8.



Linden tree. Mamiya Sekor CS 1.7/85mm or 3.5/200mm (don't remember any more). f8.


S


PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quite beautiful.
We never see snow here and these are enchanting.
The 28mm is especially impressive
Tom


PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice pictures. And some interesting lenses there! I’m always surprised how tack sharp my SX 135/2.8 is wide open.


PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:16 pm    Post subject: Re: Snow with Mamiya SX 2.8/28mm, 1.7/85mm, and 3.5/200mm Reply with quote

stevemark wrote:
. . .

Winter mood. Mamiya Sekor SX 1.8/85mm @ f5.6.

. . .


Beautiful scenes. Did you need snow shoes to get around?

"Winter mood" is my favorite. I love the tree line across the frame.


PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 6:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Beautiful set of photos. The snow scene looks like B&W pencil sketch.


PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 7:02 am    Post subject: Re: Snow with Mamiya SX 2.8/28mm, 1.7/85mm, and 3.5/200mm Reply with quote

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Last edited by Blazer0ne on Tue Feb 22, 2022 6:42 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:31 pm    Post subject: Re: Snow with Mamiya SX 2.8/28mm, 1.7/85mm, and 3.5/200mm Reply with quote

caspert79 wrote:
Nice pictures. And some interesting lenses there! I’m always surprised how tack sharp my SX 135/2.8 is wide open.


Should have taken that one with me as well ... the 3.5/200mm has a quite good resolution (on 24 MP FF) even wide open, but a relatively low contrast and lots of longitudinal CAs at f3.5. LoCAs are still visible at f8, and gone only at f11. Images at f3.5 look a bit "airy" and lack the high contrast of other lenses such as the Minolta MC 4/200mm or the ED Nikkor AiS 2.8/180mm.


55 wrote:

Beautiful scenes. Did you need snow shoes to get around?

"Winter mood" is my favorite. I love the tree line across the frame.

No, it was just about 15 cm / 6 inches of snow. We used to have up to 50 cm / 20 inches when I was young, but those days are long gone Wink. However I've been living for some years in a hidden valley in the southern Swiss alps: There we sometimes had one meter of snow coming down in one night. And two meters of snow lying on the ground - which means your pathway from the house to the bus station (or the helicopter landing place) is lined with two snow walls, each one 2 m high Wink


Blazer0ne wrote:
I also thought some of these great photos were monochrome until I downloaded them and realized the Mamyia Sekor SX 2.8/28mm has some CA and it looks to be more in one corner.


I haven't yet checked the details yet ... Frankly, real world photography with the A7 series is a pain, at least compared to using the Sony A900 DSLR. Even though the weather certainly was dull, the viewfinder was too dark for precise focusing. And the two accus went from 150% (=100% & 50%) to zero within two hours and 120 images. Using the small camera in bad / cold weather is clumsy. That's also the reason why i publish only "100% corner crops" and lens testing stuff here at mflenses.com: For real work I prefer DSLRs and AF lenses. Only exception is the A7RII & Canon EF 4/17mm L ...

S


PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can understand that < 150 mm is not an issue. What puzzles me is it must have been cold, how did you manage changing lenses.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice shots Like 1


PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 7:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Slalom wrote:
I can understand that < 150 mm is not an issue. What puzzles me is it must have been cold, how did you manage changing lenses.


It was just around 0°C, so temperature was not an issue. However, since it still was snowing, the snowflakes were a bit annoying Wink. M42 is not the quickest lens mount to use.

Temperature was more an issue when, many moons ago, I spent a month in northern Finland (between -20°C and -30°C). At least for me - not used to these temperatures - changing lenses was difficult!!

That said, not far from here (about 20 km), and not high up in the mountains, it was -34.5°C (-30F) a few days ago Wink

S


PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 11:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I always thought that the best in these cases is to have at least 2 cameras.

Two bodies, two lenses. Not change lenses.

I'm doing that when take pics in the street.

More secure


PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 3:23 am    Post subject: Re: Snow with Mamiya SX 2.8/28mm, 1.7/85mm, and 3.5/200mm Reply with quote

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Last edited by Blazer0ne on Tue Feb 22, 2022 6:05 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 8:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes around freezing is not too bad. gave up 42mm when I paased a Yashica TL electro to my little brother when I acquired an OM2N.

To get snow like that I would need to travel way to far for the Covid Lockdown.

And I have given up a hike, when told the destination was -40F and winds were gusting to 100mph Mount Washington thank goodness for Park Rangers.


PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 12:51 pm    Post subject: Re: Snow with Mamiya SX 2.8/28mm, 1.7/85mm, and 3.5/200mm Reply with quote

papasito wrote:
I always thought that the best in these cases is to have at least 2 cameras.
Two bodies, two lenses. Not change lenses.
I'm doing that when take pics in the street.
More secure


I would have needed three cameras Wink

Joking aside, I simply had the A7II in my hands and the the two "other" lenses in my jacket pockets. Quite convenient. Changing lenses in bad whether using a bayonet mount is never a problem (only exception being the Canon FD mount).


Blazer0ne wrote:

It's always good to practice heads down focusing by distance scale as opposed to heads up though the viewfinder. Anyone should be able to judge the range distance to a line of trees, and then simply dial value into the lens. You can always focus bracket your way out of that.

Sounds great but in this case wasn't a solution since (of course) I wanted to check the performance of these lenses from "wide open" to "f8". In addition, my M42 adapter was specifically modified for the Mamiya SX lenses, and slightly machined down to allow for not perfectly "infinity-adjusted" M42 lenses to focus to infinity. Now, after machining it, its Sony E bayonet and its M42 thread are parallel to <10 um. That's a lot better than before.


Blazer0ne wrote:

I was actually wondering does the helical grease start to cease up and restrict focus movement?

Yes, of course the old grease of the Mamyia gets a bit more sticky (not sure if that's the right word). Not too bad around -5°C (23°F), though. Best vintage MF lenses in this regard are the Leica R as well as the Minolta MC-II and early MC-X lenses. They, at -5°C, focus as smoothly as at ambient temperature. Some (but only some) Ai/AiS Nikkors are equally well suited for cold temperatures, e. g. the Nikkor 8/500mm mirror lens (second version 1984).

Specifically to be able to use my lenses at lower temperatures, I have re-lubed some of them with the "33B" light grease from Losimol. Losimol is a German company producing a wide range of special greases; among their clients are both Leica and Zeiss. They specifically did recommend us their 33B, 3345, and 3346 greases for servicing the focusing thread of vintage MF lenses. Up to now I'm very pleased, but I've just about 3-4 years of experience with those greases.

S