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iangreenhalgh1
Joined: 18 Mar 2011 Posts: 15679
Expire: 2014-01-07
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Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 5:27 pm Post subject: Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar 0.7x wide-angle lens |
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iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
I found this in a local charity shop for 3ukp, so I thought it was worth trying, it was nearly 300USD new so not a cheap item.
It's a modern design with 4 elements, so should be much better than the common and cheap 2 element wider/macro attachments.
It's quite large, feels very solid and well made, rear thread is 55mm so it fits nicely onto my Hexanons. I tried it on my 3.5/28 EE Hexanon, just pointing out the back door because the weather is atrocious, but it gives some insight into what the lens does and does not do.
First thing I noticed was after adding the converter, the lens needed to be refocused to the 2m mark to obtain infinity.
Centre sharpness appears fine and holds up well into the corners, which are a little less sharp than the centre but still good.
100% crop from the centre, looks like it hasn't degraded the sharpness:
My next concern was CA in the edges, the cheaper converters are notorious for introducing CA, especially at the edges.
100% crops of top left and top right corners, some blue CA is visible but it's not objectionable and only really noticeable if pixel peeping, it only exists in the corners too so I'm happy to say CA isn't a problem with this converter.
Finally, distortion, the 0.7x converter on the 28mm Hexanon gives just over 19mm, which is pretty wide, so you would expect some barrel distortion.
Hmm, looks fairly free of distortion to me, but I don't know how to measure distortion other than with my eyes.
Here I drew some red lines on and you can see how the drainpipe on the left and the door on the right that form the verticals are still straight. Also, the diagonals formed by the wall and the garage roof are still straight lines too, so the distortion can't be very much.
So, I have to conclude from this initial test that this is an excellent piece of kit, it doesn't seem to degrade sharpness apart from very slightly in the corners, it doesn't introduce CA other than a tiny bit in the corners and it doesn't add a load of barrel distortion. _________________ I don't care who designed it, who made it or what country it comes from - I just enjoy using it! |
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dan_
Joined: 05 Dec 2012 Posts: 1058 Location: Romania
Expire: 2016-12-19
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Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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dan_ wrote:
Interesting results. What f-stop did you use? |
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iangreenhalgh1
Joined: 18 Mar 2011 Posts: 15679
Expire: 2014-01-07
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Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
Hi Dan, sorry, I forgot to mention that. F8, I focused on the TV aerials. _________________ I don't care who designed it, who made it or what country it comes from - I just enjoy using it! |
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ForenSeil
Joined: 15 Apr 2011 Posts: 2726 Location: Kiel, Germany.
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Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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ForenSeil wrote:
Looks pretty decent, especially compared to most of the other converters I've seen _________________ I'm not a collector, I'm a tester
My camera: Sony A7+Zeiss Sonnar 55/1.8
Current favourite lenses (I have many more):
A few macro-Tominons, Samyang 12/2.8, Noritsu 50.7/9.5, Rodagon 105/5.6 on bellows, Samyang 135/2, Nikon ED 180/2.8, Leitz Elmar-R 250/4, Celestron C8 2000mm F10
Most wanted: Samyang 24/1.4, Samyang 35/1.4, Nikon 200/2 ED
My Blog: http://picturechemistry.own-blog.com/
(German language)
Last edited by ForenSeil on Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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iangreenhalgh1
Joined: 18 Mar 2011 Posts: 15679
Expire: 2014-01-07
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Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
Yes, converters are largely not good at all, most are 2 elements and can be reversed for macro, those are definitely to be avoided. I had a 1970s Schneider Ultrawide Aspheric converter, figured that would be good, but it introduced a lot of CA and the corners were smeary, so that got sold ages ago and I lost interest in converters, then I saw this in the local charity shop and figured 'why not' I'd read that the modern 4 element types could be good, but the people writing about them were using small sensor bridge cameras so were only used to so-so IQ and not good judges. _________________ I don't care who designed it, who made it or what country it comes from - I just enjoy using it! |
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iangreenhalgh1
Joined: 18 Mar 2011 Posts: 15679
Expire: 2014-01-07
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
I tried it again today and I'm very surprised by the results, it really hasn't degraded the sharpness of the Hexanon at all. There is some very slight smearing on the very edges but that's to be expected with a 19mm fov. There is a tiny bit of CA on the very edges too, but you really have to pixel peep and look for it.
I think a good 28mm lens like the Hexanon 3.5/28 I used coupled with this converter is a far better budget ultrawide option than the low quality cheap ultrawides like the crappy Cosina 3.8/19 or Cosina 19-35 zoom.
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_________________ I don't care who designed it, who made it or what country it comes from - I just enjoy using it! |
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Attila
Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 57865 Location: Hungary
Expire: 2025-11-18
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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Attila wrote:
I never expect this result from a converter! Congrats! _________________ -------------------------------
Items on sale on Ebay
Sony NEX-7 Carl Zeiss Planar 85mm f1.4, Minolta MD 35mm f1.8, Konica 135mm f2.5, Minolta MD 50mm f1.2, Minolta MD 250mm f5.6, Carl Zeiss Sonnar 180mm f2.8
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iangreenhalgh1
Joined: 18 Mar 2011 Posts: 15679
Expire: 2014-01-07
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
I never expected it either, so I'm rather pleased with my little bargain.
I wonder if it will work with my 24mm Hexanon too, that would make a 16.8mm lens, which would be rather interesting to play with. _________________ I don't care who designed it, who made it or what country it comes from - I just enjoy using it! |
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Attila
Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 57865 Location: Hungary
Expire: 2025-11-18
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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Attila wrote:
iangreenhalgh1 wrote: |
I never expected it either, so I'm rather pleased with my little bargain.
I wonder if it will work with my 24mm Hexanon too, that would make a 16.8mm lens, which would be rather interesting to play with. |
17mm is a nice focal length, look forward it! _________________ -------------------------------
Items on sale on Ebay
Sony NEX-7 Carl Zeiss Planar 85mm f1.4, Minolta MD 35mm f1.8, Konica 135mm f2.5, Minolta MD 50mm f1.2, Minolta MD 250mm f5.6, Carl Zeiss Sonnar 180mm f2.8
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diffid
Joined: 05 Jun 2010 Posts: 16 Location: UK
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Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 9:52 pm Post subject: |
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diffid wrote:
ha ha, I too just bought one from a charity shop today for £5.00. , exact same adapter, in excellent condition.
Not sure what 35mm equivalent focal length lens to use with it though on an APS-C camera? Widest I have is a 30mm Lydith or nasty Canon EF-S kit lens 18mm at the widest. Loathed to use that though, I always focus manually and really dislike the horrid narrow focus ring on the EF-S range, at the end of the barrel, always seem to get my fingers in the shot and slightest knock it goes out of focus. |
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iangreenhalgh1
Joined: 18 Mar 2011 Posts: 15679
Expire: 2014-01-07
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Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 10:44 pm Post subject: |
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iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
Nice find for a fiver, these were 200 quid when new.
Try it on the Lydith, I used mine on 24 and 28mm lenses and it worked great so should work fine on the lydith.
If memory serves me, the Lydith has a 49mm front thread, the schneider converter is 55mm I think so you will need a stepping ring, dirt cheap on ebay from china. Some electricai tape will do to try it I think. _________________ I don't care who designed it, who made it or what country it comes from - I just enjoy using it! |
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stingOM
Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 3168 Location: Ireland
Expire: 2012-12-27
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Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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stingOM wrote:
Nice find. Looking forward to some more shots! |
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iangreenhalgh1
Joined: 18 Mar 2011 Posts: 15679
Expire: 2014-01-07
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Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
I forgot to post the second set of shots, this time I used the Hexanon 2.8/24, so this gives an ultra wide view equivalent to a 16.8mm lens. I think it works superbly well with the Hexanon 24 so next step it to try it on my Tokina 17mm, which would give a really flippin wide view.
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_________________ I don't care who designed it, who made it or what country it comes from - I just enjoy using it! |
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stingOM
Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 3168 Location: Ireland
Expire: 2012-12-27
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Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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stingOM wrote:
Very decent indeed considering it is a WA adapter on top of your prime. |
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iangreenhalgh1
Joined: 18 Mar 2011 Posts: 15679
Expire: 2014-01-07
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Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 11:26 pm Post subject: |
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iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
I think it actually outperforms my Tokina 17mm.
Some stitched shots:
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_________________ I don't care who designed it, who made it or what country it comes from - I just enjoy using it! |
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fuzzywuzzy
Joined: 18 Dec 2010 Posts: 1258 Location: Down East, Canada, eh?
Expire: 2013-11-30
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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 12:22 am Post subject: |
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fuzzywuzzy wrote:
Impressive! _________________ I welcome C&C, editing my pics and reposting them on the forum is fine.
NEX-F3
~~~~~~~~~
CZJ Sonnar 135/4, Biotar 58/2, Pancolar 50/2, Tessar 50/2.8, Flek 35/2.8, Flek 25/4
Super Takumar 135/2.5, 135/3.5, 100/4 bellows, 50/1.4, 28/3.5
Helios 58/2, 3M-5A 500/8, Mir 20M
Vivitar Series 1 70-210 - - - - - - - - Nikkor 200/4
Rikenon 28/2.8 - - - - - - - - Zeiss 50/1.7 Planar
PB 50/2.4, 135/2.8
Yashica 50/1.9, 28/2.8, 135/2.8
Hexanon 28/3.5, 50/1.4 |
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