John McMaster Posted February 12, 2015 Share #1 Posted February 12, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) A quick comparison of the Mamiya 645 300mm f2.8 APO to the Leica Modular 560mm f4 APO (big head with 1.4x focussing). The focussing unit needs recalibrated by Wetzlar to allow infinity focus with the S, my 1.4x has had that done but not my 2x. Test is 300mm stopped down 2 stops (f11 for exposure) vs the 560mm at f5.6. Pretty close and the 300mm combo is much lighter..... The 1.4x APO extender causes vignetting in the corners on the 560. Mamiya 300/2.8 + 2x vs 560/4 john Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 12, 2015 Posted February 12, 2015 Hi John McMaster, Take a look here Mamiya 300/2.8 APO +2x vs 560/4. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
menos I M6 Posted February 12, 2015 Share #2 Posted February 12, 2015 John, are you sure everything is alright with that sample from the Mamiya 300/2.8 APO + 2x TC ? I have used mine quite a bit on the S2 and it has proven an exceptionally good optic (right on par with equally good contemporary Nikon super telephotos). Your sample shot looks disastrous in comparison to what I remember this lens to look like. Even at full aperture WITH the 2x Mamiya extender it should look fairly good, not to comment about using it stopped down by two stops. My first thought on the look of the sample shot was a combination of: out of focus + camera/lens movement + bad atmospheric condition. At two stops down this combo should be razor-sharp on the S2. I found that the S2 needs a SERIOUSLY heavy tripod with long lenses and certain shutter speeds are to be prevented if possible. I use my Mamiya 300/2.8 with or without extender usually on a stick and not handheld (heaviest RRS mono head + heaviest RRS monopod) and use the usual long lens monopod technique to shoot (movement only from upper body, rotation from the hip during panning, stable leg stance, lens weighted down on hood with left hand, …). With the Mamiya 300/2.8 APO I always use the focus limiter to fine adjust my infinity (the lens focusses PAST infinity for temperature extension). This works absolutely sweet to quickly shoot precisely at infinity (or any other focus point you fine adjust in advance to have a second focus point apart from manually focussing on the screen). Also make absolutely sure to use a drop in filter as these lenses use the drop-in filter as part of their optical formula. Another potential issue can be the Mamiya extender used. In fact I went through several units of the 2x Extender to verify on really nice sample. Here is a shot with the lens wide open @f2.8 (f5.6 considering the light loss with the TC2x) WEC 6 hours of Shanghai - Fri - No 71 AF Corse by teknopunk.com, on Flickr You can actually read the "Ferrari" within the Ferrari label on the hood in the 2:1 blowup in Lightroom. It is slightly soft wide open when shot with the 2x TC. As a good comparison to me acts the current Nikon 300/2.8 VR and either the current aspherical TC2x or the non aspherical TC2x. The Mamiya TC2x has a bit of the character of Nikons older spherical TC design - when shot wide open, the image has a veil of softness - nothing extreme, but you know it when you see it. Once stopped down one or ideally two stops it looks blistering sharp and crystal-clear. The strength of the Mamiya 300/2.8 APO is how fantastic it works with high contrast edges - no color aberrations to clean up! At the current second hand prices, this is indeed the best buy for the Leica S system - a bargain lens if you will! Here is one stopped down two stops to ~f5.6: 300/2.8 APO + TC2x @ 1/125sec, ISO320 The Porsche part number code printed on the side windows can be clearly read in the 2:1 blowup in Lightroom. Order your replacement polycarbonate windows for your Porsche 911 (997) RSR from this shot and they will fit right away ;-) I am a huge fan of the Mamiya 300/2.8 APO as you might read ;-) and hope your's is sound as it should be - great lens! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McMaster Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share #3 Posted February 12, 2015 Probably heat haze, that was taken from over 2 miles away on a hot day ;-) It was more to do as a comparison with the Leica Modular 560/4 and I think it did very well.... john Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darylgo Posted February 13, 2015 Share #4 Posted February 13, 2015 Thanks for posting this comparison. I purchased a 200mm and 300mm Mamiya Apo for my Contax 645 and was happy that Leica made an adapter for the S. Both are phenomenal optics, the only disappointment is similar to what you say here, atmospheric haze degrades the image. I am quite surprised the Mamiya with converter would compete with the Leica optics, and would be interested in any further tests you perform. When using the 200mm the focusing accuracy is mostly perfect however sometimes not, using the Leica focus viewfinder indication dot. Therefore I have to look at the screen at full magnification to find perfect focus, this can make a big difference in image quality. I don't have the split image screen preferring the grid screen for keeping horizons straight. I was able to compare the Leica 180mm S lens to the Mamiya 200mm, unfortunately the Leica lens was a poor sample and the Mamiya was far superior, which it shouldn't be given the stellar performance expected when looking at the 180mm MTF curves. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McMaster Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share #5 Posted February 13, 2015 I have shown some examples in the R section. The Leica 280/4 with 1.4x is higher quality until f8 than the 400/4 (small head, 1.4x focussing). The Mamiya 200 would have to be very stunning to better the 180S ;-) john Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markstade Posted March 7, 2015 Share #6 Posted March 7, 2015 I find the said is not fair to the Leica Modul System! You can not get reliable results, if you shoot under this terrible seeing conditions! The Mamiya might be a good lens, but to judge on that , image should be made wide open (good example is a car's No plate in the sunshine) , if possible with a small pixel sensor at 100 % crop! One year ago I was sceptical about the Modul-System, but then I got my 2.8/400mm Modul. My 2.8 400mm Modul with 1.4x Extender and 2x Extender wide open will show clear Images on such a huge Sensor like the S2. It only will show some CA if using 2 Extenders. I do filming in 4K with 2.5 crop sensor, wide open no problem! The only problem is seeing conditions and some CA at this insane magnifications (2800mm) My Leica 2.8/400mm Pre-modul lens with 1.4x and 2x Extenders results in an f8/1100mm lens and I can resolve at 95m distance 2 Lp/mm = 1mm at 380m. Stopping down from 2.8 to 3.2 resolution was gone due to diffraction. My calculations suggest, at 4km (maybe more) a German car No plate is readable. I am planning to do this tests this summer again and make and upload a video about. Low resolution resized images looking good, but proves nothing without 100 % crops. Any medium quality lens on a big high quality sensor stopped down 2 stops will look very sharp! If we compare the Mamiya with a Leica Super telephoto lenses, then only wide open, even with extenders. A healthy Leica R Apo lens you not need to stop down on a S2! Only a convincing test shoot on the moon and Copernicus crater can prove, how good a optic really is! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McMaster Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share #7 Posted March 9, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have no interest in 4K video, I test on the cameras I would want to use the lenses on (and for subjects I may use them for) and the S2 is the only one for which I have adapters for both. I know that the Mamiya has a bit of coma wide open and is at its best at f5.6 or f8. I may shoot another test at closer range to see the comparisons I will use the Leica lens on my M(type 240) and R9/DMR, and I have a 280/4 as well, but I own no other camera systems.... Have you used an S range camera? john Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.