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View Full Version : Crazy idea, medium format lenses on rebel


Katzer1
29th of May 2007 (Tue), 04:50
Oki,

So i got this crazy idea into my head:
I'd like to try some medium size russian lenses (pentacon 6 mount) on my rebel.
Reason for this brave and ______ (feel free to add superlatives of your choosing in this blank) endeavour not fully ascertained yet. Let say that it has something to do with tilt shift lenses, tilt adapter (pent6->eos on ebay), concern about old lenses quality and the fact that a photography is my hobby and i like to play with gadgets and it makes me happy etc etc...

I dug through archives here and elsewhere on the web.
Hard to find samples of russian lenses on new digital 35mm slrs.

I encouraged by this example:
http://www.pbase.com/artemapei/image/48880276
it more or less shows that those lenses, while not modern Ls, are not complete garbage.

So I ask the good folks on this fine forum to share some of their experience on this subject, preferbly hands on experience.

I also have a quesition.
I can get a pent6->eos adapter or a pent6->m42 adapter.
With the m42 adapter, I can also get a M42->eos adapter off ebay that has circutry that tricks the camera into thinking an EF lens is attached, and thus turn on the focus confirm sensor.
What do you think of that idea?

Thank you!

Erez

Andy_T
29th of May 2007 (Tue), 05:06
Hi Erez,

not a totally crazy idea ... been there, done that.

Take a look e.g. here:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=144018&highlight=zeiss+jena
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=70506&highlight=zeiss+jena
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=298755&highlight=zeiss+jena

a decent primer on which lenses you can / can not use on your EOS
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=57023&highlight=zeiss+jena

and a dedicated manual focus forum
http://forum.manualfocus.org/

Some considerations ...
In general, because of the larger format, medium format lenses do not have to bring the same high resolution as 24x36 mm lenses. Especially for wide angle lenses, this can be a bit of a challenge. That's why I normally look at M42 lenses that are quite affordable and have serious quality.

Some tests:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=62616&highlight=nickles

Also, wide angle on a medium format is somewhere near 45 mm, which is not wide at all at a 1.6x crop body.
For t/s lenses, this is something to consider (as tilt shows more on a shorter lens). Take a look here:
http://www.rickdenney.com/hartblei.htm

Happy reading, hope it helps... :D

Best regards,
Andy