The "New Gear/Willy Waving" thread

V-Spec said:
Bit the bullet..

Spent the last few weeks trying all manner of kit out, tried second hand phase one rigs, Nikon D800s and D800E, ended up going with a 645D:

http://i.imgur.com/GlLhaKV.jpg[/IG]

Almost went for the 645Z, but it's nearly £7k and comes with loads of features I simply won't use.. I almost went for a D800E - which would have been the cheaper option, but having shot 5x4 for the last 5 years, the 3:2 aspect ratio of 35mm just totally turned me off, I missed the height in the frame, most of my shots I tend to work with big foregrounds and stuff - 3:2 is either too wide, or portraits are too skinny.

Managed to get one of the legendary old manual focus 35mm (26mm equiv) A lenses off ebay for £350, sharp as hell - easily as sharp as the P45+ rig and the hasselblad H4D rigs I tried.

Need to learn how to shoot digital now, the thing is like a toy compared to 5x4 rofl :D[/QUOTE]

I was seriously looking at the 645Z but the lack of top notch glass put me off. Have you tried the newest digital lenses on the 645D?
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Above&Beyond said:
I was seriously looking at the 645Z but the lack of top notch glass put me off. Have you tried the newest digital lenses on the 645D?
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Well,

I've bought the older manual focus "A" series lenses, which are frighteningly good quality if you get the right ones, I bought a 75mm "A" F2.8 off Ebay for £80 second hand, and it's freakish sharp with no distortion at F5.6 and beyond, as sharp as anything I tested with the Hasselblad/Phase one rigs, I've basically just done lots of research on what to buy and what to avoid - there isn't that much choice, but I only use it for landscapes - I don't need big sport optics.

I also got a 35mm "A" manual focus lens, (26mm equiv) and it's REALLY good, sharp, low distortion etc, it's indistinguishable from any of the £3000 Hasselblad lenses I tried with a H4D, or the ones I tried with the Leaf Aptus II or the P45+

Bearing in mind, I'm used to shooting 5x4 with Schneider super-angulon XL lenses, I know when an image is sharp - I'm totally impressed with the 645D, I got it for a silly cheap price and I'll admit I did draw in through my teeth a bit when I handed my money over as the vintage lenses were an unknown, but I'm loving it so far.

I'd spoken to Richoh EU about the 645Z quite a bit, and had a good go with their sample model, but I had the following reservations,

1.> It comes with loads of stuff I simply won't use (Video, insane high ISO, etc) as I only want to do landscapes,

2.> It costs £7k for the body..

3.> Availability is a problem, I had money to put down - but the earliest date anyone could agree too was September/October, and I really want it for August because I have a big photography trip to the US scheduled,

4.> The alternative system was a D800E, most comparisons had already pointed out that the 645D was either indistinguishable from the D800E or *slightly* better, BUT I much prefer the aspect ratio of 4:3 (having shot 5x4 for 5 years) so that's the only reason I went with the Pentax really.
 
Above&Beyond said:
What made you go for the Canon and not the Minolta 70-210 f/4 beercan?
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Availability and the fact i already have an FD converter. Its not a lens im going to be using often so an average one will do me fine. These long lenses look odd mounted on the A7R, i need to get hold of a tripod support for this lens not a fan of it hanging off the mount of the camera.
 
my "latest" toy

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eyyaz said:
CVP. They announced the new price of £354 on facebook and i got one within minutes :o
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Nice, I ordered from 3DBroadcast @ Pinewood for £332 all in when it was annnounced (pricing error) and they still honoured the price. Should have gone for CVP so I'd have it now, but I don't have an adapter to mount my lenses so maybe it's for the best. Have you tried it out yet?
 
Soooo we were talking filters the other day after I'd received the new B+W nano clears...


Here's what happened today:

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It's settled. lesson learnt, I will only use a filter on lenses that require one for weather sealing. My 35mm now has a tiny chip on the front element from the above filter shattering. I might have it seen to by Fixation but it isn't large enough to affect images so maybe I'll just leave it and get it done when I've got something else that needs servicing and do both at once.

Here's the aftermath, I had to use pliers to rip off the brass filter thread as it had bent internally and would not turn off. Also there's a little nick on the lens thread mount, no big deal on that though.

A26A1425.jpg


Did I ever mention that I get the best luck with products? :p
 
True but I can see the lens being fine had I not had a filter on there the angle at which the camera fell off my bag onto the floor. Not even from a height either, few inches... The plastic filter thread would have absorbed the impact and there's a big gap between thread housing and the front element too. Because it hit the UV filter brass thread the glass compressed as the thread dented in and boom :(
 
Well, you now have a slightly scratched lens that has a light scratch that doesn't show up and you can fix at your own timetable.

Or

You could have had a bent front thread, shatter glass, or broken lens that stopped you from shooting altogether

Or

you could have dropped it and nothing happened......
 
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