Mamiya 645 45mm f2.8 edge sharpness

Phil Eide , Apr 01, 2008; 06:55 p.m.

Acquired a Mamiya 45mm F2.8 "S" wideangle lens about a year ago, to go with my 645E setup. I do a fair amount of landscape photography, camera tripod mounted, and with the mirror locked up.

On the finished negs, the center portion is extremely sharp, but about halfway out to the edge of the frame, the resolution drops-off significantly. Stopping down to f8 ~f11 helps a bit, but the soft edges are still noticeable.

For testing purposes, I have shot multiple test rolls of highly detailed contrasty subject matter from f2.8 to f22 , and the 45mm's poor perfomance is consistent; sharp in the center, soft edges.

I was wondering if other owners of this 45mm wideangle lens have experienced similar performance. Any comments would be appreciated.

- Phil Eide zdf33 at hotmail.com

OBTW, I also have the Mamiya 55mm f2.8 wideangle, and the performance is superb, sharp corner to corner once you stop down to f5.6 ~f16, far better than the 45mm.

Responses

Calvin Lee , Apr 01, 2008; 08:18 p.m.

You are correct, sir!

I have had the same experience with the 45mm C, Cs, & N. The 35mm lens is even softer on the edges. Here's one I took with the 45mm Cs:

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5187254-lg.jpg

And one I took with the 35mm C:

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/5593487-lg.jpg

I agree that the 55mm lens is very sharp from corner-to-corner. Other Mamiya 645 lenses that I have found to be very sharp are the 70mm Leaf-Shutter & 110mm f/2.8.

Russ Britt , Apr 01, 2008; 09:32 p.m.

I had a 645 with a 45mm, when the lens first became avaible....I guess 1979 or 1980. I thought it was pretty good. Got rid of that outfit a year latter, went Hassey.......can you say superwide....you would love it.But in all fairness the 50 hassey is not the sharpest lens......But The superwide is amazing.

Giovanni Cappai , Apr 02, 2008; 03:07 a.m.

Calvin I believe you have a bad sample of the 35. Here is one of mine with the 35 N and I don't think is soft as is yours:

Large photo attachment:
(Athens, Thisio, Under the Acropolis -- 891 x 1200 photo)

Jack Tripper , Apr 03, 2008; 12:04 a.m.

You are shooting with a 45mm on a 6x4.5 system and you're wondering why there is distortion on the edges of your film frames? The answer is: you are shooting with a 45mm in a 6x4.5 system and that is why you're getting distortion on the edges of your film frames.

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