30mm Arsat / ARAX lens?

[mikeklensch]

Greetings all,

I was wondering if any here have any experience using the 30mm Arsat / ARAX lens, and if there are any opinions about quality... especially wide open. I'm considering getting one for my Mamiya 645, and I intend to use it for aurora/night photography, and as a result, would want to shoot with it wide open. But I wonder how bad the aberrations are... especially coma which will show distictly in the stars.

Thanks for any feedback.

Mike

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Greetings all,

I was wondering if any here have any experience using the 30mm Arsat / ARAX lens, and if there are any opinions about quality... especially wide open. I'm considering getting one for my Mamiya 645, and I intend to use it for aurora/night photography, and as a result, would want to shoot with it wide open. But I wonder how bad the aberrations are... especially coma which will show distictly in the stars.

Thanks for any feedback.

Mike

I have one of these lenses that I shoot on my Arax MLU 88CM. It is a Multi-Coated Fisheye Lens and it performs surprisingly well - for the price. I have not tested it for coma.

 

[Summicron]

Mike -- I have used both the multi-coated and the coated versions of the 30mm Arsat, and, surprisingly, the normally coated lens was sharper than the multi-coated one. I assumed it was a matter of sample variations, which can be pretty wide with the Russian (or Ukrainian) equipment. Both, though, were very, very good lenses.

 

[mikeklensch]

Thank you both for the replies and your experiences. I think I'll probably take the plunge and look to get one. Now the only question is from which vendor... there is "DVD Technik", "ARAX" and "Kiev". With the variability in quality, I just hope I get lucky and get a good one.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Thank you both for the replies and your experiences. I think I'll probably take the plunge and look to get one. Now the only question is from which vendor... there is "DVD Technik", "ARAX" and "Kiev". With the variability in quality, I just hope I get lucky and get a good one.

Cheers,
Mike

I've had good luck buying from both "Kiev" (Mike in Georgia) and ARAX in Kiev.