Mamiya 50mm C shift Lens - Thoughts / Experiences

IanBarber · Apr 9, 2016

I have seen a Mamiya 50mm C shift Lens for sale which has got me interested for my 645 Pro.

Currently, I only have the 80mm lens for the camera and sometimes I am finding it a little to long which got me thinking about something a little wider.

I do have a 24mm PCE lens for my digital setup and I do enjoy using the shift function especially for correcting verticals on buildings which is why I suddenly became interested when noticing the Mamiya 50mm C shift Lens for sale.

Thought Process.
Without applying any shift movement, this would give me a wider lens than my current 80mm al-biet not as fast but I use a tripod 99% of the time but at the same time would give me shift for when I need to correct verticals. (Win Win on both accounts, I am thinking.

Would be interested to hear any comments regarding my thought process and also any user experiences with this lens please.

RalphLambrecht · Apr 9, 2016

IanBarber said:
I have seen a Mamiya 50mm C shift Lens for sale which has got me interested for my 645 Pro.

Currently, I only have the 80mm lens for the camera and sometimes I am finding it a little to long which got me thinking about something a little wider.

I do have a 24mm PCE lens for my digital setup and I do enjoy using the shift function especially for correcting verticals on buildings which is why I suddenly became interested when noticing the Mamiya 50mm C shift Lens for sale.

Thought Process.
Without applying any shift movement, this would give me a wider lens than my current 80mm al-biet not as fast but I use a tripod 99% of the time but at the same time would give me shift for when I need to correct verticals. (Win Win on both accounts, I am thinking.

Would be interested to hear any comments regarding my thought process and also any user experiences with this lens please.

My experience with Mamiya lenses(not this one)sre so good,I'd trust them blindly.

Drew B. · Apr 9, 2016

I used that lens for many years (bought new in the mid 90's) and loved every minute of it. I finally decided to go all LF for architecture and sold my mamiya equipment.

Drew B. · Apr 9, 2016

In fact I still have many filters for that lens.

IanBarber · Apr 9, 2016

Drew B. said:
In fact I still have many filters for that lens.

Slightly off topic but could you advise on a filter for increasing contrast between the clouds and blue sky. We do not get the deep rich blue skies here in the Uk, I have tried a yellow K2 but im not that keen on what it does to the grass, seems to lighten them to much.

itsdoable · Apr 9, 2016

I have the Mamiya 50mm f/4 shift lens, but it has been modified by Zork to fit a Hasselblad V. I reviewed it at (http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=85869.msg720733#msg720733) as I bought it from a forum member there.

Although it's not on a M645 Pro, the optical results should be similar. Keep in mind that shift lenses have manual stop down apertures (only electronically activated lenses, like the Canon EF, have auto apertures).

Filters: for B&W, the classic filter to bring out contrast in the clouds (without going overboard) is a yellow filter. To make it more dramatic, you can use a red filter. Orange is in between. Think of it as filtering out the blue of the sky, then the less blue light that reaches the film, the darker it gets. For colour, you can use a polariser.

IanBarber · Apr 9, 2016

Something has just come to mind regarding the shift lens.

If using a spot meter to calculate exposure, say you put the darkest part where you wan to retain detail in zone III, do you need to make any adjustments if you are using the shift function ?

wiltw · Apr 9, 2016

IanBarber said:
Something has just come to mind regarding the shift lens.

If using a spot meter to calculate exposure, say you put the darkest part where you wan to retain detail in zone III, do you need to make any adjustments if you are using the shift function ?

You only need to make exposure readings with an UNshifted lens (and then shift the lens to take the shot) when you are using any TTL metering, according to the doctrine of Olympus with TTL metering cameras and their shift lenses (their 24mm PC lens seen in my avatar). If using handheld meters, just take the reading and apply the settings to the camera and lens unaltered.

ic-racer · Apr 9, 2016

Shift does not change angle of view, focusing does, however. Some wide lenses have considerable light falloff at the perimeter of the image circle. Exposure compensation may or may not be needed.

Neil Grant · Apr 9, 2016

IanBarber said:
Slightly off topic but could you advise on a filter for increasing contrast between the clouds and blue sky. We do not get the deep rich blue skies here in the Uk, I have tried a yellow K2 but im not that keen on what it does to the grass, seems to lighten them to much.

I have the 50mm f/4 shift for Mamiya 645, and in terms of FOV it's like a 35mm pc for 'full frame' Nikon. (But with a bit more top and bottom because of the squarer 645 frame). IIRC the lens is manual diaphragm - not even preset. The lens works well and is sharp at sensible apertures. I think you need to be a bit careful with your choice of tripod head to allow lens rotation - and there's all the usual problems of tiny, tiny controls if you have an original M 645.
With regard to filters for blue skies, in think orange gives the best effect. Red can give rather flat results - probably because of a near infra red effect - where a lot of objects (like grass reflect quite strongly)

IanBarber · Apr 9, 2016

Neil Grant said:
and there's all the usual problems of tiny, tiny controls if you have an original M 645.

I m using the 645 Pro. Do you mean the controls on the lens. If so surely they cant be any smaller or worse my Nikon PCE lens.

Neil Grant · Apr 9, 2016

IanBarber said:
I m using the 645 Pro. Do you mean the controls on the lens. If so surely they cant be any smaller or worse my Nikon PCE lens.

.... The camera controls. The shutter lock is difficult to get at if the tripod platform is large, and screwing a cr into the shutter button is no joy either. Maybe your cam is different compared to the M 645. The 50 shift has no lock on movement, unlike the PC E Nikkors, so the mechanism is more like the shift-only PC Nikkors in this respect.

IanBarber · Apr 9, 2016

Ah.. So you cannot lock the shift to the centre and and then unlock it if you want to use the shift movement, is this what your saying

Neil Grant · Apr 9, 2016

IanBarber said:
Ah.. So you cannot lock the shift to the centre and and then unlock it if you want to use the shift movement, is this what your saying

There's no lock on the shift. The movement is deliberately stiff so as NOT to require one. Just like the original PC Nikkors - and a whole lot slicker than how a PC E works - which just 'flops all over the place' when unlocked.

John Koehrer · Apr 9, 2016

You can use a graduated filter. They're split, typically clear on the bottom and pick your color on top

Mamiya 50mm C shift Lens - Thoughts / Experiences

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency