Superstar lenses for the Mamiya 645 Pro?

Hi,

I have a Mamiya 645 Pro and and excellent 80/1.9 lens, but was wondering if there are any other "gems" in their lens lineup?

Ones that either have a unique look or are known for their sharpness.

Thanks,

Mark

110/2,8 maybe?

The Macro A 120/4 N is very sharp. It's probably the Mamiya lens I use most (on a Canon 5D2).
The 150/2.8 N is nice.
The APO's are reportedly very nice, as are examples from them, but I've never used them.
The 110/2.8 N is a nice lens but maybe not in the same category as the A 120/4 N. They are different lenses, with different applications.

In my experience, they are quite consistent across the line.

I have now or have had in the past: 45mm (old and new) 55mm f/2.8 N, 70mm L/S, 80mm f/2.8 C, 80mm f/4 macro N, 110mm f/2.8, 150mm f/3.5, 210mm f/4

I started off with a 645AF with no lenses, just an adapter to my P6 Zeiss lenses.
I've since picked up a 45mm N which has got me some wonderful shots on Velvia 50 and Efke 25, a 35mm C a few weeks ago that I've yet to try (although i've got an undeveloped test-roll of PanF50 shot on it), and a 45mm AF in the post (so i'll probably sell the MF 45mm when that comes).

I'm constantly on the lookout for an 80/1.9 in my price-range, but I've also wondered what are the 'character' lenses in the M645-range, they all seem to be rather 'consistent' as Matt said. No equivalent of the 50'cron with the 3D or the Helios 85/1.5 with the funky-bokeh, just good solid performers.
Has anyone used either the 200mm or 300mm APO lenses? I'm sure that I'll never afford them (OK, I can afford them right now, I just can't justify them), just wondering if they're actually worth the $1k+ I see them go for...

Best thing about m645 is that you can get an adapter to use Pentacon6 and Pentax 67 lenses, if we count them then my best two lenses on m645 would be my Zeiss 120/2.8 MC Biometar and 180/2.8 MC Sonnar...

Dr Croubie said:

Best thing about m645 is that you can get an adapter to use Pentacon6 and Pentax 67 lenses, if we count them then my best two lenses on m645 would be my Zeiss 120/2.8 MC Biometar and 180/2.8 MC Sonnar...

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I'm very curious about these lenses. When you say "best" do you mean sharpness, character, other?

Also, there appear to be multiple versions of those lenses. Any insight into the differences?

Thanks,

Mark

These lenses are amazing. The 180/2,8 is among the lenses with the best bokeh (outside LF) I´ve ever seen. And it is sharp! 120mm is great too. I see no great use in adapting the 120mm anyway since you can buy the 110/2,8 from Mamiya. But the 180mm is definitely worth a try.

olwick said:

I'm very curious about these lenses. When you say "best" do you mean sharpness, character, other?

Also, there appear to be multiple versions of those lenses. Any insight into the differences?

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Best? They make me look cool. Nothin' sexier than a zeiss lens hanging off a big camera around your neck.

That, and they're cheap. $100-200 is a decent fleabay price.

The versions basically ran from (I think) some early silver, to Zebra, to black body, to black MC, to black with RedMC. (and the 180 Sonnar was available in a 1936 Berlin-Olympics version, P6, M42 and L39 mounts. 18 blades, later has 5-9 (I'm too lazy to count mine)).
AFAIK the optics were always the same, just better coatings. At some point the Jena factory wasn't allowed to use the Zeiss names, so they got called 'ausJENA' 'bm' and 's'. More info at www.pentaconsix.com (I'm late for work now, but i'll see if I can get a sample shot or two scanned tonight)