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View Full Version : Schneider Symmar 150mm f5.6 combinable



troutmask
9-Dec-2006, 09:23
I am just about to buy a MPP VIII which comes with the above lens.
I understand that by removing the front element of the lens it can be used as a 265mm lens but is quite soft and requires stopping down. I am interested in using it at 265 for some portraits. I will most likely be taking these using available light (with a reflector or two) using HP5. Obviously I don't mind a little softness in the image but any advise on what f stop is the minimum before it becomes noticeable would be useful. I would rather push the film than get the image too soft to make a good print.
Thanks

Ole Tjugen
9-Dec-2006, 09:51
I believe this has been covered here before - repeatedly.

Wide open (f:11) the converted lens is quite visibly soft in the corners of a 4x5" film, at f:45 it's about as sharp as any other lens. The sharpness improvement seems to me to be quite linear - and I wouldn't hesitate to use it for landscapes at f:32 if that was the only way I could get the framing I wanted. The center is quite sharp at all apertures.

Richard Kelham
9-Dec-2006, 11:44
Mmm. Nice camera. But I doubt your sitters will find it very congenial having their portraits taken at f45. Even on HP5. Even in broad daylight.

Better to keep the Symmar in one piece and buy another lens for portraiture, something you can shoot at f8-11...



Richard