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View Full Version : Horseman 2X converter - any information?



Mark Malnes
20-May-1999, 00:09
Greetings All, I recently purchased a Horseman 45FA and noticed they also offer a "doubler" which mounts behind the lens board to multiply the focal length of t he lens. Has anyone had any experience with this? Is there a loss of sharpness/c ontrast similar to the same thing in the 35mm world? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanx!

andrea milano
20-May-1999, 03:56
Hallo Mark and all readers of this! I was owner of a Horseman tele-converter which I originally bought because I wanted to take as little weight as possible with me while shooting portraits on location. Well, I sold it againg after some time because the thing is that, if not for landscape, using it would prove very difficult with many cameras. The flange distance, unlike all 35mm or medium format converters, when using in conbination of the reccomended 150mm it is approx. 30cm (300mm effective focal lenght), so , many field cameras, notably the product to which this converter would be most suited, have an extention of the rail which doesn't exeed the 35cm. This means that there is no way for you to make a close up portrait with this converter, in order to use it for portraits I had to use a close up lens (+ 2), note that the image circle stays the one of your 150mm(+ -) very tight in landscapes! Other than that, the lens is great(!) if you can live with a considerable drop ( two stops obviously!) of the luminosity of the image projected on the ground glass (focusing in this conditions can be a drag at any age). It is verry good in both tones rendering and exeptionally good in contrast.This is due to the 7 elements(some are fluorite low dispersion ones,if memory serves me right) I might be wrong about the number of elements. However buy if you want, it is a lightweight photo-aid for your 150mm (if you have one!) for occasional long-focal photography. You'll loose two stops and your image circle won't be all that much but.... now you know, don't worry about quality, it is superb. My question is: if you need a inexpensive lightweight long lens why not buy a repro lens monted in shutter like a Rodenstock Apo-Ronar 300mm f9. They are cheap(ish) very good in colour and contrast and more luminous! think about it! Good luck