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Manufacturer Tokina Model SL-28 MF 28 mm f/2.8 Lens style Wide angle Focal length 28 mm Maximum aperture f/2.8 Angle of view 75.2 o Closest focusing distance 0.3 m Maximum magnification Minimum aperture 22 Number of diaphragm blades 0 Auto focus type MF Lens Construction 5 elements / 5 groups Filter diameter 49 mm Macro No Available mounts Canon EF Nikon F Contax & Yashica Pentax K Four Thirds Dimensions 0 x 0 mm Weight 160 g Additional information
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This post is mostly for "the record", in case someone else is looking for a 28mm lens to use with movements on a GFX outfit. However, I most definitely welcome suggestions if there is a miracle lens out there I don't know about.
Here's the backstory: the angle of view of a 28mm lens on a GFX sensor is about as wide as I like to go. I've been searching for a 28mm lens that has a large enough image circle to allow movements on a 33mm x 44mm sensor and which I can mount on the "adapters" I use to get movements.
There really aren't a lot of options out there. Here are the ones I've found:
- Pentax K 28mm f/3.5 shift lens
- Nikon PC-Nikkor 28mm f/3.5 shift lens
- Leica PC Super Angulon R 28mm f/2.8 [also available as a Schneider-Kreuznach lens for the Leica R system -- exact same lens]
- Schneider-Kreuznach Digitar 28mm f/2.8 [same optics as the Leica/Schneider for R]
- Hasselblad HCD 28mm f/4
- Phase One 28mm LS f/4.5
- Mamiya 645 AF 28mm f/4.5 D Aspherical
- Rodenstock HR Digaron 28mm f/5.6
Unfortunately, this is where the empty bottle idea comes in...
- I've tried two copies of the Nikon PC-Nikkor shift lens and one copy of the Pentax K shift lens. Some lenses just don't make the transition from film to digital, and these are two. They just don't cut it on a GFX 50R: weak at the edges and corners, even at f/11 or f/16, and just generally weak resolving power.
- The MTF charts from Schneider-Kreuznach Digitar lens show very poor performance, and I haven't read any positive user feedback.
- Schneider-Kreuznach made the Leica R 28/2.8 lens, and sold it under its own name. I believe [but am not positive] that the two R versions are the same optics as the "Digitar". Some users of the R lenses seem happy enough, even on GFX, but many note modest [weak] performance. All versions are expensive. On the plus side, I think I could mount them easily enough [with some major disassembly].
- The Hasselblad HCD lens has a great reputation, but it's a rear-focusing lens [so needs to stay in the helical] and I'd have to remount it to control the aperture, because it's fully electronic; I don't even know if that's possible, and it's not a cheap lens. It has a 60mm image circle, so there would be coverage for some movements.
- The Phase One and Mamiya 28mm lenses seem to be the same optics; both versions are held in low esteem. The most enthusiastic comment I've seen was that at f/16 they can be usable. They're also electronically controlled, big and heavy, and would require significant and irreversible hacking if I could mount them at all.
- The Rodenstock HR Digaron seems to be a decent lens, but it's very expensive and the flange distance makes it incompatible with a GFX camera.
Where does that leave me? Thankfully, I'm not high and dry because I have two "work arounds".
- Cropping my Samyang 24mm f/3.5 shift lens to a 28mm angle of view gives decent results at f/11 and f/16. It's definitely leagues better than the best I could get from the Pentax K and Nikkor lenses, but it's not in the same league as my other lenses. The downside is cropping on two axes, which I hate doing. I could splash out for a suitable adapter and a Canon TS-E II 24mm f/3.5 lens, but that's even more weight and expense, and I'd still be cropping.
- Flat stitching my Pentax-A 645 35/3.5 on a Fotodiox Tilt ROKR gives excellent results. "What's the big deal you ask? Just do that!" Well, yes. But flat stitching doesn't always work [e.g., movement in the frame]; composing is much harder, and I'm finicky about precise composition; and it's one more piece of gear to carry because [unfortunately] my main field adapter [my MAB Camera] lacks the precision to flat stitch so I have to carry the Fotodiox part just for that.
So for posterity, that's what I've found in this long and quixotic quest to find a 28mm lens that allows movements.
If anyone reading this has a suggestion for something I've missed, I'm all ears.
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