thompsonks
Well-known
I just acquired a 0.7 Mutar that must have been in a collection, because it didn't seem to have been mounted on a camera – no contact marks at all. I can use any advice on how to feed it, care for it, & take pictures. These are the pictures I took on its first day out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thompsonkirk/sets/72157626878815260/
So far, I've figured out these things – but wonder which are on the right track, & what else I ought to know:
1. Correct exposure seems to be + 1/2 stop.
2. Sharpest aperture = f11. I read that they were never meant to be used below f8, so I tested & found center sharpness to be best at f11. Maybe the criticisms of Mutars that I saw on the Internet came from people who didn't know they were supposed to stop them down so far?
3. They seem rooted in the era of BW photography, when they were young. Their rendering of color seems a bit erratic.
4. Colors have weak saturation & BW has quite a bit of flare, especially if the sun is behind the subject or there's a lot of sky in the picture or the subject is quite a bit darker than the background. Nothing new here, these things always happen to some extent; but they seem extreme for this lens/adapter. I think it's because it has 9 elements? (Planar = 5 elements; & I read the Mutar has 4 more?)
Anything else I ought to know about WA Mutar & how to use it?
I should add that the main problem I foresee is addiction. I really like 6x6WA. I had a WA Rollei a long time ago, but it wasn't very sharp (even after servicing by RolleiAmerica), so I sold it to buy a view camera & WA Dagor. But after the onslaught of camera collecting, I couldn't or shouldn't afford to buyone again. Oh for a new one.
Kirk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thompsonkirk/sets/72157626878815260/
So far, I've figured out these things – but wonder which are on the right track, & what else I ought to know:
1. Correct exposure seems to be + 1/2 stop.
2. Sharpest aperture = f11. I read that they were never meant to be used below f8, so I tested & found center sharpness to be best at f11. Maybe the criticisms of Mutars that I saw on the Internet came from people who didn't know they were supposed to stop them down so far?
3. They seem rooted in the era of BW photography, when they were young. Their rendering of color seems a bit erratic.
4. Colors have weak saturation & BW has quite a bit of flare, especially if the sun is behind the subject or there's a lot of sky in the picture or the subject is quite a bit darker than the background. Nothing new here, these things always happen to some extent; but they seem extreme for this lens/adapter. I think it's because it has 9 elements? (Planar = 5 elements; & I read the Mutar has 4 more?)
Anything else I ought to know about WA Mutar & how to use it?
I should add that the main problem I foresee is addiction. I really like 6x6WA. I had a WA Rollei a long time ago, but it wasn't very sharp (even after servicing by RolleiAmerica), so I sold it to buy a view camera & WA Dagor. But after the onslaught of camera collecting, I couldn't or shouldn't afford to buyone again. Oh for a new one.
Kirk
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