Fun with MF images 2024

[MGrayson]

Today I went out to test my newly acquired SK Apo-Digitar 5.6/35 XL.

This is the third shot I've made with it, my CFV-50c Mk1 and my Cambo WDS, in Berlin (Germany):

View attachment 212188

The linearity of this symmetrical design is palpable, it gives a totally different feeling to the images than my Hasselblad 40 IF, even after software distortion correction. I'm together impressed and perplexed!
As for the sharpness, I have a clear misalignment somewhere. The center is perfectly in focus, the right side is pretty good but the left side is slightly smeared/out-of-focus.

I need to test more in order to understand whether it is a lens internal misalignment of whether it is my digital back interface that is not shimmed correctly, although I must say that I never noticed this when using my V lenses on the WDS.

Anyway, I like this image, as it has something surreal in it. Recently I started to like to always inject a surreal atmosphere to my images.

You may wonder why the heck I've acquired the SK 35 XL when I have a really badly compatible digital back? Well, because I'm waiting for the PDAF issue fix in order to switch to the CFV-100c. So, cross fingers!

I had an SK 35XL. It was knocked out of alignment (badly enough to warp the Cambo plate) and was never again sharp on both sides even after two repairs. Yes, it was my fault. The Center Filter stuck out beyond the Cambo protection bars and gave a large lever arm on the lens mount. It is, as you say, an extremely linear lens, so I hope you get your alignment issues fixed.

 

[Whisp3r]

Anyway, I like this image, as it has something surreal in it. Recently I started to like to always inject a surreal atmosphere to my images.

I see what you mean. It kind of reminds me of a movie still from one of Nikolaus Geyrhalter's films.

 

[Whisp3r]

Concrete melancholy. The remaining structure of a brutalistic architectural building (arch. Geo & Dirk Bontinck) from the seventies waits patiently for the moment when it will be repurposed as a residential building covered in a glass shell. The full process will take five years. Shot in Gent, Belgium, with an Arca Swiss RM3di, an IQ4 150, and a Schneider-Kreuznach Apo-Digitar 5.6/43XL at f/11 and 10mm rise. Still learning how to work with a technical camera, it's a very pleasant way to make photographs.

 

[lookbook]

preseason ...
Fujifilm GFX 50r | GF 50mm F3.5 R LM WR ​

 

[vjbelle]

Today I went out to test my newly acquired SK Apo-Digitar 5.6/35 XL.

This is the third shot I've made with it, my CFV-50c Mk1 and my Cambo WDS, in Berlin (Germany):

View attachment 212188

No rise/fall and no shift. CF on the lens and LCC applied.

The linearity of this symmetrical design is palpable, it gives a totally different feeling to the images than my Hasselblad 40 IF, even after software distortion correction. I'm together impressed and perplexed!
As for the sharpness, I have a clear misalignment somewhere. The center is perfectly in focus, the right side is pretty good but the left side is slightly smeared/out-of-focus.

I need to test more in order to understand whether it is a lens internal misalignment of whether it is my digital back interface that is not shimmed correctly, although I must say that I never noticed this when using my V lenses on the WDS.

Anyway, I like this image, as it has something surreal in it. Recently I started to like to always inject a surreal atmosphere to my images.

You may wonder why the heck I've acquired the SK 35 XL when I have a really badly compatible digital back? Well, because I'm waiting for the PDAF issue fix in order to switch to the CFV-100c. So, cross fingers!

The 35XL is a finicky lens. I've owned mine for a long time and many years ago sent it back to Schneider for alignment. Mine happens to be in Alpa mount but is easily disassembled for use in any other mount. It's always the copal that is the culprit when there are alignment issues. When mounted on a pancake camera the copal must be perfect or there will be skewing.

Once you get beyond all of that you have to deal with the curvature of the lens which can't be fixed until f11. I'm surprised that you had to use distortion correction as the lens actually has almost zero distortion. I have found that at f11 with everything in alignment wonderful images can be had even with some shifting.

I have had better success focusing at the edges at the taken aperture vs. focusing at the center. Always check your edges!

I have a 907X 100C arriving soon and will be testing the 35XL on my Cambo Actus and am hopeful for good results with limited movements.

Victor B.

 

[mristuccia]

I had an SK 35XL. It was knocked out of alignment (badly enough to warp the Cambo plate) and was never again sharp on both sides even after two repairs. Yes, it was my fault. The Center Filter stuck out beyond the Cambo protection bars and gave a large lever arm on the lens mount. It is, as you say, an extremely linear lens, so I hope you get your alignment issues fixed.

Let's see. I've informed to the seller. I've also sent an email to Cambo EU to know whether they can eventually align it and at which price.
The alternative is to return it to the seller. It's a pity because it really looks in mint condition.

 

[mristuccia]

The 35XL is a finicky lens. I've owned mine for a long time and many years ago sent it back to Schneider for alignment. Mine happens to be in Alpa mount but is easily disassembled for use in any other mount. It's always the copal that is the culprit when there are alignment issues. When mounted on a pancake camera the copal must be perfect or there will be skewing.

Once you get beyond all of that you have to deal with the curvature of the lens which can't be fixed until f11. I'm surprised that you had to use distortion correction as the lens actually has almost zero distortion. I have found that at f11 with everything in alignment wonderful images can be had even with some shifting.

I have had better success focusing at the edges at the taken aperture vs. focusing at the center. Always check your edges!

I have a 907X 100C arriving soon and will be testing the 35XL on my Cambo Actus and am hopeful for good results with limited movements.

Victor B.

No distortion correction applied at all to the 35XL. I was just saying that the 35XL "plain" looks still different (let's say more linear) from my Hasselblad 40 IF, even after having applied distortion correction to the 40 IF.

 

[vjbelle]

Good..... I hope you work out any and all issues. The lens has tremendous potential. You just can't expect to have wild shifting. I was most impressed when used in settings that were a little closer.

Best.....

Victor B.

 

[Paul Spinnler]

The 35XL and 43XL are stunning in their linearity. Hold on to one if the calibration is right. I assume you could eliminate the problem by sending it to Greiner in Germany and having a Rodenstock AU mounted. Not cheap - but will stay perfectly aligned for a long time thereafter. RS AUs are extremely solid.

 

[mristuccia]

Apologies, it wasn't my intention to highjack this thread. Let's get back to posting images. If needed, I'll open a dedicated thread.

 

[darr]

Apologies, it wasn't my intention to highjack this thread. Let's get back to posting images. If needed, I'll open a dedicated thread.

Marco,
No highjacking taken. I have the 35xl in an ALPA mount. I appreciate your image and all the commentary about the lens.
It has been a while since I've used mine, and I'm currently trying to learn Phocus through using the 35xl and its CF.
So, I appreciate what you have shared. Great image, btw!

 

[chriswebb]

X2D 100C | XCD 2.8/65 | Shouldve probably gone to 70% quality instead of dropping the size further...

 

[chriswebb]

X2D 100C | XCD 2.8/65 | 3 shot pano stitch

 

[lookbook]

two of us ...
Fujifilm GFX 50r | GF50mmF3.5 R LM WR ​

 

[AlanS]

River Tees...
GFX100s, Canon 70-300mm f4-5,6 L IS

 

[usm]

Today I went out to test my newly acquired SK Apo-Digitar 5.6/35 XL.

This is the third shot I've made with it, my CFV-50c Mk1 and my Cambo WDS, in Berlin (Germany):

View attachment 212188

No rise/fall and no shift. CF on the lens and LCC applied.

The linearity of this symmetrical design is palpable, it gives a totally different feeling to the images than my Hasselblad 40 IF, even after software distortion correction applied to the 40 IF. I'm together impressed and perplexed!
As for the sharpness, I have a clear misalignment somewhere. The center is perfectly in focus, the right side is pretty good but the left side is slightly smeared/out-of-focus.

I need to test more in order to understand whether it is a lens internal misalignment of whether it is my digital back interface that is not shimmed correctly, although I must say that I never noticed this when using my V lenses on the WDS.

Anyway, I like this image, as it has something surreal in it. Recently I started to like to always inject a surreal atmosphere to my images.

You may wonder why the heck I've acquired the SK 35 XL when I have a really badly compatible digital back? Well, because I'm waiting for the PDAF issue fix in order to switch to the CFV-100c. So, cross fingers!

Hi.
May I ask you for a specific shot with the 35XL CFV50c combo? An image like this you posted but with 15mm shift vertical and the LCc shot. Both with the center filter and without, f 8 or 11. whatever you prefer.
A link to the raw file would be really helpful.
I have the same combo but no centerfilter.
Thank you.

 

[mristuccia]

Marco,
No highjacking taken. I have the 35xl in an ALPA mount. I appreciate your image and all the commentary about the lens.
It has been a while since I've used mine, and I'm currently trying to learn Phocus through using the 35xl and its CF.
So, I appreciate what you have shared. Great image, btw!

Darr,
Thanks for your kind words.
Are you going to use it with your CFV-50c II? If so, then you're another brave one! ,)
Twice as brave I would say, as you want to learn Phocus.

By the way, I myself always use Phocus now and almost abandoned LR.

 

[mristuccia]

Hi.
May I ask you for a specific shot with the 35XL CFV50c combo? An image like this you posted but with 15mm shift vertical and the LCc shot. Both with the center filter and without, f 8 or 11. whatever you prefer.
A link to the raw file would be really helpful.
I have the same combo but no centerfilter.
Thank you.

Hi,
Another brave joins to the team I see.
15mm vertical shift with this lens on a CFV-50c is going to be a nightmare in terms of color cast correction.
I'll try this in the next few days and share the results with you.
Best

 

[4x5Australian]

The 35XL is a finicky lens. I've owned mine for a long time and many years ago sent it back to Schneider for alignment. Mine happens to be in Alpa mount but is easily disassembled for use in any other mount. It's always the copal that is the culprit when there are alignment issues. When mounted on a pancake camera the copal must be perfect or there will be skewing.

Once you get beyond all of that you have to deal with the curvature of the lens which can't be fixed until f11. I'm surprised that you had to use distortion correction as the lens actually has almost zero distortion. I have found that at f11 with everything in alignment wonderful images can be had even with some shifting.

I have had better success focusing at the edges at the taken aperture vs. focusing at the center. Always check your edges!

I have a 907X 100C arriving soon and will be testing the 35XL on my Cambo Actus and am hopeful for good results with limited movements.

Victor B.

Victor, I have had no such problem with field curvature with my 35XL. My recent test shots show excellent sharpness across the subject at f/8.

The field curvature of a symmetrical or near-symmetrical lens is affected by the shimming. See the comment #17 by Mark J. in this thread.

Accordingly, you might lessen the anomalous field curvature you are seeing by unscrewing the front or rear cell slightly or by replacing the Copal 0 with another.

Rod

 

[4x5Australian]

As for the sharpness, I have a clear misalignment somewhere. The center is perfectly in focus, the right side is pretty good but the left side is slightly smeared/out-of-focus.

I need to test more in order to understand whether it is a lens internal misalignment of whether it is my digital back interface that is not shimmed correctly, although I must say that I never noticed this when using my V lenses on the WDS.

Marco, whilst the misalignment you are seeing in your images might be due to the digital back interface, I would, in the first instance, suspect the Copal 0 shutter on your 35 XL.

Accordingly, I suggest that you try swapping the existing Copal 0 shutter for another from another lens.

If the replacement shutter for the test comes from a much longer focal length lens, you will need to approximate the actual iris opening at f/8 and f/11 on the original Copal 0. Measure the openings at f/8 and f/11 in mm with a ruler and then on the replacement Copal 0 use whatever f stop setting provides those same openings.

Rod