Bronica 2x Convertor

TheBigYin

TheBigYin

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Anyone used one of these on a Bronica ETRS/Si ? I'm thinking of the Tele-Converter E 2x convertor specifically.

Thing is, I shoot quite a bit of fairly close up type work, mainly indoors / tabletop and with lighting, so losing a couple of stops isn't necessarily a big problem, but the real appeal is that I can slap one behind the 75mm f2.8 and get myself a 150mm f5.6 but, and here's the important bit, still retain the 0.6m minimum focus distance, unlike the actual 150mm f3.5 which has a MFD of 1.5m. Seems a relatively cheap way of getting a little closer to the image at around £60 on fleabay, compared to the "proper" macro lens option (the 100mm f4.0) which seems to be coming in at around 4 times the amount...

I'm not really looking for "proper" macro kind of levels of magnification on the Bron, I just occasionally need to get a bit closer - say the framing I'd get from my 7d at around 90mm.
 
TheBigYin said:
Anyone used one of these on a Bronica ETRS/Si ? I'm thinking of the Tele-Converter E 2x convertor specifically.

Thing is, I shoot quite a bit of fairly close up type work, mainly indoors / tabletop and with lighting, so losing a couple of stops isn't necessarily a big problem, but the real appeal is that I can slap one behind the 75mm f2.8 and get myself a 150mm f5.6 but, and here's the important bit, still retain the 0.6m minimum focus distance, unlike the actual 150mm f3.5 which has a MFD of 1.5m. Seems a relatively cheap way of getting a little closer to the image at around £60 on fleabay, compared to the "proper" macro lens option (the 100mm f4.0) which seems to be coming in at around 4 times the amount...

I'm not really looking for "proper" macro kind of levels of magnification on the Bron, I just occasionally need to get a bit closer - say the framing I'd get from my 7d at around 90mm.
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I can't comment on the Bronica Tele-Convertor, but there is one other lens option available besides the macro lens. The 180mm f/4.5 has a minimum focus distance of one metre. Cameraworld have one available: http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/used-bronica-180mm-f4-5-pe.html.

I have the SQ-A PS version of the lens and it's great. I mostly use it for close portraits though with some occasional close ups of other objects:


 
Seems a good idea esp handling a larger neg in the dark room...but if the quality of the image is going to suffer (using a converter) ?????..you might as well use 35mm and have more DOF.
 
excalibur2 said:
Seems a good idea esp handling a larger neg in the dark room...but if the quality of the image is going to suffer (using a converter) ?????..you might as well use 35mm and have more DOF.
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Which is precisely WHY I was asking for feedback from people who had used the converter, to gauge exactly how much of a compromise to the IQ people noticed...

If I can't use the Bronny, I may as well use the 7D frankly, for the stuff I want to shoot, with the scanner I have available, it's going to take at least MF to dig out the quality of image.
 
H'mm a bit confused esp spending £60.......well if you have a VG digi with excellent lenses why bother with 645 and the hassle......unless you want a better B\W image :confused:
Anyway the digi close up images I've seen on forums......... a film 35mm with excellent lens can still produce some VG closeups as long as you don't want very large blowups........I've produced a few here recently just using a zoom lens.
 
Brian, £60 is only a half-decent night out...

Perhaps I want to be able to actually capture some of my Staff POTY on film ? Especially as I'm up against far more talented people on the green team, including at least half a dozen professional photographers. So, I want to give myself at least half a chance of getting something that isn't just going to be dismissed wholesale by the digital shooters who make up the bulk of the voters because "its noisy"

Yes, I could use the EOS-3 and my very nice selection of L glass, but at the end of the day the limiting factor is going to be the scans - at least with the Bron i've got 4x the area of film to try and get something.

Anyway, unless you've actually got some experience of the pluses and minuses of using the 2x converter I asked about, I'd appreciate you not further derailing my thread.
 
skysh4rk said:
I can't comment on the Bronica Tele-Convertor, but there is one other lens option available besides the macro lens. The 180mm f/4.5 has a minimum focus distance of one metre. Cameraworld have one available: http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/used-bronica-180mm-f4-5-pe.html.
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RJ, that certainly sounds interesting, and not too much brass either - I'm pretty sure it'd get zero usage as a portrait lens, but for some of the stuff i've got in mind it'd certainly be an option... I was half thinking of grabbing the 2x converter as it's pocket money prices anyway, and if it doesn't work for what I want, then move it back on... The 180 might be in the same category, though i'm guessing it'd be possibly a harder sell, especially if I've no nice portrait shots to show it off with.
 
TheBigYin said:
RJ, that certainly sounds interesting, and not too much brass either - I'm pretty sure it'd get zero usage as a portrait lens, but for some of the stuff i've got in mind it'd certainly be an option... I was half thinking of grabbing the 2x converter as it's pocket money prices anyway, and if it doesn't work for what I want, then move it back on... The 180 might be in the same category, though i'm guessing it'd be possibly a harder sell, especially if I've no nice portrait shots to show it off with.
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I would think that the 2x convertor would be harder to sell than the 180mm? Perhaps you could check out the sold listings section in eBay to get an idea of what these items have been selling for recently.

I know that I would prefer the flattening in perspective that longer lenses like the 180mm provide. Throw a close up filter in front of that lens and you can get in even closer still with no loss of light.
 
TheBigYin said:
Certainly something to think about...
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I'm thinking you might not keep your 0.6m close focus with a 2x converter, I don't have any complex circle of confusion calculations to back it up but the 75 on my Bronica EC doesn't focus as close with the x2 I have.
It may be equipment related, a caveat of the S line, I dunno but I'd look it up for the ETRs first :)


edit...reading back, I can't see any image degradation worth mentioning using a x2 converter on 6x6
 
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In the copy of AP beside me (a couple of weeks old but I doubt it's a fast moving line!) I see that Mifsuds have one of them in stock for £79 and they do a 10 day approval (postage non-refundable) so you could have a few days of playing before ultimately committing yourself.
 
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