This is one of the few times I have used an adapter and a vintage lens on a modern digital camera.
- The lens. This is one of my favorite lenses from any manufacturer and from any era. The prospect of trying it on the GFX was something I have been toying with for a long time. I have not taken many pictures in the last several months. For a jumpstart, I decided to give this a try.
- The mount. Knowing the quality of all Novoflex products, I decided on this version of the many that are available. It is more expensive (more than double) than other versions. For a hollow tube, it is of superior quality. Most importantly, the adapter mounts easily and securely to the GFX body and to the lens with no play whatsoever.
- Focusing. I used the GFX marvelous focus peaking. When shooting this lens wide open, and even using the focus peaking, one has to be very careful to get good focus on the target. The photo of the man with the birds shows this. I am sure I got focus peaking on the sculpture, but if one zooms in on the man, I did not nail focus on him.
- Metering. The GFX meters well in stop down mode. There is no electrical connection to the mount of course.
- Image Quality and Sharpness. The colors from the lens are beautiful and painterly. This is most evident from the Cityscape which was edited only to increase the exposure. There is zero vignetting. I underexposed most of the images and increased exposure and in some cases lifted the shadows and dropped highlights using Capture One. There is a ton of retained information for editing in the GFX raw images. As for sharpness, it is not something I am concerned about. It is the rendering that matters. These are .jpg versions of the raw images.
- Handling. The kit is not overly heavy, but a stout strap is recommended. I use the large Peak Design slide with this camera. With the adapter mounted, a good grip is attained for shooting, and focus is smooth as silk on my copy of the lens.
- Conclusions and Next Experiment. I like this combination. My next post will be made using the GFX and Hasselblad Metabones Speedbooster adapter. Stay tuned.
