Macro - anyone tried the Pentax 645 120/4 Macro lens?

[jerseyinHK]

Wondering if anyone here has used the Pentax 645 120/4 macro lens on m43.

After seeing some of the macro photography here, it has peaked my interest. I have one of these lenses, however the adapter is about 1/2 the cost of getting a 60mm macro lens. I have other Pentax 645 lenses that may be fun to try, but specifically wondering about the 120 macro.

 

[jeffharris]

Wondering if anyone here has used the Pentax 645 120/4 macro lens on m43.
After seeing some of the macro photography here, it has peaked my interest. I have one of these lenses, however the adapter is about 1/2 the cost of getting a 60mm macro lens. I have other Pentax 645 lenses that may be fun to try, but specifically wondering about the 120 macro.

Haven’t heard of that lens, is it a manual lens or autofocus.

What lens adaptor are you looking at?

Take a look at Fotodiox. They have good quality lens adaptors for reasonable prices.

Pentax 645 SLR Lens to Micro Four Thirds (MFT, M4/3) Mount Mirrorless Camera Body Adapter

This pro adapter allows Pentax 645 SLR mount lenses to fit on Micro Four Thirds (MFT, M4/3) System camera bodies

fotodioxpro.com

 

[jerseyinHK]

Wondering if anyone here has used the Pentax 645 120/4 macro lens on m43.
After seeing some of the macro photography here, it has peaked my interest. I have one of these lenses, however the adapter is about 1/2 the cost of getting a 60mm macro lens. I have other Pentax 645 lenses that may be fun to try, but specifically wondering about the 120 macro.

Haven’t heard of that lens, is it a manual lens or autofocus.

What lens adaptor are you looking at?

Take a look at Fotodiox. They have good quality lens adaptors for reasonable prices.

https://fotodioxpro.com/products/p645-mft-p?_pos=1&_fid=ea76f20e4&_ss=c

It is a medium format macro lens, and is highly regarded on those forums. Many prefer this to the newest lenses from Fuji for the GFX system.

The adapter is $80. Prices for a second hand 60mm near me are around $200-250, so it is about a third of the way there just to get the adapter and not have autofocus. Wondering if anyone has shot with it and was happy, or if it has a hard time resolving the pixel density of the EM1.2.

 

[SeeingSomeThingsMissingMany]

Jersey here's a 2017 thread on this in Adapted lens talk.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4231610

I see what you mean about the adapter Fotodiox approx £100 !

Still as you have other Pentax645 lenses, m4/3 offering more dof more readily, sure is tempting for macro compared to 645 53x40 sensor, 44x33 sensor.

--
Photography after all is interplay of light alongside perspective.

 

[jerseyinHK]

Jersey here's a 2017 thread on this in Adapted lens talk.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4231610

I see what you mean about the adapter Fotodiox approx £100 !

Still as you have other Pentax645 lenses, m4/3 offering more dof more readily, sure is tempting for macro compared to 645 53x40 sensor, 44x33 sensor.

Thanks...I didn't see that. I bought the lens for about $100 and it is very good on the GFX. Sometimes with the larger lenses on smaller bodies, there is a lot of internal reflection and low contrast.

 

[Mike Micro 43]

Yes I use the Pentax 645 120mm F/4 macro quite a bit with my Micro 43 kit. It works really well - sharp wide open with nice bokeh:

I use a 645-Canon EOS adapter and then a EOS-Micro 4/3 focal reducer giving approx. 90mm F/2.8.




Pentax 645 120mm F/4 Macro + focal reducer

I would say it is almost as sharp as the Hasselblad Zeiss 120mm F/4 macro I also use.

 

[jerseyinHK]

Yes I use the Pentax 645 120mm F/4 macro quite a bit with my Micro 43 kit. It works really well - sharp wide open with nice bokeh:

I use a 645-Canon EOS adapter and then a EOS-Micro 4/3 focal reducer giving approx. 90mm F/2.8.


Pentax 645 120mm F/4 Macro + focal reducer

I would say it is almost as sharp as the Hasselblad Zeiss 120mm F/4 macro I also use.

Nice shots mike. Can I ask what focal reducer you use?

 

[Mike Micro 43]

Yes I use the Pentax 645 120mm F/4 macro quite a bit with my Micro 43 kit. It works really well - sharp wide open with nice bokeh:

I use a 645-Canon EOS adapter and then a EOS-Micro 4/3 focal reducer giving approx. 90mm F/2.8.


Pentax 645 120mm F/4 Macro + focal reducer

I would say it is almost as sharp as the Hasselblad Zeiss 120mm F/4 macro I also use.

Nice shots mike. Can I ask what focal reducer you use?

For this shot I just used a generic 0.72x one (about £65 from eBay), e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281805746779

however I have also have a Commlite 0.71x focal reducer which is a tiny bit sharper than the generic one (hardly noticeable), but costs a lot more if you buy it new.

 

[Art_P]

Haven't tried the 120/4, but wondering what your subject will be?

Studio work? Tripod mount, fixed subject, controlled lighting, plenty of time to set up each shot.

Field work? Hand held, moving insects, wind blowing flowers, difficult lighting, shooting on the fly.

While an adapted lens might be fine for studio type shots, I'd much prefer AF for field work. Plus the 60 allows for focus bracketing and in camera focus stacking.

Most of my macro is quick bug and flower snaps in the field. I traded my 60 (which I regularly used w extension tube and mc14) for the 90 macro, which adds sync IS.

--
Art P
"I am a creature of contrast,
of light and shadow.
I live where the two play together,
I thrive on the conflict"

 

[David Kieltyka]

I own one, the FA version, but have never adapted it. Lovely lens, performs just fine for general use.







-Dave-

 

[jerseyinHK]

Haven't tried the 120/4, but wondering what your subject will be?

Studio work? Tripod mount, fixed subject, controlled lighting, plenty of time to set up each shot.

Field work? Hand held, moving insects, wind blowing flowers, difficult lighting, shooting on the fly.

While an adapted lens might be fine for studio type shots, I'd much prefer AF for field work. Plus the 60 allows for focus bracketing and in camera focus stacking.

Most of my macro is quick bug and flower snaps in the field. I traded my 60 (which I regularly used w extension tube and mc14) for the 90 macro, which adds sync IS.

Well you nailed it right there....I don't have anything specific in mind. Just some mucking around. I saw 'one of one''s macro work, and it was amazing. Seems a fun area of photography to explore. I think there will be more walk-around-and-find-something-unusual kind of shoots over prepared studio shoots.

It seems that you either need really good light and a small aperture, or focus stacking to get anything in focus once you go past 2:1. Youtube seems to be full of people raving about the in-camera focus stacking.

I have one macro lens, that was purchased for a different system and would get the adapter, although it is almost what I paid for the lens and is 1/3 the cost of jumping straight into the 60 macro.

Art_P...do you have a link to your photos somewhere?

 

[Art_P]

No links, haven't uploaded to Flikr in ages, but here are a few recent shots.











oops, that last one taken w the 12-200

--
Art P
"I am a creature of contrast,
of light and shadow.
I live where the two play together,
I thrive on the conflict"

 

[jerseyinHK]

Thanks for the replies. I ordered the M43 to Canon E, and Canon E to Pentax 645 adapters today. I have a small collection of Pentax 645 lenses, so it will be interesting to see how they do.