who makes a good 100mm?

[Lenny Manfred]

it seems the consensus is that all the 100mm lenses they looked at on the salt test where not very good. i am looking to find a set that will be 25, 50 and 100, and i would like to get opinions here on who makes the best 100 (not counting master primes, i can't go that far) around? how is the ultraprime 100mm? was is also weak?

on another note, i have heard from a couple of different people that the ultraprime 24mm is not their best lens. is that the case or is it just a coincidence of opinions that i ran into?

 

[Pawel Achtel]

Lenny, if you don't need f/1.2, the Ultra Primes longer than 50mm are just as sharp and just as uniform as Master Primes. I spent hours with a projector trying to compare them and, all long focal lengths are indistingushable. Where differences become aparent is in wider angles. And, I'm yet to find any lens at any price that would at least meet the performance of the MP 14mm.

If you can somehow stretch the budget, I strongly recommend the wider MPs and longer UPs. The wider MPs are just breath taking and have high micro contrast, which is so important in wide, expansive shots with lots of detail and almost immersing geometry.

The best advice I can give you is to go to Arri, Abel or BandPro and play with them on a projector. It is worth a thousand words.

 

[David W. Jones]

Lenny, do you need close focus or Macro in that 100mm?
Also PL Mount?

 

[Michael Lindsay]

I still havn't got around to testing it... but I'm pretty sure, from a very quick play, the new 100mm MP macro will be a fantastic lens.

kind regards

Michael

 

[Lenny Manfred]

Pawel, thanks. yes, i can't do MPs, but UPs might be ok. i am only planning on getting two or three right now, and use a wide zoom for the wide side (either the 16-42 or the 17-35 i already have). I wanted to hear about the UP 100 because on the salt tests they said all of the 100s they tested where disappointing, but they did not specify if the UP was included in that or just the RRPs and the Uniques.

David, macro is not necessary, but it would be nice. PL mount is a must. I wish zeiss would have made their wonderful zf 100 macro into a compact prime, i would have jumped at that lens (and their 50 macro too, better than their 50/1.4)

Michael, the 100 mp will be amazing, i am sure, but out of my price range. even the UPs might be too much, for what i plan to do with them.

I am going to go check out the Leica/Dalsa 100 macro. maybe that and the 50/1.4 would work well, and cheaper than the Ultraprime 50 & 100. And the look could be good.

 

[Karl Gustav H.]

All I would say about SALT is that was in effect a stress test, designed to 'break' lenses and show them at their absolute worst. There is nothing wrong with that however, but you do need to remember that context when they were described as disappointing.