Alpa Macro Swittar 5.6/106 1:4 - 4:1

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Davids
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Alpa Macro Swittar 5.6/106 1:4 - 4:1

Post by Davids »

I stumbled upon an article about this lens - has anyone heard of it? The lens has an adjustable floating element, which is optimized for 1:3 - 3:1. It reminds me of macro varon with its large image circle (82 mm) - might be of interest to those medium format users.

https://www.alpa.ch/en/article/macro-switar-5-6105-mm

ray_parkhurst
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Post by ray_parkhurst »

Beautiful lens! I expect it to be quite expensive. The f/5.6 aperture will be a significant limitation at higher magnifications. The 85mm Macro-Varon is already somewhat limited at f/4.5.

Davids
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Post by Davids »

Nathan,
I was thinking the same regarding the minimum aperture wide open. For those interested, the price is around $5,091.

RobertOToole
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Re: Alpa Macro Swittar 5.6/106 1:4 - 4:1

Post by RobertOToole »

Davids wrote:I stumbled upon an article about this lens - has anyone heard of it? The lens has an adjustable floating element, which is optimized for 1:3 - 3:1. It reminds me of macro varon with its large image circle (82 mm) - might be of interest to those medium format users.

https://www.alpa.ch/en/article/macro-switar-5-6105-mm
That is interesting!

Looks almost identical to the inspec.X L 105/5.6 float. Same mag ratio.

Both made by Rodenstock.

Image

RobertOToole
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Post by RobertOToole »

Davids wrote:Nathan,
I was thinking the same regarding the minimum aperture wide open. For those interested, the price is around $5,091.
Thats a hefty price for the Alpa badge, the Inspec.x L float (Rodenstock) lens is only $3,293.

Sager
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Post by Sager »

Alpa offered to let me borrow one. I'm waiting for some free time to take them up on it...

While it may be limited by it's f-stop above 1X, it could still be an amazing lens for ~0.3X-1X (which is how I judge it's MTF curves, see pdf below).

On July 27, 2017 Rodenstock announced plans to market the Inspec.x float lens under the Digaron badge calling it the: HR Digaron Macro 105 mm f/5,6. Apparently there will be 3 versions 'floating' around in the future... :wink: Interestingly the press release said: "Floating element optic which enables high quality over a full magnification range of -0.25 to 4.0x."

I have an 8-page pdf in german describing the HR Digaron Macro 105 mm f/5,6 which is identical to the Macro-Switar (both are optically identical to the inspec.x float). The main difference I see between the Linos inspec.x float and the Alpa/Rodenstock lenses is the absence of gears on the non-industrial versions.

Below you'll find a link to the Rodenstock pdf with a full description of the lens, I don't think this is readily available on the web yet (I've searched and can't find it anywhere). It was sent to me by Alpa. You'll see detailed MTF curves for 0.3X, 0.5X, 1X, 2X & 3X for up to 72 lp/mm.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t9e3gxycg1ro5 ... 9.pdf?dl=0

RobertOToole
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Post by RobertOToole »

Excellent info Jonathan!

The MTFs look fantastic.

The only issue for me? I hate trying to focus a f/5.6 max. lens in early morning / low light situations!

Thanks for sharing the info.

Robert

Sager
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Post by Sager »

I have to say, the Linos price is not that bad if you compare this to a premium optic from any of the big manufacturers.

Anyone else using a Novoflex BALPRO bellows? Alpa has a 46mm lens v-mount to 85mm bellows V-mount (compatible with Rollei X-act2, Novoflex and Alpa bellows) adapter that works for the inspec.x lenses. The nice thing about the Alpa version is that instead of using 90degree tipped set screws it has a collapsible inner ring to prevent any marring on the lens.

Anyone with a macro varon or any Schneider v-mount lenses has probably noticed the little marks on the lens that the set screws leave...

EDIT: The inspec.x has T2 filter threads front and rear so a Male to Male T2 adapter could be used instead of the v-mount groove and then the T2 could be converted to any camera mount.

EDIT: The Macro-Switar and Digaron Macro have different filter threads: M40.5 in the front and M43 in the back.

Jonathan
Last edited by Sager on Wed Aug 23, 2017 10:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ray_parkhurst
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Post by ray_parkhurst »

Sager wrote:Anyone with a macro varon or any Schneider v-mount lenses has probably noticed the little marks on the lens that the set screws leave...
Yes, most v-groove lenses and bellows show this damage. I did buy a V-M42 adapter that has brass screws rather than steel, and they seem to be soft enough not to damage the finish any further.

Sager
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Post by Sager »

Cambo also has this lens available under the name ACTAR-105 HR-MACRO

There is a link on the Cambo site to the german language pdf with the MTF curves for HR Digaron Macro 105 mm f/5,6
https://static.cambo.com/Files/HR%20Dig ... %20mm).pdf

Cambo ACTAR-105 HR-MACRO:
https://www.cambo.com/en/actus-mini/cam ... -hr-macro/

Has anyone here tried the Cambo Actus out? At one point I was thinking of converting an Actus in to a motorized macro camera for automated focus stacking... The Actus seems like a simple well made platform, I tested one in London a few years ago and while none of the movements lock they had minimal backlash and didn't seem to backdrive.

Davids
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Post by Davids »

Hey Jonathan,
I have no experience with the Cambo Actus but have been keeping an eye on it. Not sure if you saw this, but they have teamed up with Cognisys to allow for focus stacking:
https://www.cambo.com/en/view-cam/actus-xl/acxl-985/

While I'm sure you could probably easily create something similar with a stepper motor, it's nice to see that they are offering this option. This would allow for focus by sensor that you and Nathan have discussed in prior posts.

Sager
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Post by Sager »

I hadn't seen that! I use to have an Ultima camera... It was a great camera, wish I still had it. This would have been a nice accessory.

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