Using Mirex adapter

Hello,

I just recently ,separately, bought two Mamiya 645 lenses (35mm/3,5 +80mm/1,9) and a Mirex adapter hoping for sharper landscape pictures.

I tried them out last weekend and suprisingly I can not get the technic to work. With my Sony A900 I tilt the Mamiya 35mm optic down approx. 7-8 degrees assuming I will receive a sharp fore- and background.. but not. The optics are in good condition so I doubt that there is any problem with these.

Would anyone please hand me a few tips and hints how to operate the Mirex adapter succesfully ?     

Best regards,
Anders
http://www.pbase.com/andersphoto

Hi Anders,

It takes some experimenting to understand tilt and be able to work with it. The theory behind is is rather mathematical. Fortunately it is not necessary to understand it all to be able to work with it.
From what you descibe I think the problem is you use too much tilt. Especially for landscapes, a tilt of 1 or 2 degrees often is enough.
Also bear in mind that medium format lenses are not as sharp as FF lenses: the enlarging factor for MF is much less than for 24x36, so the lenses need not have the resolution of FF lenses.
The 35mm is of course a good landscape lens but it is not the best lens to start with when you're learning to use tilt. The problem is that you cannot visually check where the focus is because the details are too small. I advise you to do some experimenting with the 80/1.9 (which is very nice lens): with that lens you can see in the viewfinder what effect the degree of tilt that you use, has on the area of focus.

I will try to find some articles that have helped me understanding tilt. Hope this helps for now.

Anders wrote: With my Sony A900 I tilt the Mamiya 35mm optic down approx. 7-8 degrees assuming I will receive a sharp fore- and background.. but not.

That's a lot of tilt. Generally, the idea is to focus at infinity and start tilting the lens until you have something in near more in focus, then focus halfway between that infinity and stop the lens down to around f/11.

This Luminous Landscape article I found useful: Focusing the Tilt-Shift Lens .