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TTArtisan 40mm macro anoying mount play, keep it or send it ? (lemmy.zip)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/analog@lemmy.world
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Hello there

I just received a TTArtisant 40mm macro for my Fuji XM-1, much needed to scan negatives.

The focus ring is slow and need quite some efforts to turn. Probably best for precision and not sliding out of focus.

But the mount has a quite a lot of play. It rotates following the focus ring adjustments, which, in turn, mess with the focus… It fit nicely flat on the body but this angular free play is annoying.

Anyway I need a macro lens, and can’t afford $600 for a genuine Fujinon X mount Lens…

Does anyone also have TTArtisan manual focus lenses ? How does they fit ?

I am tempted to send it back, can’t decide. Any advices ?

Bye

[Edit] thanks for all replies, the lens is sent back.

[Edit] new lens came in, with exact same angular play. I guess it's my life now, I shall keep it.

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[–] 1 point 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Some level of rotational play on lenses is normal, but one wouldn't normally put enough torque on the lens for it to be an issue. It sounds like the focus ring is a bit stiff? It might loosen up some with time, but I have not ever used any TTArtisan glass.

Simply rotating the lens relative to the body shouldn't impact focus. Focus is all about the distances between elements relative to the sensor and rotation shouldn't change that.

If you're looking for opinions it might be worth popping over to something like Fred Miranda or DP Review if no one else here can chime in. Sadly, the fediverse is somewhat small and those sites have big/active forums.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I think using this lens as a portrait lens or something might be perfectly fine.

    In my use case : a small Fuji body and the 40mm macro as a glorified film scanner, it is a pretty anoying issue because it is suffisent to mess with the focus, in an unpredictable way.

    Scanning is already a delicate subject as you certainly know.

    Your precision about how the rotation should not affect focus makes sense. But I see the focus assist highlights slightly fade or enhance just by going to the free play. Could it be insignificant, like an artefact of digital treatment of the focus assist? Or the sensor getting slightly different lighting (like some kind of polarization)?

    Thanks for the pointers to big forums, I purposely avoided them to see how Lemmy communities would respond to such a specific subject. Not disappointed that’s great I received many mindful replies.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Are you using something to hold your camera, like a tripod, and some kind of jig/fixture to hold the film in place? Ideally you wouldn't need to touch the camera and the film would be positioned consistently between shots. Without some kind of setup scanning will be very fiddly as you need to be perfectly centered/squared/etc.

    Could the camera possibly be moving some between shots? Are you shooting wide open?

    As for focus changing with lens rotation, that would indicate something in your lens lacking axial symmetry. An uncentered/decentered element, an element that's not ground just so, etc.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 year ago

    I use a sturdy tripod, the camera doesn’t move or drift between takes.

    The lens is set to f5.6 as a rather delicate balancing between the light source, shutter speed and ISO settings. I would prefer f8 but it is not ok

    I do hit the camera with my arms and hands from time to time, then I redo the focus but that is on me.

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