Dalsa CCD "Medium Format" DSLR -- Mamiya ZD
Quote from KanaiFilm on May 9, 2023, 3:50 amQuote from James Warner on May 8, 2023, 11:53 pmQuote from KanaiFilm on May 6, 2023, 2:15 pmNew to the forum, coincidentally saw your new video on the Mamiya ZD! I actually have one as well. Got it on Yahoo auction here in Japan from a fellow photographer for apprx $1000 USD. The catch was that the lowpass filter was glue'd into the camera haha. I don't necessarily love the camera, but always have fun using it even though the images require a lot of work vs modern technically cameras. Super desaturated, and adjusting the files in C1 is very sensitive vs modern cameras as well.
Fantastic work! What lens are you using with yours? Fun to meet so many ZD shooters for such a rare camera.
I know! I thought i'd be the only one shooting this camera haha.
I mainly shoot with Mamiya 645 AF 80mm 2.8. It does flare easily and not the biggest fan on how it flares, but could not justify buying a better lens (ie hasselblad 80 2.8). Photos of flare sample before and after edit.
OH!
Mamiya 645 AF 80mm 2.8 I need to get that lens! Haven't seen one yet to snap up locally, one day.
What's the AF like?
I'm guessing you are located in Japan, what's the second-hand camera market like there? paradise?
Quote from DWMO on May 9, 2023, 3:59 amQuote from KanaiFilm on May 9, 2023, 3:50 amQuote from James Warner on May 8, 2023, 11:53 pmQuote from KanaiFilm on May 6, 2023, 2:15 pmNew to the forum, coincidentally saw your new video on the Mamiya ZD! I actually have one as well. Got it on Yahoo auction here in Japan from a fellow photographer for apprx $1000 USD. The catch was that the lowpass filter was glue'd into the camera haha. I don't necessarily love the camera, but always have fun using it even though the images require a lot of work vs modern technically cameras. Super desaturated, and adjusting the files in C1 is very sensitive vs modern cameras as well.
Fantastic work! What lens are you using with yours? Fun to meet so many ZD shooters for such a rare camera.
I know! I thought i'd be the only one shooting this camera haha.
I mainly shoot with Mamiya 645 AF 80mm 2.8. It does flare easily and not the biggest fan on how it flares, but could not justify buying a better lens (ie hasselblad 80 2.8). Photos of flare sample before and after edit.
OH!
Mamiya 645 AF 80mm 2.8 I need to get that lens! Haven't seen one yet to snap up locally, one day.
What's the AF like?I'm guessing you are located in Japan, what's the second-hand camera market like there? paradise?
The AF is not too bad, manageable for how I work with portraits, it's definitely missed here and there at 2.8, but its hit more than it missed so far. Definitely will not shoot moving objects with this though.
Yes I am located in Tokyo, Japan! The second-hand is definitely top notch. A lot of digital cameras sold in 2nd hand are mostly clean and trustworthy. In fact, I've bought all of my digital gear second hand to save some money, and still works to this day.
Quote from KanaiFilm on May 9, 2023, 3:50 amQuote from James Warner on May 8, 2023, 11:53 pmQuote from KanaiFilm on May 6, 2023, 2:15 pmNew to the forum, coincidentally saw your new video on the Mamiya ZD! I actually have one as well. Got it on Yahoo auction here in Japan from a fellow photographer for apprx $1000 USD. The catch was that the lowpass filter was glue'd into the camera haha. I don't necessarily love the camera, but always have fun using it even though the images require a lot of work vs modern technically cameras. Super desaturated, and adjusting the files in C1 is very sensitive vs modern cameras as well.
Fantastic work! What lens are you using with yours? Fun to meet so many ZD shooters for such a rare camera.
I know! I thought i'd be the only one shooting this camera haha.
I mainly shoot with Mamiya 645 AF 80mm 2.8. It does flare easily and not the biggest fan on how it flares, but could not justify buying a better lens (ie hasselblad 80 2.8). Photos of flare sample before and after edit.
The 55mm feels similar with the flare.
I'm looking at the 80mm f2.8, the 80mm f1.9 (manual), the 150mm f2.8 (manual or auto) and the 210 f4 (manual or auto). The 210 f4 has mixed reviews but seems like for the price can hardly be beat. It is quite affordable. The 150mm f2.8 is well regarded it seems just pricey (understandably). The 80mm f1.9 is supposed to not be super sharp wide open, but people just love it for that thin DoF.
The only other lens I own now is the 120mm f4 macro and I really like it. Large and heavy, but optically great, and I got a killer deal on it. Paid something like $100 and it's in like-new condition.
Quote from DWMO on May 9, 2023, 2:54 amQuote from James Warner on May 8, 2023, 11:56 pmQuote from Cory Maben on May 7, 2023, 7:45 amThis camera has a very particular look to it and I just now placed it. Have you ever seen that HD footage from the 90s? That's the same kind of vibe I get from these pictures. The character of the image suggests something old but the amount of detail captured is much higher than I expect and it creates this media version of the uncanny valley. A very cool camera!
The link to that footage if you haven't seen it >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4lDU-QLUY&t=62s
Wow, that video is a trip watching. Crazy just to watch a day-in-the-life sort of stuff that high quality from the early 90s.
More ZD pics with the 55mm f2.8
And then I actually was able to remove the IR cut filter from a filter cartridge I bought on ebay, allowing me to shoot infrared:
I'm loving that infra-red! more please!
I'm struggling a lot with the exposure, so most of these images are brought up 3+ stops, hence the extra noise. Add color shifts in post and the files get pretty mushy. But in a round about way it's a testament to the strength of this otherwise old sensor. I'm surprised how far it will let me push the files without breaking.
Quote from James Warner on May 9, 2023, 2:13 pmQuote from DWMO on May 9, 2023, 2:54 amQuote from James Warner on May 8, 2023, 11:56 pmQuote from Cory Maben on May 7, 2023, 7:45 amThis camera has a very particular look to it and I just now placed it. Have you ever seen that HD footage from the 90s? That's the same kind of vibe I get from these pictures. The character of the image suggests something old but the amount of detail captured is much higher than I expect and it creates this media version of the uncanny valley. A very cool camera!
The link to that footage if you haven't seen it >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4lDU-QLUY&t=62s
Wow, that video is a trip watching. Crazy just to watch a day-in-the-life sort of stuff that high quality from the early 90s.
More ZD pics with the 55mm f2.8
And then I actually was able to remove the IR cut filter from a filter cartridge I bought on ebay, allowing me to shoot infrared:
I'm loving that infra-red! more please!
I'm struggling a lot with the exposure, so most of these images are brought up 3+ stops, hence the extra noise. Add color shifts in post and the files get pretty mushy. But in a round about way it's a testament to the strength of this otherwise old sensor. I'm surprised how far it will let me push the files without breaking.
They are just lovely!
Is it just the hue shift or the is the IR doing something else here that make them just a little bit extra?
I am also wondering this. After seeing these, I went and took a quick test shot with my SD1 with the hot-mirror removed and an IR filter and this is my result.
set custom white balance first, especially if you shoot jpg, or else it just going to be magenta. for false color, most people use an IR pass filter most common ones are around 720nm, or 680, 590 nm for more color, the lower the number the more visible light it will pass and more colors the image will have, and then red/blue channel swap in post.
heres one i did with a Lumix G6 I converted to full spectrum, shot with 720nm ir pass and channel swapped.
Uploaded files:
oops hit the wrong button
try doing custom white balance in camera before taking photos for easier time in post processing, most camera have that function and you basically just take a pic of a piece of white or neutral gray color paper and the camera sets the wb.
I used to use GIMP to edit IR after I export it from lightroom, now days i just do the channel swap in lightroom or DXO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMpn8Z8ycZs
this video show how to channel swap in GIMP.
lightroom requires making a IR profile first but makes things quicker.
@holun has all the right tips. I do set custom white balance in the camera, and use filters. However, in at least all of my experience, that does not create the final image in camera. The only filter I've been able to do that with is the Kolari IR Chrome filter (I have one on order for my Mamiya, I used to have one for my converted Pentax K-01). That filter is something like a 590nm with some color filter in there as well. I can't remember. I dug up some speculation but others on it. But it does do a good job if you don't want to fuss with post processing and want that kodak aerochrome look.
For something like a 720nm filter, it's all in the post process. I've used a lot of different editors, but right now I have been playing a lot with Darktable. It's free, and allows much further white balance settings than Lightroom does by default (though as noted you can make custom presets to handle this using ACR so you can edit in Lightroom, I just can't get it to work with my old cameras I've used so far. Something about ACR not recognizing them or something).
So it looks like first adjusting white balance in Darktable to get rid of red cast, and then from there doing color shifts/hue shifts to play with different looks.
This guy on YT has loads of tutorials using all sorts of programs, including darktable.
https://www.youtube.com/@robshea
With my SD14/SD10 and removing the hot mirror filter, I think I mostly just did white balance and then the color swap in photoshop.
Also I should note that different sensors react differently - and in the case of something unique like Foveon, it's reds are hyper sensitive anyway, so that probably goes into play here extra as compared to other sensor types.
