Hi Chat: I have used rolleinars for quite a while and i have found that rolleinar 1 and rolleinar 2 are the most useful. Number 1 is good for general picture taking when you want the subject a little closer. Image degradation is really minimal at the center of the image though edges suffer. Number 3 rolleinars are fun to play with but i have never been able to use them successfully. At the center, image is pretty good, esp. if you close down to f/16, but depth of field is still really really shallow. it is hard to take a picture of anything larger than a flat surface the size of your fist and keep it all in focus. I like rolleinar 2 the best because it does get me closer to what I want to photograph without the problems of rolleinar 3. In any event, close down to f/16 or f/22 and carefully center your image because you have to figure that each rolleinar grade cuts down on the useful part of the negative. A rolleinar 1 will give you about half a negative that is good (without edge blurring) , a rolleinar 2 gives about a third of a negative and rolleinar 3 gives much less than that. Rather than seeing the different powers in terms of different magnifications---because they will take you to different degrees of closeness-- I think of maginification powers in terms of how much of the negative I want to use. If I need half the negative, use #1, like for a small bunch of flowers. If i wanted to photograph something much smaller, such as one flower a doorknob, etc., I would go for a three since I am going to be using only a small part of the negative. This may explain why I like #2 best, because it gives the most leeway in terms of size of subject, useful part of negative etc. -- When I took picture of the pumpkin stem with a number 3 lens, only a very very small part of the stem was in focus with most of it a blur. Some people argue that it is better to use the same close up lens on the viewfinder and then shift it to the taking lens and raise the camera on a parajuster. Technically, I am sure this will give a more accurate picture than using the two lens rollei set up. But, at first, I would certainly use the two lens set up. I have been happy doing it both ways. I think the biggest help for using a close-up lens on a rollei is focusing through a prism. The prism gives a larger image than the viewfinder but, more important, it permits far more accurate fine detail focusing. I have never tried to take a close up of an insect, etc etc or any of the other amazing things one sees in magazines. These are all possible with intechangable lens cameras. But you can not do it with a rollei and a rolleinar. Modest closeups are fine but nothing dramatic. Since I am a modest and non-dramatic photographer, I have been happy as hell. I use Tmax 400 because i am one of the few who really likes the sharp grain. But if you have trouble with enlarging the image as much as you want, use Tmax 100 because it is quite an amazing film that can record a great deal of detail. "Blessed are those of diminished expectations for surely their expectations will be met." Best wishes, Jerry --- chatanooga@xxxxxxxxx wrote: > Hi Jerry > They look pretty damn sharp and thats with the Rolleinar II? I've just got a > Rolleinar '1' coming my way from Ebay so I'll be pretty chuffed if I can get > this kind of result. In general how have you found the rolleinars? > rgds > Chat > > On 6/10/06, R.C.Booth <rcbooth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > > Jerry, you need to get a life! > > > > Seriously, it is interesting information suggesting that for me (at least) > > a > > Rollei is serious overkill for mere 8x10's. Sort of makes the Planar vs > > Xenotar argument a moot point, too. > > > > RCB > > > > --- > > Rollei List > > > > - Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > > > - Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' > > in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org > > > > - Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with > > 'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org > > > > - Online, searchable archives are available at > > //www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list > > > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com --- Rollei List - Post to rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx - Subscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'subscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Unsubscribe at rollei_list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the subject field OR by logging into www.freelists.org - Online, searchable archives are available at //www.freelists.org/archives/rollei_list