Upon receiving the lens, I do have to point out something that I've seen in the past. Something that should be taken as a warning when purchasing used lenses from unknown sources on auction sites. Some folks like to inject oil in order to free up an otherwise stuck lens. As such, I had to dissemble the lens, clean off the oil, and then re lube it.

Oil leaching from the focus ring. Requiring the removal of three set screws to access the inner element.

Removing the back retaining ring reveals a pool of oil. Which required a thorough cleaning with alcohol.

When applying lube (lithium grease) to the helicoil, use just a few dabs, just enough to provide smooth movement and dampening.

The lens is a single aperture, and actually, it's nothing more than a screw on magnify lens. When the prime lens is wide open, in this case, the Mamiya 55/1.8, the images are completely soft. Stopped down to f5.6 or higher and it becomes much sharper, behaving more like a normal lens. The reason for this because as magnification increases, the depth of field (DOF) decreases. Thus it requires stopping the lens down to find a useable DOF.

Left, at f1.8, and right at f5.6, at .48 ft.

When removing the HCE, I get the below result. Obviously much sharper, and when shooting 18mega-pixels and cropping down, Its still a better result. Unless I'm targeting a 24" print, it kinda negates the need for such a tool with technology today. Still, it must have a been a useful toy to have back in the late 70's.

orginal shot without the HCE attached left, and crop to size on the right.

How sharp is it? To eliminate user error, and know for sure. I placed the lens on tripod, still using the Mamiya 55mm f1.8, and shot the following scene:


Shot at f8, 1/250s, ISO 100 on tripod and timer trigger. Crop right.

When used correctly in controlled conditions, It's surprisingly sharp around f8. However, depending on the intended output, it's not very useful at anything wider than f5.6. The shot below, at f2.8 (when the Mamiya 55mm lens is suitably sharp) demonstrates.

We also need to consider that using this along with the adaptor ring, subtracts a stop or more of light. Since we need to keep the aperature stopped down, we'll need to crank up the ISO more than usual, and lose some critical details due to noise.

Whether all these soft, diffused and blown out results are a distraction or artistic opportunity depends on the user, and the kinds of application. Personally, I would use a Bellows or a dedicated macro lens. Still, it's and interesting toy.

 

Keep Shooting.