Rich Lee Diopter advice

D

Dave_Mac

Member
Hey,
This is for everyone.
I just bought Century's Achromatic diopter 3.5 for around $400.00. I need to use it for Forensic work. Clarity is a big issue. Do you think I spent too much or is it a superior lens compared to the Tiffen? Should I return it and get the Tiffen set? The price difference is huge.

Dave
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

Century's lens are of the highest quality for DV so I'd say you made the right decision. I have used their diopters in the past with great success.

Good choice, now just start shooting....
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

Yea man! Get out there and shoot! You bought a great lens. If the time comes when I need a diopter, and I have the cash I'll get the Century. But if the budget is tight, and I really need it, I'll get the Tiffens.
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

As many who read this may know, our achromatic diopters are a highly corrected two element design specifically to maximize edge to edge sharpness and minimize color and other aberations that are present in simple single element diopters.

In weak powers like +1/2 or + 1 the differences are not as great, but as the power increases the superiority of the two element design becomes pronounced.

Having said that if the only area of interest is in the center of the frame, and the edges are not of concern a standard single element diopter might prove satisfactory.

From the application you mention (forensics) I would think an achromatic diopter is the proper choice.

Bill Turner
Century Division
Schneider Optics
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

I went thru this dilema just recently & opted for the nikon 6t after reading numerous reviews etc- it came out well - although it has not arrived yet - so I'll post the results in a week or so.
The century sounds great but for me here in the uk it was waay too much until I get a taste with the nikon.
I''d say you made the right the descion if you want it for a specific purpose - I merely brought the nikon for experimentation on ECU's.

Please post some clips - you will probably be the first with the century diopter around here. :)
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

The Tiffen diopters are inexpensive, but they produce visible chromatic aberrations (different wavelengths of light focus at different points). To my eye, they're unacceptable, but others may feel differently. I don't think you made a mistake buying the Century achromat--it's in another league of optical quality. I *highly* recomment the Nikon 5T and 6T diopters--they're outstanding and reasonably priced, although you do need some 72mm-62mm step-down rings. Another fine alternative is the Canon 500D, which is available in a 72mm thread size. Both the Nikon and Canon lenses are two-element achromats of the highest quality.
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

I thought hard about the canon 500d but the power is 2.0 & the nikon 6t is 2.9.
The canon came out at $119 & the nikon at $46 & with a kenko step ring at $15 so - the desicion was made on my wallet.
I figure the quality can't be that diff between the nikon or canon plus I get a slight amount more magnification.

Im sure the century is in a completely diff league so I didn't even go there.
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

The Nikon is an obvious choice because of the quality and price. The optical quality is outstanding with 35mm film, so at DV resolution, you're not going to find anything better. For still work, I shoot with Hasselblads and Hasselblad users consider the Nikon 2-element diopters superior to the Zeiss diopter--and that's saying a lot considering Zeiss's reputation.
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

And they're Soooooo cheap! I got 'em both for under $100.

I use the 5T a lot more than the 6T. The 6T is designed for more ultra-close-up macro work, whereas the 5T is quite useful in narrowing DOF in a close-quarters situation. But for the price of the Canon you could get both the Nikons, and if you want high magnification macro work you could use both of 'em at the same time.
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

so Barry_S - do you think the nikon's could be comparable to the century's ?

Why - aren't people shouting at the hilltops on this closeup lens in the video world - the reviews are hot on this lens - thats why I bit the dust.
I feel like Im in the secret nikon value club by buying the 6t ;) - other than you & Barry Green - no one else has mentioned it.
I haven't seen it being talked about in other dv forums either - only photography forums etc.

Mums the word ay' ;) shhhhh..or am I missing something :-X
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

if quality is an issue..then you totaly made the right choice! especialy for your aplication.

i might get a nikon one to check out for myself.

peace!
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

mmm...zombies...

sucks arnie made it illegal to have sex with dead people :-/
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

AHH! WHOA! TOO FAR!

...wait no, the other thing. Not far enough.
 
Re: Rich Lee Diopter advice

CB-- Is the Nikon comparable to the Century? Well, since the the Nikon shows a minimum of chromatic aberration and sharpness loss on 35mm film ( a much higher resolution medium than the DVX CCD's), I don't see how the Century could be better on the DVX. To put it another way--the resolution of the DVX is too crude to detect a difference between two very good lenses. The DVX100 CCD's can only resolve so many line pairs (not many by film standards). So if any chromatic "smearing" or loss of focus occurs at a finer resolution than the maximum DVX resolution, the DVX would be unable to detect it.

If you split open your DVX, yanked out the chips, stuck in a chip of film--and exposed it. You probably wouldn't like what you'd see. Probably a fair amount of spherical and chromatic aberrations and mediocre resolution. Let's face it--the "Leica Dicomar" is licensed by Leica, but who knows what that really means. It may not have even been designed by Leica optical designers, and it certainly isn't manufactured in Solms, Germany with Leica's prestige glass. But the "Dicomar" is as good as it needs to be for a low res application like DV. So, if a lens performs well with a high res medium there's not much use in finding something better for your DVX. Sorry for the windy answer :). And as for why the Nikon diopters aren't better known--well it's a limited application. With close focusing zooms, most folks don't bother at all with diopters.
 
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