Phase One 90 HR-SW XT Lens
Introducing the Rodenstock 90 HR-SW Lens in X Shutter for Phase One XT System
One of the recently developed HR lenses in the Rodenstock lineup is the 90 HR-SW. As of today, the 90 HR-SW is now available in X Shutter and immediately available for pre-order. This lens is extremely sharp, and possesses a 120mm image circle. This lens will enable full XY combined shift of up to 24mm on an XT Camera (up to +/-12mm horizontal, combined with up to +/- 12mm vertical), and produce amazing results.
Notably, the 90 HR-SW has previously required a 48mm rear spacer when mounting to a Cambo WRS, via Cambo Lenspanel. The rear interface of the XT camera is permanently attached and has electronic contacts. This does not allow for a rear spacer, and this cast doubts for a 90 HR-SW on the XT Camera. But this past spring, Cambo introduced a Long Barrel version of this lens, with the 48mm spacer as part of the lens barrel. This paved the way for a 90 HR-SW lens to be able to be mounted to the XT Camera without a rear spacer. Smartly, Phase One has adopted this extra space into the focussing ring, which makes a nice large grip to fine tune focus with.
|
Are Rodenstock HR Lenses the Best Lenses in the World?
What an audacious question, right? There are many fine lenses in the photographic industry. Zeiss Otus lenses, Leica lenses, the finest Canon, Nikon lenses, Hasselblad lenses, even legacy lenses from Zeiss and Schneider for various camera systems. So what makes the Rodenstock lenses so special? First, they are extremely high fidelity, capable of resolving fine details. But most importantly, they have large image circles, 2x to 3x larger than all the lenses mentioned above, they can be shifted for perspective correction or enhancing the area of view via stitching, they can be shifted to allow for creative framing options. And all are optimized to perform well near the edge of that very large image circle, even when shifted.
When you deliver 150 megapixels of visual information from a state of the art CMOS sensor, it must first pass through some optical elements to reach that delivery platform. These take the form of various lenses. The quality of these lenses dictates the success of the final results. Take an average lens and shoot it with a 30 or 40 megapixel sensor, and the results may look adequate, even good. But that average lens will be revealed when applied to 150 million pixels and the level of magnified detail that reveals. That level of detail requires the very best optics available.
Rodenstock 90mm HR sample by Architectural Photographer David Naughton
“I am continually amazed at just how well the 90mm HR lens performs. In my opinion, it’s the sharpest lens in my case and one that I know will always exceed my client’s expectations.” – David Naughton
The CI Take
With the launch of the 90 HR-SW in X Shutter, the XT camera now boasts a lineup with numerous focal length options, ranging from ultra wide to long normal. These constitute the best optics in the world for matching with a high resolution digital back for maximum shift capability and results.
An Overview of the XT Lens Lineup So Far
Rodenstock 23 HR-S (15mm Equivalent in 35mm Format)
Rodenstock 32 HR-W (21mm Equivalent in 35mm Format)
Rodenstock 50 HR-W (32mm Equivalent in 35mm Format)
Rodenstock 70 HR-W (45mm Equivalent in 35mm Format)
Rodenstock 90 HR-SW (58mm Equivalent in 35mm Format)
