mercer

Sorry about all of these questions, but since you are the resident lens expert, I thought you may know. These zeiss lenses I just bought are my first foray into German glass. From the footage I have seen online, I think I may like it better than Japanese glass. Of course, I will always love my Minolta MCs and MDs and my Pentax K version lenses.

Also, how are the Mir lenses compared to the Zeiss?

Thanks, I'll have to look out for one. These German lenses aren't as easy to come by on this side of the pond. I have read that after the "merger" the quality control wasn't as good, but are the optical qualities the same?

Hey Andy, have you ever used a Domiplan? I assume the Meyer ones are better?

markr, the grade looks nice. Protune seems good. Can't wait to work with it. Thanks.

The driving through Hollywood footage was great. I really liked the grade you did on those shots. They looked so different from the rest of the footage, so I just figured you had used stock footage. Also. I must say your main actress is pretty easy on the eyes. Oh yeah and she wasn't a bad actress either. You obviously are very informed with sound. Half of what you said went over my head.

So you don't notice any loss in quality editing the h.264 files natively? I guess you're not doing much grading?

So, I have to raise some money, just bought the CZJ 35mm 2.4. The deal was just too good to pass up... Great price and the lens was recently CLA'd and declicked.

Thanks, I usually convert everything to prores but from what I have read, the gopro footage works well with Cineform. Are you just editing it as 4k, or do you downsample it to 1080p in Vegas, if Vegas even does that... I use Mac.

If you are looking for a cheap follow focus... http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00JH0GHYM/ref=mp_s_a_1_23?qid=1428066149&sr=8-23&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=focus+lever It works for me every time. But if you want to get fancy... http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HA8FQGI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1428066121&sr=8-1&keywords=focus+lever&dpPl=1&dpID=51A0o5BJi4L&ref=plSrch&pi=AC_SY200_QL40 You can mark your focus points with this one.

I should have quoted a previous comment... Just joking about crop factor.

I really liked both videos. The gopro 4k looks awesome. What are your guy's workflow? I am thinking about picking up a silver for 2.7k. I have an idea for a short that this camera will be perfect for, but the workflow seems questionable. I know a lot of people are transcoding to cineform, but do you need the studio version of the software for that or can you do it with the free version?

jcs, I assume that was a link to your work. It sounded good. Interesting green screen shots too. your Hollywood stock footage and Hooray for Hollywood interlude was funny. The narration sounded very nice.

It sounds like you have a really nice set up. But for me, even wiring lavs and setting up wireless is too time consuming. However, I do like the beachtek slr mini. I may invest in that, in the future, for a bigger project. But for me, a one man crew, the easiest, best solution will be my go to every time. Obviously, I understand, you will get better audio doing double sound, but is it really worth all the trouble involved? I am not a sound guy, I can't afford a sound guy, and I don't know any sound guys. I do know I can plug a mic into my camera, adjust the levels, and get a mic a couple feet away from an actor's mouth. A close up and usable audio all in one shot. Cut. Next shot.

I'm glad I paid less than 20 bucks for it. But like you said a lens is a tool. If I can get the aperture unstuck, it can make a nice little fx lens.

You're never going to get professional sound no matter what you do, so why make it difficult? The majority of Hollywood movies are post dubbed, so just plug a good shotgun mic into a camera that has manual controls and get a lot of close ups for your dialog. Recording sound is a craft and it is offensive to the craftsman that have spent years honing their craft to think you can just plug a mic into a Tascam or Zoom and get pro sound because that's what real productions do.

On my pentax q7, it's a standard 46mm lens.

Andy, I saw a video with this lens and the flares were fantastic. What is odd about it?

You have some nice lenses there. I am drooling over that Zeiss 20mm, but it is just out of my price range right now. My most expensive lens is a 20mm Takumar that I adore. How do you like the 29mm Pentacon? I bought one earlier today from Germany for real cheap, but it has a stuck aperture... I figured for the price I'll tinker with it.

Yeah it does. I just looked at a video of that lens on a NEX. It looks beautiful. What kind of camera do you shoot with?

Here's a link to an article and a video of the Carl Zeiss Jena 50m 2.8 http://www.vintagelensesforvideo.com/carl-zeiss-lens-50mm-2-8/

I know a little bit about vintage lenses, but by no means an expert, although I am obsessed with them. When I bought my first DSLR, for video, I could barely afford the camera, let alone lenses. After briefly messing around with the kit lens, I quickly researched my other options... And boy did I test out some lenses... Too many. I am great at buying lenses, not so great at selling them. While waiting for my 50mm Zeiss Jena to arrive I began searching for the 35mm flektogon, but that lens is out of my budget right now, I'll have to save up for that one. But while searching and researching, I learned about Pentacon lenses, which were the budget lens brand in Eastern Germany during the Cold War. While they are not as good as their Zeiss counterparts, they are cheap and have a lot of character, from the videos I've seen online. So of course I needed to test them out. I picked up a 50mm 1.8 and a 29mm 2.8 for 60 bucks total. Anyway, if you want to mess with some vintage glass, the old Soviet options are reasonably priced and have a ton of character. I never owned a Helios, but people love them and you can get them dirt cheap.

You really cannot go wrong with takumars. I have the fast 50. The fifty f2. The 35mm 3.5. And the 20mm 4.5. It's a very nice set of lenses. I also like Pentax M lenses and Minolta lenses. All very nice. But if I had my dream set of lenses... Hmm... Maybe a set of old cinema 16mm lenses from Kern or Schneider, or obviously Zeiss. How about you?

I was chatting with the guy who filmed this footage yesterday, one of the reasons I did a Zeiss M42 search. I assume that's the flektogon variant... I will definitely keep my eye out for one of these. Absolutely stunning and I just love the 35mm focal length on crop sensor cameras. Thanks.

Geoff, thanks for the input. The reason I love vintage glass is because of their flaws. They feel more organic and cinematic. I didn't realize the D800 shoots 8k, I assume that's in photo mode only. I was also looking at the NX1, have seen some nice footage with that camera. The imagery has some weight to it, even when downsized to 1080p, which will probably be my workflow. I also liked the look of the NX500 preproduction model at 2.5k but at 4k with no mic input, it just isn't the right camera for me. To be honest I don't really need a new camera, I have an EOS-M that shoots nice 1080p footage at a respectable bitrate and a few nice sets of lenses that go beautifully with it and a NEX that just records with a vintage look, no matter what lens is on it. But the current movie script I am working on may be better suited at 4k. I have been asking a few people what their favorite lens on the NX1 is, what say you?