homogenous range of prime lenses for use with Iscorama

[Rudolf]

I have a problem with my taking lenses: I have a couple of different lenses through the range - the usual

suspects (Helios, Jupiter 85, Mir 37, several Canon FD 28mm F2, 35mm F2, 50mm F1.4, Zeiss 50mm 1.4) and

some others. So far not bad. But I would like to have maybe 3-4 primes which are rather similar.

I went for the Canons FD but the problem is that they are quite different in colour (as you might know the 35 mm is so warm/yellow). I am now thinking about switching to Nikon AIS but have no experiences with them.

How about Zeiss Contax.

So 1. Which are homogenous through the range and 

2. Would work nice with Iscorama?

I would be very grateful for some tips and advice. 

 

[richg101]

rollei zeiss (series 1) have a nice family and share very similar colour and contrast. I currently use the 35mmf2.8, 50mmf1.8, 85mmf2.8, and 135mmf4 on aps-c sensor. an with the iscorama. I currently looking at making the switch to the helios, mir and jupiter combo myself due to the extra stop available on the jupiter versus the 85mmf2.8

using the gh2 you could instead go:- 25mmf2.8, 35mmf2.8, 50mmf1.8 and 85mmf2.8 and get a nice working matched set. unfortunately the 25mm is very expensive and in demand. the rest are easy to source.

very clinical and sharp. and on the gh2 I imagine this will be more obvious.

[Bioskop.Inc]

I've been using Super-Takumars recently - they all match up nicely & are sharp when used with an Iscorama.

The only downside is that the best 35mm is f3.5 (there is a f2, but too soft), 50mm f1.4, 55mm f1.8, 100mm f2.8 & 135mm f3.5.

 

I've heard good things about Yashica ML lenses (there's a 28mm, 35mm etc.), but they don't always come cheap.

 

If you've already tried the Russian lenses & rejected them, then you might be after the Holy Grail!

 

Best combo for me:

Mir-1b 37mm

Helios 44-2 58mm

Jupiter 9 85mm or Helios 40-2 85mm (both are too soft wide open, so useable J9@f2.8 & H40-2@f2)

Tair 11a 135mm

[Rudolf]

Thank you very much for your input and tips on this matter! 

@ Bioskop.Inc First I must say I do not reject the russian lens. Especially the Jupiter is lovely. The problem is I just don't use them often (nearly never) and I don't know why...? Maybe I like them faster and wider. And the Mir is very soft (still interestring). I will definately keep these four you mentioned except the Tair which I don't own for special purposes. I have a Yashica 50mm 1.7 which is also very good (but) and produces

the weirdest flares of all my lenses.

I am looking for small box with my 4 lenses which cope with most situations and I thought it would be a good idea to have them togehter

from one manufacturer (that is what some Pros I now do). 

 

@richg 101 I think the Zeiss lenses would suit me well! I already have a Rollei 50mm and I like the build quality and the sharpness/color/contrast. The sharpness of your videos is very impressive. Does this depend on your Sony Nex5? Intresting that you will

go the other direction: switch to the russian lenses (however they come rather blurry with the extra f-stop)

On the other hand there are faster Zeiss lenses but they are expensive... and I am not sure if it is worth it.

Your video is very sharp - and looks very good. I am very impressed. Looks Great! Thank you for posting. I think I have to check out a

Sony NEX. I recently saw one for €300,- 

PS did you make the score for Sunshine? 

 

I am still interested on opinions about Nikon lenses... I searched the net and there are tons on different opinions but they don't consider anamorphics.

 

Again thanks a lot!

[richg101]

@richg 101 I think the Zeiss lenses would suit me well! I already have a Rollei 50mm and I like the build quality and the sharpness/color/contrast. The sharpness of your videos is very impressive. Does this depend on your Sony Nex5? Intresting that you will

go the other direction: switch to the russian lenses (however they come rather blurry with the extra f-stop)

On the other hand there are faster Zeiss lenses but they are expensive... and I am not sure if it is worth it.

Your video is very sharp - and looks very good. I am very impressed. Looks Great! Thank you for posting. I think I have to check out a

Sony NEX. I recently saw one for €300,- 

PS did you make the score for Sunshine? 

 

I am still interested on opinions about Nikon lenses... I searched the net and there are tons on different opinions but they don't consider anamorphics.

 

Again thanks a lot!

 

nah.  I did do a rescore of sunshine which got a bit of interest on youtube and was used in a short film a few years ago.  the original music was by john murphy and underworld.   mine was like a homage to the film and it's original score.  simplistic, but i am quite proud of the track:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6lRfku_cjQ

 

nex5n is quite good.  not as sharp as gh2, but imo better than the rest (and very cheap at the moment too).  the f1.4 rollei zeisses are things of kings.  and command king's price tags.  definitely on my list of purchases.  35, 50 and 85mm all f1.4 would be a lovely setup!  f2.8 is normally fast enough for me.   main reason for the russian lenses for me is the large number of aperture blades which produce perfect circular (or oval for anamorphic) background blur.

[dahlfors]

Since I have a FX Nikon D800 I use the following Nikon lenses:

 

- 50mm: 50mm AF-D f/1.4 + E-Series 50mm f/1.8 (also tried the AF-D 50mm f/1.8, works fine)

- 85mm: AI-S 85mm f/2

- 105mm: AI-S 105mm f/2.5

- 200mm: AI 200mm f/4

 

These all have 52mm front thread. For a camera with smaller crop I'd suggest a Nikon 35mm f/2, which also has 52mm filter thread. All of these lenses are sharp and I've had good results with all of them. The 85mm is probably my favourite out of these, an excellent lens.

 

I'm not sure how wide lenses you can use with your camera, but since you mention some other 28mm lens, the Nikon AI-S 28mm f/2.8 is a very sharp lens and might work for you as well.

 

From my experience, the Nikon AI/AI-S lenses are pretty consistent with color, but if you mix the newer AF-D lenses with older AI/AI-S lenses there can be some differences.

[Sean Cunningham]

I'll echo the above.  I originally went looking for Nikon glass to build out my kit for a Redrock Micro M2 35mm Cinema Lens Adapter and have thankfully been able to continue using these lenses with my GH2.  The classic SLR Nikkors are great values for the money, often faster than similar Canon glass and fully manual.   (24mm F2, 35mm F1.4, 105mm F2.5).

 

If you click on those links you'll be taken to the Ken Rockwell pages for these and tons of other Nikon lenses.  Lots of really good information there, especially if there are several versions of a particular lens over its production lifetime, the various differences, etc.  He loves the 85mm too, if I'm remembering correctly, and there's a whole section on "portrait lenses" which directly translates to our use as CU lenses, explaining why telephoto is used (more importantly than throwing the BG into bokeh-land).

 

 

edit: of note, there's a line of Panavision anamorphics that use Nikon taking lenses

[dahlfors]

Oh yeah, good idea to link in some resources. Ken Rockwell has a lot of good info, although he's quite the personality and you will need to read him between the lines sometimes :)

 

I'll add in two more things that has been helpful for me when hunting old Nikon lenses:

 

1) Online auctions might not tell you what exact model the lenses are, or in some occasions might be labeled as another model. If there are photos of the lenses, here's how to make out if a Nikon lens is Non-AI, AI, or AI-S: http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-153.html

Non-AI lenses are the really old ones, the majority of them single-coated. AI-lenses are 1977 and newer, if they have multi-coating, the front element will have a green coating. AI-S lenses are 1981 and newer, I believe all of them are multi-coated. In general, AI and AI-S lenses are optically superior to Non-AI lenses, and I'd recommend them as your first choice. Some of the AI-S lenses can still be bought brand new from Nikon, like the 50mm f/1.2: http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/mf/normal/50mmf_12/index.htm

 

2) To avoid vignetting and to easily fit my Iscorama with filter rings, I've chosen to go with Nikon lenses with 52mm filter thread. Tiffen has a nice list of filter thread sizes for Nikon lenses here: http://www.tiffen.com/nikon_lens_to_filter_chart.html

 

Also, if you consider getting a Nikon autofocus lens for some reason, there are a few different versions. AVOID the lenses with a "G" (like AF-S 50mm f/1.4G) after the f-number - these are modern Nikon AF lenses that lack a manual aperture ring and aperture can only be set electronically from the camera body. Older AF lenses marked with "D" or no letter after the f-number will have manual aperture ring.

[Rudolf]

Big thank you for all your comments! I have been reading a lot on the net and followed your links and checked ebay. I also compared some

reviews especially for Nikkor 28 Ais which seems to be really good (as you recommended) at its Zeiss counterpart at slrlensreviews.com

It was also very helpful to read about all these different Nikon lenses. That was really confusing on ebay. So Nikkors will for sure worth a second look. Either Takumars. 

However my decision was made easy and suddenly because I just bougth two boxed Contax Zeiss (one together with Novoflex adapter) for a reasonable price. So I will start collecting a couple of these and sell some of my older lenses.

But as I will still keep my eyes open for Nikon (52mm thread is also great on them) These step-up and down rings are somehow annoying.

 

@richg 101 I like your really like your rescore of that track. I also liked the movie - especially the first half. Great atmosphere and images but then I lost the plot a little bit. Seemed like two films in one. Or maybe I am just tooo old and not so much into horror  :o

This happened as I tried to make my own epic horror-scifi-movie-action-adventure with my own "score" :http://vimeo.com/55229230

 

Once again a very big Thank You to all of you - again I have learned a lot!

[itimjim]

Late to this one, but I might add that the Canon FD 35/2 that ISN'T chrome nose, doesn't suffer the same yellowing image. The FDn 28/2, 35/2, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 100/2.8, 135/2.8, 200/2.8 are all quite nicely matched.

[Rudolf]

Hi itimjim. Thank you for your post! I thought I have a "thorium" 35mm 2.0 S.S.C. although it is not chrome nose (thought the older S.S.C. are

all radioactive). Thorium or not it is still rather yellow and two warm compared to my other Canons which I do like ( 28mm 2.0 S.S.C, 50mm 1.4, and also my Tokina FD 17mm 3.5 is good) 

During the last days I read a lot and it seems the Zeiss glass has some advantages (sometimes very little - especially regarding Nikkors Ais)

But I like build quality, sharpness and color very much from my experience with the 50mm 1.4 HFT.

I am pretty sure I will sell all my FD glass and keep the extraordinary russian lenses. Sometimes I will need something special from my hopefully soon growing Zeiss collection.

[Mauri D.Galiano]

Someone is trying to pair the anamorphics adapters with the new Samyang vdslr ?

[Caleb Genheimer]

I don't think I'd try the Samyang/Rokinon linses, but maybe that is just me. They are not small lenses, and the 35mm at least has a bad breathing problem. I've been sticking with a mishmash of Canon/Tamron in FD mount, the Mir and the Konica for use with my anamorphic, planning to sit tight until a suitable new complete lineup of lenses is available. Voigtlander was looking promising for m4/3, and SLR Magic's recent additions to their lineup are making their stuff look mighty tempting. Here's to hoping that they make a full lineup of cine lenses.