What are the best cleanest taking lenses?

[Dupree]

If you could choose 3 taking lenses to cover you on set and wanted the cleanest image which would you take?

[Tim McC]

I've found Nikon Ais primes to be the sharpest and sturdiest taking lenses.  The 50mm 1.4 in particular is very useful.

[bzpop]

I love old Nikons, Canon FDs ,  1.2  - 1.4 primes. 

[Grimor]

I think there's no universal answer.

Sensor+taking+anamorphic is a whole combo.

So, say the camera and anamorphic you are using and probably get accurate answer.

As example, my optex 1.33x works best with modern 14-42 kit lens and my Kowa 16H work best with old Fds and russian primes.

[Dupree]

On 3/16/2018 at 11:17 AM, Grimor said:

I think there's no universal answer.

Sensor+taking+anamorphic is a whole combo.

So, say the camera and anamorphic you are using and probably get accurate answer.

As example, my optex 1.33x works best with modern 14-42 kit lens and my Kowa 16H work best with old Fds and russian primes.

red epic dragon with kowa b&h and hcdna. heard of voitgtlander, takumar and contax/planar zeiss as good taking lenses but not sure which to get. Don't want to purchase them and get stuck with not being able to resell it.

[Grimor]

Well, probably Tito Ferradans, Zack Forsman or any other with similar setup can give you a good advice.

I have the "poor man" version of yours, aka  Lumix+kowa 16H+slr magic rangefinder and found helios 44-2 and konica hexanon 40mm 1.8 very sharp with no vigneting.

[tweak]

A 16mm Kowa and a HCDNA is known as a "best" combo because it's widely talked about and everyone just wants to shoot instead of wasting time experimenting. I can tell you now, that although it's a good combo, there's many other scopes out there that are as good and better for a fraction of the price. I think the same is true with taking lenses, the most talked about ones have been driven up in price, but there's tons out there that will work as good or better if you do some searching. Hey you might even find a combo that gives you a look different to that of the norm  . As said earlier, what camera, sensor and look you're going for all play a huge part, there's no definitive answer to which taking lenses are "cleaner or better" without knowing the other variables.

[Bioskop.Inc]

I don't really think "Clean" & "Anamorphic" are really terms that should be uttered in the same breath - unless you've got one of those multi-coloured sterile projection lenses, which you don't have. This is because x2 stretch anamorphics can produce all sorts of strangeness, which is normally down to the focal length of the taking lens - a 35mm can, and normally does, give you a curving effect at the edges (see Blade Runner, it's everywhere), whereas 135mm will not produce this effect (longer focal lengths will give you a better image). Also, the aperture plays a part & I've found the ideal stop is around f4-5.6 - wide open is when you get the really crazy weird shit going down.

A good rule of thumb is that anamorphic adapters play better with simple recipe lenses, which is why the Russian lenses go so well with them - Helios 44-2, Jupiter 9 & Tair 11a (58mm, 85mm, 135mm). They are all pre-set apertures (or fluid apertures, not click stops) & are the classic taking lens set for these adapters - cheap as well.

The Nikon Ai-S lenses produce a great image, as do the Super Takumars (these are single-coated & better for flares, as opposed to the SMC versions). I've seen some good things done with the older Voitglander lenses (not the new ones) & I can't remember if the Contax Zeiss were a good match with the Kowa B&H (I had a set & sold them, but think that was a money thing).

As far as getting the best flares are concerned, the taking lenses to use are those that have a Golden coating. Also, beware if you don't want internal lens flares & especially the white vignetting, then you'll need to use a matte box & even then you might get some strange things going on. Also the light source can change the colour of the flares - under normal conditions the Kowa's flares should be Green & Magenta.

There's loads of video tests out there with the Kowa B&H, so go out there & see what you like.

[tweak]

14 hours ago, Bioskop.Inc said:

I don't really think "Clean" & "Anamorphic" are really terms that should be uttered in the same breath - unless you've got one of those multi-coloured sterile projection lenses, which you don't have. This is because x2 stretch anamorphics can produce all sorts of strangeness, which is normally down to the focal length of the taking lens - a 35mm can, and normally does, give you a curving effect at the edges (see Blade Runner, it's everywhere), whereas 135mm will not produce this effect (longer focal lengths will give you a better image). Also, the aperture plays a part & I've found the ideal stop is around f4-5.6 - wide open is when you get the really crazy weird shit going down.

A good rule of thumb is that anamorphic adapters play better with simple recipe lenses, which is why the Russian lenses go so well with them - Helios 44-2, Jupiter 9 & Tair 11a (58mm, 85mm, 135mm). They are all pre-set apertures (or fluid apertures, not click stops) & are the classic taking lens set for these adapters - cheap as well.

The Nikon Ai-S lenses produce a great image, as do the Super Takumars (these are single-coated & better for flares, as opposed to the SMC versions). I've seen some good things done with the older Voitglander lenses (not the new ones) & I can't remember if the Contax Zeiss were a good match with the Kowa B&H (I had a set & sold them, but think that was a money thing).

As far as getting the best flares are concerned, the taking lenses to use are those that have a Golden coating. Also, beware if you don't want internal lens flares & especially the white vignetting, then you'll need to use a matte box & even then you might get some strange things going on. Also the light source can change the colour of the flares - under normal conditions the Kowa's flares should be Green & Magenta.

There's loads of video tests out there with the Kowa B&H, so go out there & see what you like.

I really like the SMCs, still flare plenty imo. As we've said though, all personal choice.

[DIGICHombre]

Takumar, Helios, vintage Nikon, Voigtlander owner here at one time. I would say that voigtlander and takumar give the cleanest look if you can call it that. Takumar you can generally find for cheap. Voigtlander is expensive but sells expensive so it's a wise investment. Helios you can find for dirt cheap, but the look is definitely subjective. The low contrast look combined with odd bokeh can be irritating, however the investment is usually low thanks to so many versions of this mass produced lens out there.

Having owned a few of vintage lenses and anamorphics myself you really are going to sacrifice some sharpness, and chromatic aberration, for anamorphic widescreen, and stopping down is almost always necessary for a "cleaner" image. But thats why we crave these lenses.

[Drunn]

Any experiencies with long taking lens - I,m trying wit a Schneider Kreuznach and a Takumar 200mm f3.5 and it´s very hard to get a clean infinity focus.  Also tried with a Canon 300mm F4 L and them it´s doesn´t work at any distance.

Is there anyone using with sucess a long taking lens, 200mm-300mm?

[keessie65]

Very clean is the Contax G 45mm f2.0. But you need to rehouse the lens to Leica M for better focussing.

 

[tweak]

On 9/4/2020 at 2:23 PM, Drunn said:

Any experiencies with long taking lens - I,m trying wit a Schneider Kreuznach and a Takumar 200mm f3.5 and it´s very hard to get a clean infinity focus.  Also tried with a Canon 300mm F4 L and them it´s doesn´t work at any distance.

Is there anyone using with sucess a long taking lens, 200mm-300mm?

I was using the Takumar 200mm f5.6 and Canon nFD 200mm f4. In general tuning of infinity focus is going to be much more important than on a shorter taking lens, that goes for both scope and lens. I hook up a 5inch monitor, punch in as far as I can and focus on something as far away as possible, wiggle it around until it's all as sharp as you can get. Some scopes work better with longer lenses, but I think you should be able to get okay results with almost any combo tuned well at around f8-f11. That might sound crappy, but a 200mm anamorphic stopped down to f8 still looks really good. I've tuned my ISCO s8's to work at 200mm f4 and have sharp results.