Lenses

[mercer]

15 hours ago, kye said:

What specifically do you mean by 'character'?  

In my travels I've come to understand that character is made up of a number of elements, including: colour, sharpness, bokeh shape, CA and spherical aberrations (corner performance), diffusion of highlights, and others.  I know that some of the CZ magic is said to be in the T* coatings, for example.  

Some of these things can be simulated in post and others can't.  Depending on what your specific preferences are you might be able to get the best of both worlds..

Yeah I think curvature is a big flaw in wide angle that adds some character. The Zeiss Hollywood and even the newer Classic model suffers severely from it but it’s also what adds that 3D Pop. 

The T coating is nice but in some ways they may have perfected it too much. I found it almost impossible to get any flare with their newer lenses.

I have pretty much given up on them, though. The money they cost compared to Nikkors just don’t justify it. Of course, Nikkors tend to be warmer but that’s an easy enough of a fix. I still have one more to test though... the 35mm f/2. If it’s amazing, I may keep that as a one lens Zeiss option...

Or I may sell everything and go back to just my Canon 28mm 1.8...

12 hours ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

I really like the nikon 50mm 1.8 ai-s pancake lens I got. Pretty dang sharp even at 1.8. 

That lens is a notoriously good lens... especially the Japanese market version. I believe a lot of Anamorphic shooters use the 50mm 1.8 as their taking lens... partly due to quality and I believe because the front element is so close to the front of the lens. 

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, mercer said:

To back pedal a sec... that shot of yours looks pretty amazing in FF. I love the background separation... minus the aspect ratio difference, this reminds me of old VistaVision films.

Hmm...

 

Have an out take from your 10 minute custom test shoot in 2:1 with a bit more of a mute palette then

Some blended diffusion to tone the sharpness down a bit as well.

 

[kye]

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

And when you aren't shooting white(ish) walls, it makes reasonably OK pictures.

Nice pic.  Especially nice colours and contrast  

3 hours ago, mercer said:

Yeah I think curvature is a big flaw in wide angle that adds some character. The Zeiss Hollywood and even the newer Classic model suffers severely from it but it’s also what adds that 3D Pop. 

The T coating is nice but in some ways they may have perfected it too much. I found it almost impossible to get any flare with their newer lenses.

I have pretty much given up on them, though. The money they cost compared to Nikkors just don’t justify it. Of course, Nikkors tend to be warmer but that’s an easy enough of a fix. I still have one more to test though... the 35mm f/2. If it’s amazing, I may keep that as a one lens Zeiss option...

Or I may sell everything and go back to just my Canon 28mm 1.8...

My impression of the T* (or early versions of it anyway) was that you can simulate it in post, at least to a certain degree, with the methods in the Tiffen Black Pro Mist simulation thread.  Namely, selecting the brighter parts of the image, blurring the heck out of them and then adding them on top.  People talk about how it softens the texture of skin and various other things, which can be pretty desirable.

Curvature might even be partly simulated in post too, depending on what the optical mechanism is.  Maybe I should start a thread.....

[mercer]

2 hours ago, kye said:

Nice pic.  Especially nice colours and contrast  

My impression of the T* (or early versions of it anyway) was that you can simulate it in post, at least to a certain degree, with the methods in the Tiffen Black Pro Mist simulation thread.  Namely, selecting the brighter parts of the image, blurring the heck out of them and then adding them on top.  People talk about how it softens the texture of skin and various other things, which can be pretty desirable.

Curvature might even be partly simulated in post too, depending on what the optical mechanism is.  Maybe I should start a thread.....

I believe the point of most coatings is to reduce flares and ghosts. I hadn’t heard that the T coating makes skin softer, but that makes sense. I noticed a softer skin with the Zeiss Classics as well. As I’ve said a dozen times, or more, I love the skin texture that Raw video affords me, so the softer skin was kind of a turn off for me. In fact, I usually try to make the texture pop even more by adding a little Midtone Detail in Resolve.

[Phil A]

Seeing how y'all are shooting a lot of manual focus lenses, how do the different camera systems with 135/FF sensor compare when it comes to their EVF for manual focusing M-mount lenses?

I'm considering Sony A7, A7R, A7 II, A7R II, Nikon Z6 or - very slim maybe - A7 III, looking for a camera that is as small+light (and ideally cheap, as it's not my main system) as possible to shoot M mount lenses, purely for photography (35/40/50/75mm lenses for portraits, etc., looking for feel&look, not technical perfection).

I read that the A7R has some aliasing in the EVF that coincidentally actually helps see when stuff is in focus (comparable to the over-sharpening focus help in the SmallHD field monitors).

 

EDIT: Unrelated, I can absolutely second the discussed Sigma 30mm DC HSM Art lens. With a focal reducer it's the perfect normal lens on m43 sensors and I love the rendering it gives. Pity there are so few APS-H cameras left besides the odd Sigma and some old EOS 1D.

[webrunner5]

I had the original A7r, and it was pretty damn hard to get shots in focus do to camera shake even with the stabilized lenses on them. They are in a sense Too light to shoot with. And I did experience shutter shock even on a tripod. I had to hang a weight off the bottom of the tripod to make it stop at certain low shutter speeds. If I remember it was like 1/60, even 125th. They had a firmware update that helped but not completely. Even the A7r mk II with IBIS didn't cure it either because you shouldn't use IBIS on a tripod. But they were a lot better handheld. Electronic Shutter on A series cameras are the way to go for slower stuff.

But when it worked they were pretty amazing output wise. A real bargain for what they cost. I recommend the, Even the original A7s even with Only 12mp has an amazing output Photos wise. You would be surprised how good they can do.

These shots was taken with the A7s. As much detail I need unless I want to go really big print wise.

[BTM_Pix]

2 hours ago, Phil A said:

I'm considering Sony A7, A7R, A7 II, A7R II, Nikon Z6 or - very slim maybe - A7 III, looking for a camera that is as small+light (and ideally cheap, as it's not my main system) as possible to shoot M mount lenses, purely for photography (35/40/50/75mm lenses for portraits, etc., looking for feel&look, not technical perfection).

I read that the A7R has some aliasing in the EVF that coincidentally actually helps see when stuff is in focus (comparable to the over-sharpening focus help in the SmallHD field monitors).

I picked up a cheap A7Rii a few weeks ago primarily for that purpose.

If you are just using it for stills and M mount lenses then I'd honestly recommend getting the TechArt PRO LM-EA7 adapter.

The EVF is actually fine for manual focusing on the A7Rii but the TechArt takes away the doubt and gives you accurate autofocus for the M lenses (and any other manual lens you can adapt to M mount) and the other advantage is it gives you much closer minimum focus than a regular M to E adapter.

It adds a small amount of weight and battery drain to the camera (and around £200 to the budget) but to me its worth considering for the functionality it brings and pretty much turns the A7Rii into a high resolution Leica M with autofocus.

[mercer]

5 hours ago, Phil A said:

Seeing how y'all are shooting a lot of manual focus lenses, how do the different camera systems with 135/FF sensor compare when it comes to their EVF for manual focusing M-mount lenses?

I'm considering Sony A7, A7R, A7 II, A7R II, Nikon Z6 or - very slim maybe - A7 III, looking for a camera that is as small+light (and ideally cheap, as it's not my main system) as possible to shoot M mount lenses, purely for photography (35/40/50/75mm lenses for portraits, etc., looking for feel&look, not technical perfection).

I read that the A7R has some aliasing in the EVF that coincidentally actually helps see when stuff is in focus (comparable to the over-sharpening focus help in the SmallHD field monitors).

 

EDIT: Unrelated, I can absolutely second the discussed Sigma 30mm DC HSM Art lens. With a focal reducer it's the perfect normal lens on m43 sensors and I love the rendering it gives. Pity there are so few APS-H cameras left besides the odd Sigma and some old EOS 1D.

Thanks for the input on the 30mm 1.4!

As far as M lenses... why not just get an S1? I know they’re not as small as the A7 series or the Z6 but what Panny is doing with Leica and Sigma, especially after today’s Sigma announcement, seems to be a great system to buy into for the future.

[Phil A]

34 minutes ago, mercer said:

Thanks for the input on the 30mm 1.4!

As far as M lenses... why not just get an S1? I know they’re not as small as the A7 series or the Z6 but what Panny is doing with Leica and Sigma, especially after today’s Sigma announcement, seems to be a great system to buy into for the future.

Because I want a camera that’s ideally smaller/lighter than my GH5 for every day carry when I commute. The S1 is the one camera that’s actually even bigger and heavier (Plus it’s currently 1000 $ more expensive than a Z6 here) ?

[BTM_Pix]

Another 35mm here

This one is the 3rd of the used lenses I got on my recent trip and is the Samyang AF 35mm f/2.8 FE for Sony.

Its cheap, compact, lightweight, the AF is decent and its sharp.

Against that is its not particularly fast (though that is offset somewhat by it being for FF cameras) and has about as much character as an Ikea cabinet.

Definitely a good all rounder though for general travel stuff on a FF.

 

[thebrothersthre3]

Those are some amazing shots. 

Have you thought about maybe an XT30 or GX85 for travel? More compact than anything full frame. 

[BTM_Pix]

9 minutes ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

Those are some amazing shots. 

Have you thought about maybe an XT30 or GX85 for travel? More compact than anything full frame. 

Thank you, thats very kind.

I had an XT20 and used to use it for that but the issue was, with it being APS-C, the additional bulk of the faster lenses started becoming a bit self defeating in terms of keeping it compact.

The appeal of switching to the A7Rii was having the option of using small M mount lenses (with AF on the TechArt adapter) as well as compact primes like this Samyang.

When you look at the overall form factor of an A7Rii with say a 7Artisans 35mm f2 versus trying to get that equivalence on the XT20 which would be the 23mm f1.4 then it actually becomes quite marginal.

Of course there is still the option in the A7Rii of switching to APS-C mode to use with the small Sigma primes as well so its a bit more versatile for me.

Plus the resolution bump it has over the XT20 and IBIS of course !

I have a soft spot for the GX80 but its a similar story in some ways with regard to when you add equivalent lenses, particularly when you get speed boosters involved.

 

[Zach Goodwin2]

New picture I took, FD 35-105 F/3.5

[mercer]

@BTM_Pix I even heard somewhere that there’s a CineLikeD hack available for the GX80/85. 

[thebrothersthre3]

15 minutes ago, mercer said:

@BTM_Pix I even heard somewhere that there’s a CineLikeD hack available for the GX80/85. 

Yeah there is, pretty simple to do. 

Its hard to beat as they are going for like $300 these days.

[BTM_Pix]

55 minutes ago, mercer said:

@BTM_Pix I even heard somewhere that there’s a CineLikeD hack available for the GX80/85. 

Nah, I think that was just a bullshit rumour. 

[mercer]

54 minutes ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

Yeah there is, pretty simple to do. 

Its hard to beat as they are going for like $300 these days.

Yeah it’s pretty awesome but I was poking fun because BTM was the one who discovered it. 

[kye]

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Another 35mm here

This one is the 3rd of the used lenses I got on my recent trip and is the Samyang AF 35mm f/2.8 FE for Sony.

Its cheap, compact, lightweight, the AF is decent and its sharp.

Against that is its not particularly fast (though that is offset somewhat by it being for FF cameras) and has about as much character as an Ikea cabinet.

Definitely a good all rounder though for general travel stuff on a FF.

 

Great shots.

Anyone who has been to Japan will also realise you did very well to avoid getting more vending machines in each frame!

[leslie]

ok so i bought a tokina 28-70 2.8 I believe its series 1. all my searching leads me to think its series 1 anyway. At this point i'm going to buy a cheap nikon to m43 adapter but later i might get an adapter with contacts if that allows  auto focus or tap to focus on the bmp4k. Has anyone any experience on that ?  the other path i might take is to get a speed booster if i went with a speed booster i should get a cheap nikon to ef adapter to speedbooster or is there a nikon to m43 speed booster ?. As you can tell i'm unsure how of the whole speed booster process works. some enlightenment would be appreciated

 

[thephoenix]

2 hours ago, leslie said:

ok so i bought a tokina 28-70 2.8 I believe its series 1. all my searching leads me to think its series 1 anyway. At this point i'm going to buy a cheap nikon to m43 adapter but later i might get an adapter with contacts if that allows  auto focus or tap to focus on the bmp4k. Has anyone any experience on that ?  the other path i might take is to get a speed booster if i went with a speed booster i should get a cheap nikon to ef adapter to speedbooster or is there a nikon to m43 speed booster ?. As you can tell i'm unsure how of the whole speed booster process works. some enlightenment would be appreciated

 

i have one, canon mount. and i find the af pretty decent for a lens that old. don't excpect shooting sport with it anyway but for slow motion think it would be ok

this was entirely shot with it, manual focus