Lenses

[PannySVHS]

The Tokina is also a very pretty looking outfit. Weird me, that I gave up on using it after messing around with a lackluster EF to Nikon adapter. On the other hand I have an awesome FD to SL adapter from the Polish adapter manufacter which has often been recommended by Andrew and others. I am  enjoying the beauty of the 20mm Canon FD on the large sensor of my S1. Though more sillyness with my Tevidon lenses, which are still in urge of an adapter. I read the 35 and 70mm even cover s35 format. Beautiful lenses laying around should not be allowed on this thread.:)

[thebrothersthre3]

Just purchased an older Zeiss 25mm f4 from Russia. The main reason is my Ursa Mini is PL mount and I've been looking for some inexpensive glass to put on it. It took me a while to find but the Zeiss 25mm and 20mm f4 lenses are one of the cheapest PL mountable lenses available. Very few photo lenses can be easily modded for PL mount. I wanted to get the 20mm but it was about twice as expensive. 25mm is wide enough for most situations though. 

I also got a helios 58mm, which is also adaptable to PL. I had a helios briefly years ago but never used it much. I wasn't aware that its a rather fabulous piece of glass all around, sometimes compared to much higher end cine glass. 

I was tempted to purchase a PL modded Sigma 18-35. There is a Chinese company on eBay that sells them for $1300(you can usually offer them down to $1200). That would probably have been the more professional looking option. However the Sigma despite its impressive image is on the sterile side. Plus it would have been $900 more than I spent on my Zeiss and Helios. 

[leslie]

been playing with the p4k and the tokina 28-70 and resolve. Heres a jpg of a sunstar through some grape leaves. i sorta learned its not parfocal last night trying to do some zooms in on the flames in a bonfire. At first i thought it was me. Then i reread  jordans post, now i dont feel quite so bad lol.

[kye]

12 hours ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

Just purchased an older Zeiss 25mm f4 from Russia. The main reason is my Ursa Mini is PL mount and I've been looking for some inexpensive glass to put on it. It took me a while to find but the Zeiss 25mm and 20mm f4 lenses are one of the cheapest PL mountable lenses available. Very few photo lenses can be easily modded for PL mount. I wanted to get the 20mm but it was about twice as expensive. 25mm is wide enough for most situations though. 

I also got a helios 58mm, which is also adaptable to PL. I had a helios briefly years ago but never used it much. I wasn't aware that its a rather fabulous piece of glass all around, sometimes compared to much higher end cine glass. 

I was tempted to purchase a PL modded Sigma 18-35. There is a Chinese company on eBay that sells them for $1300(you can usually offer them down to $1200). That would probably have been the more professional looking option. However the Sigma despite its impressive image is on the sterile side. Plus it would have been $900 more than I spent on my Zeiss and Helios. 

The Sigma is a stunning quality lens for the price but it is that modern look, where there's no character.  It depends on what you're shooting and your tastes.  I have two Helios 58/2 lenses and couldn't even think about using that as my only option, considering how distracting the background blur is, especially on video where if you move the camera then the whole background blur makes it look like you're filming in a parallel universe where the rules of physics are broken.  

One trend I found when I binged the lenses forum at reduser.com was that people advocate using a modern set for projects that want a more neutral look and a vintage set for projects that can benefit from a look with more character.  Often that meant that the modern set was something like Zeiss CP.2s and the vintage set was the Russians, FD or Takumar glass, with the price difference meaning that they would rent the Zeiss set and own the vintage set so they could use it on personal projects and longer-form content like shooting documentaries over months/years.

Depending on your workflow it's pretty easy to make the modern lenses look a lot more vintage, but some don't like doing much in post.

[Geoff CB]

Someone buy this before I do. 

Zeiss 25mm 2.8 with Duclous Cinemod for $500

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Zeiss-Distagon-T-25mm-f-2-8-ZF-2-Lens-for-Nikon-F-Mount-with-Duclos-Cine-Mod/324159982075?hash=item4b7970c9fb:g:LFUAAOSwZ-ReoIlr

[homestar_kevin]

I legit almost bought that one, but actually stumbled into a non duclos version zf.2 for a lot less and snagged that.

I can't stop buying the Zeiss ZF lenses. They're all going so so cheap right now and are very attractive to me as I've been putting together a series of more modern looking primes.

In the past 8 months or so I've gotten deals I couldn't pass up on the 21mm 2.8, the 25mm 2.8, the 28mm 2.0, the 50mm 1/4 (ZF.1, but still)

They've been great. The 28mm was duclos modded, had the EF Mount hard adapter, declicked iris and the 80mm OD front cap and stuff, the rest have been stock.

The same guy listing the 25mm you posted sold the 50mm zf.2 Duclos modded for $400 shipped the other month. Wish I had caught that auction.

[thebrothersthre3]

11 hours ago, kye said:

The Sigma is a stunning quality lens for the price but it is that modern look, where there's no character.  It depends on what you're shooting and your tastes.  I have two Helios 58/2 lenses and couldn't even think about using that as my only option, considering how distracting the background blur is, especially on video where if you move the camera then the whole background blur makes it look like you're filming in a parallel universe where the rules of physics are broken.  

One trend I found when I binged the lenses forum at reduser.com was that people advocate using a modern set for projects that want a more neutral look and a vintage set for projects that can benefit from a look with more character.  Often that meant that the modern set was something like Zeiss CP.2s and the vintage set was the Russians, FD or Takumar glass, with the price difference meaning that they would rent the Zeiss set and own the vintage set so they could use it on personal projects and longer-form content like shooting documentaries over months/years.

Depending on your workflow it's pretty easy to make the modern lenses look a lot more vintage, but some don't like doing much in post.

Good perspectives. I do like getting as close to the image I want out of camera as possible though. One of the issues with old lenses is flaring when I don't want flaring. But there are workarounds and I can't complain for the price. The Bokeh on the Helios certainly won't work most of the time, though the exaggerated effect only shows up under some circumstances. I actually remember being disappointed when I got one a while back as I thought the crazy effect would be apparent in any shot with bokeh, but it wasn't. 

I just purchased a Mir-1 37mm 2.8 as well. That will give me 25mm , 37mm, and 58mm options. Not a bad line up. 

[kye]

10 hours ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

Good perspectives. I do like getting as close to the image I want out of camera as possible though. One of the issues with old lenses is flaring when I don't want flaring. But there are workarounds and I can't complain for the price. The Bokeh on the Helios certainly won't work most of the time, though the exaggerated effect only shows up under some circumstances. I actually remember being disappointed when I got one a while back as I thought the crazy effect would be apparent in any shot with bokeh, but it wasn't. 

I just purchased a Mir-1 37mm 2.8 as well. That will give me 25mm , 37mm, and 58mm options. Not a bad line up. 

I thought the Mir was an interesting lens.  Being apochromatic it has some of the optical qualities of vintage lenses but not all, so it's an interesting mix.  

The 25, 37, and 58 are a good lineup, but with S35 you might consider a wider lens?  Or are you using a SB?

[thebrothersthre3]

7 hours ago, kye said:

I thought the Mir was an interesting lens.  Being apochromatic it has some of the optical qualities of vintage lenses but not all, so it's an interesting mix.  

The 25, 37, and 58 are a good lineup, but with S35 you might consider a wider lens?  Or are you using a SB?

I’ll probably get a 20mm down the line. The Zeiss 20 f4 is rather affordable and would do the trick. I’ve shot a feature where our widest was 28mm tho and another where it was 40mm (kind of cheating since it’s anamorphic so comes off as a bit wider).

Now I have to wait for all these lenses to come in the mail from Russia and Ukraine!! 

[meudig]

7 hours ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

Now I have to wait for all these lenses to come in the mail from Russia and Ukraine!! 

I hope you get decent copies! I hear they can differ alot from copy to copy (maybe because of prior usage, maybe because of manufacturing?).

I bought the 37, 58 and 85 last year but don't like them at all! The way that the iris work just doesn't do it for me. Although they give an interesting look to say the least.

[thebrothersthre3]

50 minutes ago, meudig said:

I hope you get decent copies! I hear they can differ alot from copy to copy (maybe because of prior usage, maybe because of manufacturing?).

I bought the 37, 58 and 85 last year but don't like them at all! The way that the iris work just doesn't do it for me. Although they give an interesting look to say the least.

Yeah they look nice from the pics and the seller had good feedback, so fingers crossed 

[kye]

11 hours ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

I’ll probably get a 20mm down the line. The Zeiss 20 f4 is rather affordable and would do the trick. I’ve shot a feature where our widest was 28mm tho and another where it was 40mm (kind of cheating since it’s anamorphic so comes off as a bit wider).

Now I have to wait for all these lenses to come in the mail from Russia and Ukraine!! 

On UMP the 20mm should be equivalent to a 28mm on FF?  If so then that's a more useful wide.  I prefer to have 15mm and 35mm equivalents as I love the 'wow' look of the 15mm but it's really what you're shooting that dictates what you need.  Plus I'm a bit over the 28mm FOV after shooting and watching a lot of stuff from smartphones over the years, but that's probably just me.

How long are you expecting the shipping to take?  I haven't bought anything since covid so have no idea what shipping is like..

4 hours ago, meudig said:

I hope you get decent copies! I hear they can differ alot from copy to copy (maybe because of prior usage, maybe because of manufacturing?).

I bought the 37, 58 and 85 last year but don't like them at all! The way that the iris work just doesn't do it for me. Although they give an interesting look to say the least.

Which ones didn't you like and why?

I'm not aware of other lenses that are 37mm other than the Mir, but there are multiple brands of 58 and 85mm available all with differences in coatings and sometimes optical recipe, so it matters which ones you have.

[thebrothersthre3]

14 minutes ago, kye said:

On UMP the 20mm should be equivalent to a 28mm on FF?  If so then that's a more useful wide.  I prefer to have 15mm and 35mm equivalents as I love the 'wow' look of the 15mm but it's really what you're shooting that dictates what you need.  Plus I'm a bit over the 28mm FOV after shooting and watching a lot of stuff from smartphones over the years, but that's probably just me.

How long are you expecting the shipping to take?  I haven't bought anything since covid so have no idea what shipping is like..

 

Shipping has been hit or miss. Buying from overseas usually takes 2-4 weeks for me at least from China. Not sure about Russia. Super wides are nice like the 12mm I have for my Xt3. But not gonna happen with PL mount.

[meudig]

4 hours ago, kye said:

Which ones didn't you like and why?

I'm not aware of other lenses that are 37mm other than the Mir, but there are multiple brands of 58 and 85mm available all with differences in coatings and sometimes optical recipe, so it matters which ones you have.

Mir-1B, Helios 44-2 (black, white markings), Jupiter-8.

The front preset ring on all of these are super tight, but the second aperture ring is a tiny bit too loose, making fine adjustment difficult. The jupiter-8 is still pretty tight, and I do like the 85 mm, but as I don't shoot full frame it rarely gets any use.

[Amro Othman]

 

 

I've found my favourite lens ever guys. Totally has surpassed the PEN-F 38mm f1.8. 

Can anybody guess which one it is? Hint: it's a Carl Zeiss made in Japan

[JordanWright]

Just picked up a Contax Zeiss 35mm 2.8 MM for a great price on eBay. Will post some sample images when it arrives! Anyone have any experience with the F2.8 Contax Zeiss set? Will likely try to build and cinemod out a set if I like it...  This good deal could end up costing quite a lot haha

[HockeyFan12]

1 hour ago, JordanWright said:

This good deal could end up costing quite a lot haha

Story of my life.

[heart0less]

If you are interested in top-quality glass and would like to listen about its characteristics and how do they affect the image, this video is worth looking at:

 

[noone]

Ouch, the 280 2.8 alone would be north of $50,000 Australian no doubt.      How much discount for the set of 16?

 

You can sort of get a "similar" lens (aperture and focal length anyway) for all but the 150 1.8 I think though they all seem fantastic lenses.

 

[JordanWright]

Anyone know anywhere in the UK to get Contax Zeiss lenses permanently modded to EF?