Lenses

[homestar_kevin]

I can just speak to what I have in the way of macro. I have the Nikon 55mm f/2.8, the tamron 90mm f/2.5 SP and it's 2x macro teleconverter.

I really really enjoy both.

I've used the 105 Nikon and that is awesome too.

I think I use the tamron most, although I don't do a ton of macro.

The tamron is really cool, has an adaptable rear mount and with the TC turns into a 180mm macro. 

I got a great deal on mine, and the TC was cheap. Definitely check it out.

 

 

 

 

[kidzrevil]

@Phil A the nikkor 55mm f3.5 is really good

[Cinegain]

Go native? The Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro for example is pretty legendary. Both them and Panasonic have 30mm's as well. You can also get like e.g. Fotga electronic macro tubes. Works pretty great with the Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.7 for example.

Olympus Visionary Frank Rückert enters the weekly roundup over at 43rumors regularly, his work is ballin'! https://www.flickr.com/photos/79183799@N04/ / http://pen3.de .

[Phil A]

Ok, that was somewhat the expected feedback, I'm yet to hear of a bad macro lens.

With the native Olympus 60mm f/2.8 I'm kinda shooed away by the manual focus-by-wire, but on the other hand it gives you neat automated focus bracketing for macro photography.

I guess I'll look around a bit and then maybe get whatever I find a really cheap offer for.

[PannySVHS]

Another time I have to agree with jonpais. That 12-60mm Leica glass for MFT has a very sharp look but not the beautiful cinephile pleasing

flavor of beautiful mechanic glass. It rather seems a lens for corporate stuff. Tested it shortly today and was wondering why it was so hard to make footage look cinastiqueeeelicious!

In a controlled and lit enviroment I bet I can put out a very unique super futuristic look. A cool, possibly brutal, maybe scifi but so to call very digital look in its own right.

[jonpais]

The long email exchange I posted above - well, the fellow finally put me in touch with his assistant, and while they don't have the Veydra 12mm, she said they could sell the 25mm and 50mm primes for $900 a piece, an astronomical savings over what the shop in Hong Kong quoted me - $3,642.00 USD for the set of three - and half the price of the budget Rokinon Xeens. Flights from Saigon to Kuala Lumpur run as little as $80 R/T, so I'll be picking up the lenses in 1-/12 weeks. 

[TwoScoops]

19 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

Another time I have to agree with jonpais. That 12-60mm Leica glass for MFT has a very sharp look but not the beautiful cinephile pleasing

flavor of beautiful mechanic glass. It rather seems a lens for corporate stuff. Tested it shortly today and was wondering why it was so hard to make footage look cinastiqueeeelicious!

That's most Panasonic glass imo. 12-35, even somewhat the 42.5 1.2. Really good for architectural shots.

[jonpais]

It's been known for some time that Olympus is planning to release a 45mm f/1.2 lens, now I just learned from 43rumors they're working on a 12mm f/1.2 lens as well... but I'm not about to part with my Leicas just yet. ? 

Some random observations:

Many over at 43rumors consider these f/1.2 lenses from PL and Oly to be niche products, preferring instead that Oly release some new f/2 primes or even just different focal lengths from those already available from Panny and third party manufacturers. A few even anticipate the announced Oly lenses to outperform the PLs, but intuition tells me that they will perform better in some categories, worse in others, and that the deciding factor may in the end come down to pricing. Regarding image quality, I still maintain that premium glass will make an impression as much as or greater than upgrading cameras each year, and like @Fritz Pierre, once I purchase a lens, I seldom let it go. As far as 'future proofing' your lens collection goes, the growing roster of manufacturers joining the m43 consortium only increases with each passing year, from JVC, with their LS300 to DJI and Blackmagic; and Veydra's Mini Primes, from 19mm onward, can cover a super 35 sensor. But for me, the greatest surprise was just how much better clips look on my new 5K monitor, concerning both resolution and color rendition: without exaggeration, a difference ten times more noticeable than say, when I used to pixel peep  the Fuji X-T2 and G85 on my older 2013 iMac, or even on my 2016 MacBook Pro.

[jonpais]

more footage shot with the Laowa 7.5mm f/2

There has already been ample documentation that this tiny lens is no mere toy. Commenter yatbond, who can be none other than Robin Wong, writes over at 43rumors  that he spoke personally with Ming Thein, who told him the lens is indeed sharp, and he's already picked one up himself. He does add however that purchasers must be wary of lens variance, an issue that unfortunately does not apply only to these third party manufacturers. 

[PannySVHS]

 

Jon, I don´t care what other dudes are doing, I want to see your footage showing off some jonpais 7.5mm glory!:)

[jonpais]

4 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

 

Jon, I don´t care what other dudes are doing, I want to see your footage showing off some jonpais 7.5mm glory!:)

Thanks, PannySVHS! Kinda boring stuff without dazzling wipe transitions, slo-mo, thrilling speed ramps, stunning aerial shots and Raging Bull-worthy sound effects, but whatever.  I should have the miniature marvel in my grubby little hands in a week and-a-half: I'll probably shoot mostly with the Zhiyun Crane, since this tiny instrument seems designed expressly for gimbals or drones, though my gimbal work leaves a lot to be desired. This may also be the very first time I shoot with a lens with 'character' - monstrous vignetting and obscene flaring - should be interesting for those wanting to see me fall flat on my face.  

[PannySVHS]

 

Really lookin forward to this. I am a sucker for daily life vignettes. I don´t dig slomo for the heck of boredom nor speed ramps for the heck of... ahem, boredom.

Or do they put that in their videos for any reason other than feeling bored?

But this is the lens thread. So lens related, man, those FD lenses are razor sharp (meaning resolution here:), the 28mm f2.8 wide open, the 50 1.4 at F2,

the 100mm 2.8 wide open. They deliver that full resolution of GH5s perfect 1080p.

You can shoot them clean and nifty or with character- that 50 flares like a supernova with back light.

I know it´s super common knowledge about the FDs. It was with the GH5 that I really got to see the image taking prowess of these FD lenses.

I shot that combo this weekend for my short film. No need for me to get the Contax Zeiss ones, except that 28 Hollywood.

When doing the GH5 handheldstyle, my FD 28mm started to get a slippery focus ring with my hands, which got sweaty due to my hard work with the camera.

So its smallness and lightness are at the same time advantage and disadvantage for longer shooting times without follow focus.

Anyone knows a housing mod for the 28 FD?

 

[mercer]

No but they do sell rail-free follow focus units that would probably work nicely with handheld in a pinch. 

@PannySVHS

Also, I think Duclos will mod any lens if you approach them. Of course it would probably be cheaper just to buy an actual cinema lens. 

[PannySVHS]

 

Hey Glenn,

yeah, rail free follow focus should give me some nice tactile feel. They come with reverse option for Nikon? The SLR Magic and my FDs drove me a bit nuts this weekend

when filming and focusing different directions:)

Btw Glenn, It´s my shortfilm I shot this weekend with a rented GH5 instead of my poor GX, which is a little pity, because it would have been

so cool to have a legit shortfilm done with the GX85! But battery life and positon of batterydoor with card slots was not adequate.

So that shortfilm might be allowed for our 8bit shortfilm challenge, since I shot in classy, sassy glorious 8bit 420?   Or maybe not, because

its 8bit 420 on roids:)

 

[mercer]

33 minutes ago, PannySVHS said:

 

Hey Glenn,

yeah, rail free follow focus should give me some nice tactile feel. They come with reverse option for Nikon? The SLR Magic and my FDs drove me a bit nuts this weekend

when filming and focusing different directions:)

Btw Glenn, It´s my shortfilm I shot this weekend with a rented GH5 instead of my poor GX, which is a little pity, because it would have been

so cool to have a legit shortfilm done with the GX85! But battery life and positon of batterydoor with card slots was not adequate.

So that shortfilm might be allowed for our 8bit shortfilm challenge, since I shot in classy, sassy glorious 8bit 420?   Or maybe not, because

its 8bit 420 on roids:)

 

If that's still happening, then I don't see why it wouldn't count... but you do have four more months, so why not make another?

And I'm unsure if you can change the direction on those rail free units.

How did the shoot go, btw? I look forward to seeing some screengrabs!!!

[PannySVHS]

 

Good idea about making another one. But for this one I had a crew working just for meals and having an awesome time with one another..

The next thing would have to be a one man band again. I don´t know if I know that many people who enjoy doing sound for free:)

 

Maybe GH5 cannot be in the challenge. Its image quality already in HD 420 is too tremendeous, C100 good.

Okay, back to lens talk. Canon FD 100mm SSC F2.8. Awesome lens, compact, hefty enough in hand, massive image quality wide open.

On S35 it´s a winner. Still looking for that awesome ultra wide for FD. Maybe the Tokina 17mm 3.5 is Canon FD good, @Matt Kieley?

[Matt Kieley]

2 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

 

those FD lenses are razor sharp (meaning resolution here:), the 28mm f2.8 wide open, the 50 1.4 at F2,

I rebought the 28mm 2.8 and I love how sharp it is on the G7 with focal reducer:

2.8

5.6

1 hour ago, PannySVHS said:

Still looking for that awesome ultra wide for FD. Maybe the Tokina 17mm 3.5 is Canon FD good, @Matt Kieley?

I'm loving this lens too. It's a little soft wide open (almost looks like you have a light pro mist or something) but not bad. This is a video I just shot on the G7 with the RMC Tokina 17mm 3.5 + focal reducer:

It's shot at mostly 5.6 until the slow motion shots. The rest is wide open.

[PannySVHS]

 

Hey Matt, yeah that 28 f2.8 keeps surprising me. I always loved the look of it. I should do a test against my 20mm 1.7 with it.

Hmm, gonna do it right now. Wait a minute:) Test result: the FD with a focal reducer is higher resolving in the centre at F2.8 than the 20mm at F2.0.

[Cinegain]

Small taste by Mr Emm.

After finally sorting logistics, in meanwhile 'HK, Arrived at processing centre' (5 days ago) over here.

[jonpais]

1 hour ago, Cinegain said:

Small taste by Mr Emm.

After finally sorting logistics, in meanwhile 'HK, Arrived at processing centre' (5 days ago) over here.

By stopping down to 'f/8 or more', he's actually destroying resolution as a result of diffraction. There's also no need to shoot with the lens stopped down that far, as that gives you everything from one foot to ∞ in focus, a bit overkill. Anyhow, congrats on your purchase.