Lenses

[jonpais]

Highest center resolution ever measured of any m4/3 lens.

[noone]

8 hours ago, jonpais said:

Highest center resolution ever measured of any m4/3 lens.

To be fair though, that is with a new test camera and they don't say what other lenses they have tested with it yet.

Still, it is very nice in the centre.      If you want a lens of that focal length and mainly for a subject in the centre, it looks a very nice choice.

[kidzrevil]

Nikkor auto-n 35mm f1.4 

[jonpais]

A more in-depth look at the Veydra 50mm T2.2 coming in a few days and first sample footage of the 16mm T2.2 as early as next week as well.

[Rinad Amir]

@kidzrevil amazing photos mate !

[kidzrevil]

Thx !!! @Rinad Amir

[Mattias Burling]

Used the Tamron 70-200/2.8 G2 for the first time today.
Im very satisfied with everything accept the weight, but thats a trade for the amount of glass and new build.

 

[thefactory]

On 20/10/2017 at 11:14 AM, jonpais said:

A more in-depth look at the Veydra 50mm T2.2 coming in a few days and first sample footage of the 16mm T2.2 as early as next week as well.

@jonpais Do you have a theory as to why these are not more popular? I have not seen too many negatives. I have picked up a 25 and 50 at auction for super cheap. I checked the serials before bidding to see if they are from the stolen ones and they're not so it was the bargain of the century. I'm super impressed with the build quality. 

[jonpais]

@thefactory Not really sure, but those on a budget seem to go for the less costly rehoused Rokinon stills lenses or even SLR Magic instead, but neither are comparable - and the Veydras aren’t really all that expensive, especially considering they cost less than some native autofocus micro four thirds lenses. I will say however that both my Veydra 25mm and 50mm need to be stopped down to T4 before they get acceptably sharp imo, but most seem to find the native m4/3 zooms and primes too sharp anyhow. I’ve heard several say the Veydras look boring or something, without any justification I can think of. A screen grab I posted recently from a clip shot in HLG with the Veydra 25mm looks punchy enough to my eyes. I’m just on my way to Singapore this morning to pick up the Veydra 16mm T2.2, I should have some sample footage up in a couple days. Congrats on your purchase!

[jonpais]

The recently announced Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN for MFT - will it whip Olympus’s 17mm f/1.2 big, fat behind  or just break even, at a savings of some $600.00? All pure speculation right now, but fun to think about just the same. Sigma’s DC DN Contemporary lineup might be bare bones, but optically - that is, where it counts - the 30mm f/1.4 turned out to be one of the better performing lenses in the m4/3 system, and one I’ve found myself using more and more for its crisp rendition and nice soft backgrounds. Anyhow, if Sigma’s 16mm turns out to be half as good as the 12mm they designed for Leica, I’m all in! ?

[Mat Mayer]

The 16mm Sigma will be 405g, just under the Oly 25 1.2 at 410g, which is quite an increase from the 265g of the 30. But as long as the image quality is on a similar level to the 30, it will be a must-buy. It has a bit of weather sealing too which is nice.

[Cinegain]

Yup! Exciting! Sigma at it again, there's hardly any better value out there than their lenses. Though what I love about the Olympus lenses is that some have that brilliant de-clutch to get away from that god awful fly-by-wire. Yet... does it warrant the price? Guess it depends what you like/are willing to work with.

[jonpais]

4/3 Rumors spots a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 in the company’s roadmap for 2018. Source. 

[Cinegain]

Olympus releases some f/1.2 range overview videos:

 

 

I get if you're not into talk about 'feathered bokeh' or making babies pose a certain way... in which case here's something for everyone, I always love interviews with Kazuto Yamaki and this is a more recent one:

 

[Mattias Burling]

Picked up the Sigma 18-35/1.8.
I don't know why it took me so long to get this modern classic lens. I always knew I would love it.
Ive always viewed it as a Tri-Sumilux for APS-C.

 

 

[Fritz Pierre]

Yes...at the price the quality both image and build wise is excellent...picked mine up used but basically brand new from a guy on Personal View for $650!

[jonpais]

Another rant about the Veydra Mini Primes. I've got nothing but time on my hands, so why not stir up the pot a bit? I realize all the excitement and hubbub's about the upcoming Sigma and Olympus lenses (interesting, since they never fail to lose out big time to the Leicas in my video comparisons!), I look forward to testing them out myself, but I can still have my fun.... A recent commenter on my YouTube channel, in response to a video I made asking why more people weren't talking about these lenses, postulated that filmmakers might not be interested in the Veydras because of their clinical character, the fact that they're too sharp, too 'perfect', or something to that effect - that filmmakers are looking for imperfect lenses with character and dreamy bokeh to draw viewers into the story - and mind you, this person owns most of the Veydras himself, except for the 19mm I believe. And as far as I know, he doesn't regret his purchase one iota. This sounded suspiciously like the kind of talk I've been hearing for years about Panasonic lenses, whose aberrations are corrected for in firmware - yet the Veydras utilize no such electronic legerdemain! But then, a couple weeks later, another commenter joins in to say he agrees with the first fellow, that he'd thought about purchasing one or several Veydras while he was in Thailand, but that the salesman at the shop he went to was either incompetent or rude or something (no surprise to me, from my own experience), and as he hadn't seen much in the way of decent videos online of the Veydras anyhow, he decided to go with the Voigtlander 17.5mm f/0.95 instead. Can't fault him there, as the Voigtlanders are among the best built lenses period, and not only in the m4/3 ecosystem - though he does find time to complain about the lack of customer support, about which I know nothing, since I haven't needed any from Voigtlander yet... And in spite of the fact that I'm not smitten myself with the founders of Veydra (I think they're complete jackasses) or some of their authorized retailers... this idea that the Veydras are somehow too sharp or too perfect (or even boring), I'm not sure where this nonsense all started, since there's so little information available online, just a couple reviews and a handful of videos if that, and this, a couple of years since their release - and most of the 'opinion shapers' in the forums have never even shot with them... but the fact of the matter is, that just about any native m4/3 prime - be it Panasonic, Leica, Sigma or Olympus - is without question sharper than the Veydras. And among third party lenses, the Voigtlander Noktons are among the sharpest, with the 25mm setting a resolution record that remained unbroken for quite some time. Modern lenses sometimes have as many as thirteen or more elements and one or two aspherical lenses, while the Veydras, in order to keep costs down, can't boast of a single aspherical element in any of their lenses. Several m4/3 lenses are critically sharp from their widest aperture, such as the Leica Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2, while the Veydras don't even get acceptably sharp until closed down to f/4. You read right - f/4! Reviewers are practically unanimous on this point. That means they all agree, btw. And as far as bokeh goes, from the footage I've shot myself, it looks pretty damned pleasing. Beautiful, in fact. So no, the Veydras are not Zeiss CP 3's or Arri Master Primes or whatever, but for less money than many premium m4/3 lenses, they're not a bad investment at all. 

[Mat Mayer]

On 25/10/2017 at 2:55 AM, Cinegain said:

Yup! Exciting! Sigma at it again, there's hardly any better value out there than their lenses. Though what I love about the Olympus lenses is that some have that brilliant de-clutch to get away from that god awful fly-by-wire. Yet... does it warrant the price? Guess it depends what you like/are willing to work with.

I just got back from the store where I specifically went to put the 25 1.2 on to see if I would be able to use the similarly weighted Sigma 16 as a walk around lens. The weight is too much for me, so will have to try and justify keeping the PL15 too.

I tried the snap focus [edit: I think this is the wrong term,  it's the same focus pull back action as on the Oly 17mm 1.8], for the first time, which was nice. The build quality is great. Autofocus didnt seem much faster (if at all) than the Oly 25 1.8, which is already excellent. The bokeh is absolutely bananas, amazing. I think the only reason I would get the 25 or 45 is if I did portraits or weddings, for the bokeh. 

I agree with Jon's video that the Oly 25 is not worth 3-4 times the price of the Sigma 30. I am fully happy with the Sigma and always amazed by the images it produces and light gathering. It sounds like Sigma made the PL12 and possibly had a hand in the Oly 25 PRO (apparently they certainly designed the Oly 75mm which was the king for a while), which is great for those who need those premium features, plus reassuring for Sigma fans that they are making the best lenses as well as amazing affordable ones. I hope after they make the 50 that they attempt to make something along the lines of the 18-35mm f1.8, because at the moment Sigma is the most exciting thing in M43, now that the GH5 dust has settled.

[kidzrevil]

Some screen grabs from a project I shot recently. This is shot with the nikkor auto 55 f1.2. Personally I love the style of rendering when combined with the speedbooster xl. I used a tiffen satin filter to diffuse the highlights

[Cinegain]

7 hours ago, jonpais said:

[..]

A lot of other lenses have punchy contrast to 'help' with the sharpness. They also might be sharp where the sharpness hits, but lack actual resolving power of detail. Veydras are a little soft wide open, wouldn't say unusable, around f/2.8-3.5 it tightens up quice nicely, but I think they resolve fine detail way nicer than some others. Disregarding everying below f/4 I find a bit of an exaggeration though, but different folks, different strokes of course. About the whole 'charm'. I think Veydras are awesome for professional and commercial applications, where you want a clean and solid look that you can depend on, that you can shoot over and over again with the same results. That they match well amongst themselves. And of course, you get all those benefits of the build that true cinema primes have (so: being color matched, minimized focus breathing, all metal, gearing at the same places, smooth focus with large throw, clickless aperture ring, same diameter filterring, etc) at indeed a bargain price! And you can swap the mounts should you get a Sony or Fuji.

But... do they have that Zeiss 3D pop? Do they have that Nocticron X-factor? Do they have Helios-44 swirly bokeh? Nah, they're just well-behaved lenses. I think Olympus PRO and Sigma have generally have well-behaved lenses as well, so don't necessarily take that as a bad thing. People are just establishing that it is 'different'. But you wouldn't really use Olympus PRO and Sigma lenses on every set either (don't know a lot of people that shoot Olympus PRO period, actually (unless it's stills), but there are some that refuse to take their Sigma 18-35mm offa their rig though xD). You can imagine that just like using a diffusion filter, people might opt for a different lens to get a certain vibe one would like to pursue for the piece that's being shot, because other lenses might convey a little more emotion because of their character. Lenses are tools as well and there needs to be the right occassion and application for each tool. So, none are bad, it just depends on what you're going after. And that also depends from one person to the next (you don't use filters/vintage lenses, do you?). So, all that matters is that you're happy with what you're getting out of 'em, really. Which I think everyone with one of a couple of these is.

2 hours ago, Mat Mayer said:

[..]

Yeah, I get that. I've walked around with the Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO quite a bit and to be honest, it's too big and heavy too. But then I look at what it can do, and I'm like, well... it's worth it though, especially if you're getting establishing shots, or heck, even doing landscape photography. Of course now you could say I'll just throw on the Laowa 7.5mm f/2 MFT for the really wide shots (without the need for third party/3D printed solutions to get some filters on there) and get the Panasonic Leica 15mm f/1.7 for those 14mm-ish end shots. Gimbal friendly too. Probably for less than the 7-14mm PRO as well. Don't have much problem with spending over a 1000 bucks for a flexible constant aperture zoomlens, just those single focal length primes that blow past that mark. Ouch. Of course they do have a pro build and you get either an aperture ring on the one hand or a manual focus de-clutch on the other... surely the sensitivity and results are stellar too, but... like you said, there already are a lot of excellent lenses with superb value, which raises the question: are these high-end primes worth it? Of course that depends on each individual's wants, needs and ca$h on hand. Think the Noctricon makes it a little easier, because bringing it back to character, that one might have something to set itself apart with, that X-factor people are looking for. I just can't sanely argue that is worth 1279,- EUR either. Fun for buck is just as good if not better in a couple of lower tier lenses.

1 hour ago, kidzrevil said:

[..]

Very creamy! XL Speedbooster... so... shot on the Panasonic G85?