Lenses

[anonim]

@PannySVHS

You are welcome, pleasure is mine. Your vampire shorts are on a trait for lovely-freely homo-ludens and schizo fireworks - so please, keep going on.

Of course it was compliment. In your last sample, colors are not at all - at least for me - great, balanced, accurate, neither thought-out or minimalistic: for me at least they are, simply, retro trash and tend to follow short's bizare atmosphere of psychodelia.

But eoshd looks sometimes to me as really funny place of an especial sort of sanatorium: for curing ours childish wish to act as big conneseurs, competent and important judges, and participant in game You-Milk-Me-I-Milk-You as aspiring cameraman role.

Saying that, once more I vote for Jon's buying Atlas lens(as) and for Mercer's (Glen?) buying another hundred of lenses (for planting them around his countryside so becoming mythical place of great obsession). Lets our West-East moderator guru bravely steps in front of bankrupcy and be feeded in hungriness by his Vietnamese Dulcineas!

Why?

Because from West side one so-so wise man, S. J, said as ultimative advice: Stay hungry, stay foolish.

And from East side, one wise man, A.T, said: Let someone shout that pyramids should be built! Even if we do not build them, it is important to nourish the great dream!

You see how boring and funny-in-fiasco-attempt  pathetic I am? So please, laugh at me... and shoot more polaroid extravaganza pretending to expect appraisal as they are great color achievements!

[PannySVHS]

You are anonim and stepping out of the shadow. I don´t believe your assumption about color. You mean the exact opposite. You are indeed impressed. The structure of your last three posts does not lie.

[anonim]

Oh, I'll be impressed only if Jon secretly, and without any announce in advance, adopt some of your vampire content inclination, and as result, in next test shot, we suddenly see Vietnamese beauties in the same zombie state (and, of course, by night - I really don't remember any Jon's night shot). And me personally will be full of  delight if this content deliberation would be made with assistance of Atlas anamorphic lenses. THAT will be wow positive influence - or, so to say, vampiresque blood mutation - of this marvelous site!

(And if Mercer post the same attempt with row sound of his canon... but about that dream I must only make a whispering... he is sometimes so serious - but, seriously, I'd also like if GH5 has resulting image of canon ML raw seductiveness.

BTW I'm origine of Hopy Indians - and, Panny, as you know, our time is not as other's - so probably and mine so-called smartness in some reverence mind. But one day I'll certainly shot movie about that deep reflective topic, and being - as you are shure - so deeply impressed with your last polaroid thanks so sincerely and frankly adressed to me - I think I'll choose some other color style.

[kidzrevil]

Ok now this dude is just trolling ?

[jonpais]

I guess we’re making progress of sorts. I located a fellow here in Ho Chi Minh who makes clamps and the Hardcore DNA should be available the end of January. I still shudder when I think of the customs fees though. 

[kidzrevil]

Does anyone know anything about the new SLR Magic compact anamorphic ? I always here mixed things about slr magic but that anamorphic has my interest !

[PannySVHS]

2 hours ago, kidzrevil said:

Ok now this dude is just trolling ?

 

At least person didn´t express the appreciation adequately.

[kidzrevil]

Spoke to a cashier at B&H yesterday. An old dude, he’s really into old lenses like minolta’s,leica & zeiss. He seen my nikkor auto lenses and had to inquire. One of the main things he mentioned is that they have a very specific color rendering the same way zeiss is known for their color from hardcore photographers. I decided to upload some shots straight out of the camera to see if I can pick up on the signature color rendering of old nikkor glass. I notice it has a warm look to em which compliments the skin well. These are the nikkor auto 55mm f1.2 & nikkor auto 28mm f2 pre ai with metabones speedbooster xl and tiffen satin filtration. 

[PannySVHS]

@kidzrevil Hey, we want motion Anyway, you´re getting some nice ooc results with these lenses.

[jonpais]

@Cinegain turned me on to Dog Schidt optics, which I'd heard of before but had never looked into. Watching a video by Richard Gale shot in a wood demonstrating the bokeh and various types of flare that can be achieved by changing the aperture elements of his Trump lens, I could see the utility of his test. But in general, how many here find sample footage of lenses comprised solely of twigs and leaves to be a useful indication of the suitability of an optic for your own types of shooting? Also, should sample footage be graded, ungraded or both? 

[Cinegain]

He used to be on here all the time, think he's got good ties with Andrew/EOSHD. He started out with custom housing and modding the Helios-44-2 (58mm f/2, hence the '58' in everything) with Canon and Nikon native mounts, they were rather affordable and you could opt for different customized characteristics such as oval aperture, flare coloration and contrast. Unfortunately it seems that these days every succesful 'start-up' if you will eventually goes after the few folks with the deep pockets, rather than the many with less to splurge. And of course the prodution of front elements for different focal lengths to create matching sets isn't necessarily an easy and affordable undertaking either. Just thought I'd mention him because I remembered he'd been on the path to do something with anamorphics in the form of 'Olivia Scope'.

I'm not really aware though if that hit 'production' sorta say. I've only seen like product teasers, not real footage, wasn't aware any was out there. But I always liked his stuff! Still regret not jumping on one of those customized ones back in day when he still did the FF58.

On 4-11-2014 at 3:07 PM, richg101 said:

[..]

My personal favourite lens I've used for humans..  An FF58 I wish I'd never let go:( :-

 

Thought because you're on the EOSHD moderator panel you'd have an 'in' with him. Regarding observing quality from a video... well, you can also shoot 2D lens test charts and pixel peep, but I'd reckon that would tell you even less? To me it's more about the essence of what an optic is able to convey like emotionally. But you know, of course a diverse pallet of different kinds of scenarios, both 'lab' and real world would ideally be availlable for you to gain an idea of how the lens behaves and how it would fit into your own collection and style of shooting.

Regarding regular Helios 58mm mods, there's still http://www.motionsix.co.uk/cinema58/ & http://ironglassadapters.com/ as well.

[jonpais]

@Cinegain The UK seems to be at the forefront of this anamorphic, lens mod and customized vintage lens business. What I wouldn’t give to own just one of those Optikovs! Yeah, I just meant, if you’re already familiar with how a given lens does on the bench, what sort of footage do most readers prefer. One reason I ask is that some footage of anamorphics I’ve seen, for instance, gives no indication of what the flare or bokeh even looks like. And I’m sure most potential buyers are keen to know that. As someone who thinks in terms of the moving image, it’s also at times difficult for me to evaluate a lens’s performance based solely on stills or screen grabs. Same goes for heavily graded images. Those are just my particular preferences anyhow.

[Cinegain]

I think given the prizes of these anamorphics, you don't sell them by putting online sample footage, you put the lenses out to rental houses and those who care, will just rent one and sample it first hand in whichever way they like. Of course, that's a bit tough luck with the vintage schtuff... then you have to go by reputation and example work.

[mercer]

On 11/21/2017 at 11:05 PM, Cinegain said:

Ah, so we do have enough in common to attend LAS meetings. The never ending quest to find the holy grail look (if you're a bit of an audiosnob, it's comparable to searching for that perfect audiosignature; as it happens to be I don't particularly have a single set of IEMs/headphones either, lol). Well, I have like 35 native M43 lenses alone, add tons of Nikon mount lenses (be it Nikkor, Sigma, Tokina or Vivitar for example), quite a few Contax Zeiss primes to make a set, only 2 Leica Summicron-R primes and a boatload of older really vintage stuff, like all the Russians and other quirky lenses in M42 mount, FD zooms and primes, Pentax-M, Minolta MD and a bunch of C-mounts or other stuff... and it's fair to say it might've gotten just a tiny bit out of hand. Good call on shrinking the collection, will probably follow your lead before I do a country swap and move 1000+ km away. Moving away is always a nice excuse to finally get rid of some stuff that doesn't necessarily enriches your life.

When I started I had zero money for lenses, so I bought the cheapest brand name vintage lenses I could find. So I bought a lot of Pentax and Minolta lenses, a few Nikon Series E, a whole set of Tokina made M42 Vivitar lenses, Yashicas, etc.

As my interest grew, and my bank account, I started getting some better ones and now I have too many. I really like the Pentax M lenses and would recommend them to a lot of beginners, but they don’t resell that easily, unless you just want to get a couple bucks for them.

So right now I just want to get rid of as much as I can and have two to three good sets of lenses. But I rarely change focal lengths, so my Nikkor “Set” May end up being two lenses... the 35mm 1.4 and hopefully the 85mm 1.4. I may pick up the 50mm 1.2 or 55mm 1.2 but I may not.

I am also a big fan of B&W and that 60s, 70s film look. I think that most cameras on the market today can mimick that, so I am also building a small set of Takumar lenses.

I tried to get into Contax Zeiss, and Leica but the really good lenses cost an arm and a leg and recently I have been only using my Canon 24-70mm f/4 and the 35mm f2, So I really don’t have enough projects on the horizon to warrant the expense.

If I knew then, what I know now, I would have built a good set of ai-s lenses from the start, or the Rokinon/Samyang cine lenses.

But now after using Canon L lenses with IS, it’s hard to go back to a manual lens and a tripod. But I do like the option to. 

[Cinegain]

I had the GH2, but only with the 14-140mm kit lens. I as well started looking what would be the most affordable options, especially bright ones (the main reason for me to go from bridgecameras to an interchangeable lens system one was: bigger sensor, better choice of (bright) lenses, ability to throw background out of focus and manual focus rings!). So my first additional lens was the Minolta MD 50mm f/1.7. Nice little lens, I gave the guy an offer for the lens alone, he accepted and still send the body (XG-1) along with it, lol. xD Then I think the Pentax SMC Asahi (non-Takumar) 50mm f/1.4 and a horde of the cheapest eBay C-mounts I could find (incl. well-known the Fujian 35mm, though mostly just crap toy lenses). Not only did I love the fact these vintage lenses lenses were cheap, but they were optically amazing, had been built to last and it was proper manual focus! But... as I managed to pay back my study loans (I have a rather well rewarding job, though, hopefully in the near future (going parttime) commercially shooting stills & video will be a thing too), it opened up some 'treat yoself' moments. So, yeah, I might've bought a few too many lenses. And it doesn't help when you and kidzrevil can't stop to mention and praise these Nikon (pre-)ai lenses... (now, I have a bunch of Nikon lenses, but really only one Ai-s: 28mm f/2.8) that makes me feel I might need to check them out for myself. But, nah, let's not.

Insert Spongebob 'a few moments later...' post with confirmation of won eBay listings of Nikon (pre-)ai lenses. xD

[mercer]

Yeah the pre-ai and non-ai “K” lenses are great. The 50mm f/2 is one of the sharpest lenses I’ve ever used... along with the Minolta PG 50mm 1.4... great lenses. I ended up going ai-s because I prefer the shorter focus throw since I either focus by hand or use a lever. I guess if I used a proper follow focus, I may prefer a longer throw. And now as I am building my Nikkor set from scratch, I am trying to get the lenses that have 9 aperture blades. The 35mm 1.4 is an amazing lens. I shot these with it...

 

But the 9 bladed Nikkors are pricey for my humble finances. However I did find a little gem with 9 blades... the Nikkor 28-70mm D lens. It isn’t constant aperture but it’s cheap and sharp. 

[noone]

I never did like my Nikon 35 1.4, it was too veiled wide open though ok stopped down.      Those look nice from it though.

My only Nikon lenses left are a 50 1.8 AF (non D made in Japan) and it is just a backup 50 now but amongst the best of the cheap 50s I have had and an old 85 1.8 pre AI converted (pretty good glass but way too battered to be worth even trying to sell).       I don't use it much these days but it still does ok.

I shot a video with it (never thought I would use this lens for a song) that I hope to be able to put on Youtube from the same gig.      Foghorn String band.

 

[mercer]

Thanks, I love how the 35mm 1.4 is like two lenses... wide open it is so misty but it sharpens up so nicely by f2. I think those were all shot wide open though. 

[kidzrevil]

@mercer the nikkor 35mm f1.4 with speedbooster is pretty good. The speedbooster adds contrast to the lens and clears up some of that vieling flare. That’s why I’ve been hooked on the speedbooster, it helps eliminate most of the defects of vintage glass. Its more apparent on vintage glass than the modern stuff. As far as the nikkor 35mm f1.4 goes I prefer the pre ai one for its rendering and handling @noone

[mercer]

8 hours ago, kidzrevil said:

@mercer the nikkor 35mm f1.4 with speedbooster is pretty good. The speedbooster adds contrast to the lens and clears up some of that vieling flare. That’s why I’ve been hooked on the speedbooster, it helps eliminate most of the defects of vintage glass. Its more apparent on vintage glass than the modern stuff. As far as the nikkor 35mm f1.4 goes I prefer the pre ai one for its rendering and handling @noone

If I get back into micro 4/3, I may pick up a lens turbo. The GX85 and the E-M10 Mark II are pretty cheap right now, so maybe.