Lenses

[TwoScoops]

On 11/04/2018 at 7:54 PM, Moshimo Garcia said:

Hey guys, 

I was just browsing some Texas craigslist for some nice prime lenses and came upon this:

 

Anyone have experience with this particular lens? Zeiss Planar 50 1.4

 

Great but I don't think the 50 has as much 3D pop compared to the 28, 35 & 85. Also since it's the ZE it doesn't have an aperture ring like the ZF/ZF.2 Nikon F mount versions do.  I bought mine in F mount for that reason.

[Bioskop.Inc]

On 4/11/2018 at 7:54 PM, Moshimo Garcia said:

Hey guys, 

I was just browsing some Texas craigslist for some nice prime lenses and came upon this:

 

Anyone have experience with this particular lens? Zeiss Planar 50 1.4

Yep, it's the first lens i bought when i went digital - good all round lens, which is what you'd expect from a modern Zeiss. But as @TwoScoopssaid it doesn't have a manual aperture ring & so you're stuck with using it on a Canon body only! If you're thinking of Zeiss, then you might want to look at the Contax Zeiss lenses - lovely vintage glass, which you won't find in the modern Zeiss versions. But the real proof of the pudding is that i haven't used it in ages - i go for more vintage lenses that have character, as I just hate that modern clinical souless look.

If you do like that Zeiss look & are on a budget, then I can highly recommend the Yashica ML prime lenses as they sit just behind the Contax Zeiss lenses:

https://cargocollective.com/yashica/About-Yashica-ML-Prime-Lenses

[thehebrewhammer]

On 4/11/2018 at 2:54 PM, Moshimo Garcia said:

Hey guys, 

I was just browsing some Texas craigslist for some nice prime lenses and came upon this:

 

Anyone have experience with this particular lens? Zeiss Planar 50 1.4

For Contax Yashica Mount? Beautiful soft rendering, with the potential to be really sharp slightly stopped down. Great colours. Hands down my favourite lens. Used one for years on Canon Full Frame cameras without issue.

[mercer]

Messing around with an outtake from my film... shot on the 5D3 and ML Raw with the Canon 28mm 1.8... I really like a fast 28mm in FF...

Click the screengrab for a more accurate image...

[jonpais]

I realize many cinematographers like working with vintage lenses, or just plain lenses with character. And this is true no matter which format they're working with.

With micro four thirds, especially with modern lenses, often the results can look quite clinical, particularly when there is contrasty lighting or depth of field that is too deep because of the sensor size. Or when the user hasn't turned sharpening all the way down as far as it will go. 

I happen to like images that are sharp at a given point, but with super nice shallow depth of field. And that's one reason I have come to love the Olympus 45mm f/1.2. It's crazy sharp wide open and has nice creamy out of focus areas.

However - because there's so much processing going on with sharpening and noise reduction, I realize my clips still have a bit of a video look to them.

So I don't think it's entirely the lenses themselves that are to blame. And I look forward to seeing how the Olympus looks when paired with the Pocket II.

 

[Cinegain]

Hum, SLR Magic pulling a Veydra.

Interesting they're restricting it to E-mount, though (although it does make the most sense if they're going for compact fullframe mirrorless). Yet, still... MFT you can adapt to E-mount, funny enough you'd expect the other way around was possible, but isn't. Means they're missing out on the whole GH/BMPCC market. Does make you think a combo line-up thereof and an A7III is about all the kit you'd need.

[TwoScoops]

 

 

This is a portrait I took with the Voigtlander 17.5mm and GH4 a couple of years ago. With all these cool M43 cameras out/on the horizon I wish I'd kept the Voigty set now. . . and added the 10.5.

[arson519]

2 hours ago, TwoScoops said:

 

 

This is a portrait I took with the Voigtlander 17.5mm and GH4 a couple of years ago. With all these cool M43 cameras out/on the horizon I wish I'd kept the Voigty set now. . . and added the 10.5.

you think i should add the voigtlander 42.5 to my kit? ive been eyeing the 45 pro oly but i already have the 17.5 that picture makes me think twice about going oly

5 hours ago, Cinegain said:

Hum, SLR Magic pulling a Veydra.

Interesting they're restricting it to E-mount, though (although it does make the most sense if they're going for compact fullframe mirrorless). Yet, still... MFT you can adapt to E-mount, funny enough you'd expect the other way around was possible, but isn't. Means they're missing out on the whole GH/BMPCC market. Does make you think a combo line-up thereof and an A7III is about all the kit you'd need.

id wish they would do switchable mounts so i can use on a mft camera too

[TwoScoops]

I've not used the Oly. Back then I had the Nocticron for a while but preferred the Voigt, despite it not being as sharp. It's very flattering.

[Cinegain]

Yeah, that's one thing great about the Veydras: the user-swappable mount.

Funny Jon just ditched his 42.5 Nocti for the 45mm Oly... I'm actually getting the Leica now myself when I saw it going for under a 1000 bucks (EUR 941,16 to be exact; most places still sell it at 1279 or more!), what can I say? I'm a sucker for a good deal. The Oly plays in that ballpark as well. And I'm just not too eager to spend in the 4 digits on a single focal length lens (I made an exception for a zoom once and I'm still eyeballing the 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO set with teleconverter). But as it's a nice portrait stills lens, it's nice to have the AF & OIS I think. Never tried the Voigt. Did the ZY Optics/Zhongyi/Mitakon 42.5mm f/1.2 which also is all manual. Quite a bit more compact & light. Does mean it compromises a bit. The quality reminds a little bit of quirky Russian vintage lenses, so not necessarily in a bad way. In the early days I did use the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 quite a bit. And I found the Lumix 42.5mm f/1.7 OIS an interesting one as well. But you know, the Nocti has some legendary status and I've seen people pull off wicked things with it, so... for that good deal price worth to give it a go myself.

[jonpais]

@Cinegain You did not! ? hehe

BTW, the Atlas Orion 40mm is looking pretty tasty in @Raafi Rivero ‘s NAB test video.

[Matt Kieley]

I modified my Computar 6.5mm 1.8 and shot a video today with the bmpcc. All the exteriors are f/8 and interiors are wide open.

[BTM_Pix]

Very brief trip to London where I decided I wasn't going to trawl around used shops and buy a lens.

And I succeeded in that I didn't buy a lens but two. Both quite different and many years apart in age.

Had about 10 seconds to put them both on a GX80 and take a short clip in the street with each before I got on the train.

First up is one that @jonpais turned me on to which is the Sigma 30mm f1.4 native MFT 

Next up is saying hello to an old friend 20 years after I sold the first one I had which is the Nikon 105mm f2.5 AIS

The discount on the Sigma paid for almost half the price of the Nikon.

Which is the story I'll be sticking to when I get home.

[mercer]

@BTM_Pix they both look nice... but damn that Nikkor! I’ve been exploring all of my lenses and lens options over the past few months.

For financial reasons, I’ve sold some I wish I could have kept and tested some I wish I never bought.

And in the end, for my manual lenses, I’m gonna end up going full circle back to ai-s Nikkors. The price/quality ratio really is unmatched on the used market.

I hope to keep everything in the f/2 range and that 105mm looks brilliant.

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, mercer said:

@BTM_Pix they both look nice... but damn that Nikkor! I’ve been exploring all of my lenses and lens options over the past few months.

For financial reasons, I’ve sold some I wish I could have kept and tested some I wish I never bought.

And in the end, for my manual lenses, I’m gonna end up going full circle back to ai-s Nikkors. The price/quality ratio really is unmatched on the used market.

I hope to keep everything in the f/2 range and that 105mm looks brilliant.

It ended up costing £140.

I've seen them cheaper but it is in very decent condition so I'm not complaining !

 I'm going to Japan next month for the first time in just on 20 years so I'm going to try and root out a couple more ais lenses from my youth like the 35mm f2 and the 200mm f4. They won't necessarily be any cheaper but my experience of buying used in Japan is that they are almost without exception in far better condition.

That Sigma has a lot more vibe in it than that grab would suggest when you get in closer by the way. I think its a very decent choice for a standard lens on the Pocket4K as with the smaller crop it won't be far off 55mm equivalent FOV. 

[mercer]

37 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

It ended up costing £140.

I've seen them cheaper but it is in very decent condition so I'm not complaining !

 I'm going to Japan next month for the first time in just on 20 years so I'm going to try and root out a couple more ais lenses from my youth like the 35mm f2 and the 200mm f4. They won't necessarily be any cheaper but my experience of buying used in Japan is that they are almost without exception in far better condition.

That Sigma has a lot more vibe in it than that grab would suggest when you get in closer by the way. I think its a very decent choice for a standard lens on the Pocket4K as with the smaller crop it won't be far off 55mm equivalent FOV. 

The 35mm f/2 was one of the lenses I regret selling. I had a great copy I only paid 70 bucks for. I had it for a year, sold it and nearly tripled my money. Of course now it’s hard to find a good copy for less than $200.

I had sold it in favor of the 35mm 1.4, but since realized I should have kept the f/2 instead. The 1.4 is special but my copy had a weird color shift wide open... blues looked brown. Obviously I could correct for it, or stop down, but at that point I should have just kept the f/2 because my copy was pretty sharp wide open.

Oh well, you live, you learn.

Since I last replied, a half hour ago,  I started looking at some of the original SMC Pentax lenses. I think they’re referred to as the K Versions in Pentax circles. What I find interesting about them is they’re supposed to be the same optical formula as the Takumars with better coatings, and they didn’t use Thorium, so there is no risk of the common yellowing that some Takumars have. I briefly had the 50mm 1.4 and 35mm 3.5 a few years back and they were pretty amazing.

As I said in a previous comment, I only have a couple Series E lenses and some old non-ai’s, so I’m not really invested in Nikkors right now...

My other option that kinda intrigues me is slowly collecting some old Canon FD L lenses and then getting the Ed Mika conversions done to them. I had a Canon 50mm 1.4 that was converted and I really liked how they easily rendered a vintage look with similar color characteristics as their modern EF siblings.

I don’t know... just thinking out loud. My GF could not care less, so luckily for you, you’re stuck reading my musings... lol. 

And yeah, the Sigma looks good. And you’re right it could act as a fast modern 55 or 58mm lens. Are you definitely getting a Pocket 4K...

I’m kinda undecided now. I’m definitely not going to be an early adopter, so for now, I am going to continue to enjoy my 5D3. What happens next year, when I’d be ready to buy one, who knows? 

It’s insane to think about what could be available. Although unlikely, for all I know, a Canon FF mirrorless could have 1080p RawLite with DPAF... that would become a no brainer for me. For my style of shooting, I’m really interested in getting a camera with DPAF, but for the money, the P2 is pretty special. But then I’ll be pondering a new lens quagmire. Ugh. Lol.

Anyway...

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, mercer said:

The 35mm f/2 was one of the lenses I regret selling. I had a great copy I only paid 70 bucks for. I had it for a year, sold it and nearly tripled my money. Of course now it’s hard to find a good copy for less than $200.

I had sold it in favor of the 35mm 1.4, but since realized I should have kept the f/2 instead. The 1.4 is special but my copy had a weird color shift wide open... blues looked brown. Obviously I could correct for it, or stop down, but at that point I should have just kept the f/2 because my copy was pretty sharp wide open.

Oh well, you live, you learn.

In the late 80s, I was in a junk shop that had bought up a load of stock of a music shop that had gone bust and he had at least a dozen Sequential Circuits Pro One synths stacked up. At the time analogue synths were gathering dust on the shelves of music shops everywhere and particularly mono synths but I always liked the Pro One so as he was selling them for £70 each I bought one for me and one for my mate as I knew he'd fancy having one at that price. Obviously as I was buying two, I got the price down to £50 each.

The shopkeeper was trying to get me to buy 10 of them and said I could have them for £400 for the lot. 

I passed because a) I didn't have that kind of money on me (or in the bank!) b) I couldn't have fitted them in the car and c) who the hell would I ever sell the other 8 too?

Just checked eBay now and well.....

1 hour ago, mercer said:

Since I last replied, a half hour ago,  I started looking at some of the original SMC Pentax lenses. I think they’re referred to as the K Versions in Pentax circles. What I find interesting about them is they’re supposed to be the same optical formula as the Takumars with better coatings, and they didn’t use Thorium, so there is no risk of the common yellowing that some Takumars have. I briefly had the 50mm 1.4 and 35mm 3.5 a few years back and they were pretty amazing.

As I said in a previous comment, I only have a couple Series E lenses and some old non-ai’s, so I’m not really invested in Nikkors right now...

My other option that kinda intrigues me is slowly collecting some old Canon FD L lenses and then getting the Ed Mika conversions done to them. I had a Canon 50mm 1.4 that was converted and I really liked how they easily rendered a vintage look with similar color characteristics as their modern EF siblings.

I don’t know... just thinking out loud. My GF could not care less, so luckily for you, you’re stuck reading my musings... lol. 

When I was a youth, we all started off using our Dad's Zenith Es or Praktica MTL3s (they loved those eastern bloc cameras!) then when it was time to get our own everyone went Japanese and the Pentax ME Super was hugely popular at the time. Looking on eBay, I think that might be the best route in to hoover up some bargains as there are loads of them for sale that include a couple of lenses into the bargain. 

If your GF begins to worry about the lens collection growing, I always find its a good idea to have this photograph to hand for perspective on just how restrained you're actually being.

1 hour ago, mercer said:

And yeah, the Sigma looks good. And you’re right it could act as a fast modern 55 or 58mm lens. Are you definitely getting a Pocket 4K...

I’m kinda undecided now. I’m definitely not going to be an early adopter, so for now, I am going to continue to enjoy my 5D3. What happens next year, when I’d be ready to buy one, who knows? 

It’s insane to think about what could be available. Although unlikely, for all I know, a Canon FF mirrorless could have 1080p RawLite with DPAF... that would become a no brainer for me. For my style of shooting, I’m really interested in getting a camera with DPAF, but for the money, the P2 is pretty special. But then I’ll be pondering a new lens quagmire. Ugh. Lol.

Anyway...

I'm in the queue for one.

I was seriously considering a GH5 and then the GH5s threw a spanner in the works and had me going round in circles about choosing between them.

The unexpectedly low price of the P2 means that by the time it comes out I can probably get that and a used GH5 for roughly the price of the GH5s on its own.

Canon could release that camera you want tomorrow but you know they won't! 

The real dark horses for me in the next few years could be Sigma as they've filed a patent for what would amount to a Foveon sensor for video.

That would be something genuinely different and they have their own lens lineup (as well as expertise in everyone else's AF) to marry it to. 

 

[JordanWright]

 

[Cinegain]

Too bad they've gotten a BMW S1000RR miniature and translated that to a Honda Fireblade. Felt like I was looking at the same curve over and over again as well. But nittpicking aside... awesome quality. 

[jonpais]

Olympus 45mm f/1.2 PRO