Lenses

[norliss]

​I do really like Zeiss C/Y lenses they are superb and one of the best ways of getting a modern Zeiss look without breaking the bank .

great colours and superb contrast and blacks and sharp !!

Ive never had any issues with them ......

​Agreed and why I decided to build a set. I currently have the 21, 28 (2.8), 35 (2.8), 50 (1.4), 28-85 Zoom and am awaiting the arrival of the 85 (1.4).

I'm looking forward to shooting my next film with them

[John Palmer]

Does anyone have any recommendations for an older lens that is wider than 20mm and usually no more than ~$300/400? Fisheyes or not, doesn't matter. Any mount.

[ken]

Does anyone have any recommendations for an older lens that is wider than 20mm and usually no more than ~$300/400? Fisheyes or not, doesn't matter. Any mount.

​tokina / tamron 17mm f3.5.  Tokina has better center sharpness, with filter thread, but more edge CA, good for non FF use, and cheaper.

[andy lee]

vivitar make a 19-35mm series 1 lens that is rectilinear its a very nice useful lens

Pentax TAK make a 17mm f3.5 that is great I use mine alot

[Christina Ava]

my favorite pancacke 40mm 2.0 

a little jem. few people own it, but you can find it in ebay 

Does anyone have any recommendations for an older lens that is wider than 20mm and usually no more than ~$300/400? Fisheyes or not, doesn't matter. Any mount.

​

i got mine for 300 dollars

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/885407-REG/Voigtlander_ba229e_40mm_f_2_0_Ultron_SL.html

check the reviews here

UNBELIEVABLE FOR VIDEO

By davidjewels

from Miami, FL

About Me Pro Photographer

So I wanted a lens that helped me reduce the overall size of the Canon 1Dx and decided to choose a pancake lens: namely the Voightlander 40mm f2.0 Ultron. 
Normally for video I usually take along at least 5 of my Canon primes and I'm forced to use a backpack. Not with the Voightlander! This lens is so amazing, that after a few test videos, where I stood at varying distances from my subject, I realized that it was able to fill the needs of all my other lenses and there was ABSOLUTELY NO DISTORTION even when I got real up and close to the subject. 
The focus ring is pure heaven to use. And the sharpness is TACK SHARP, so sharp that you might cut your eyes after seeing the video you have shot!!!
For stills, just like some of the other reviewers have mentioned, after a little practice you get the hang of it. The lens has focus confirmation blips that light up to confirm focus anyways, and if you magnify the image with the camera you can dial in the PRECISE focus and then take the shot. 
Obviously it's not going to be as fast as an autofocus lens, but you will get the hang of it eventually: I bought it for video. 
The construction of the lens is SOLID. It's a very beautiful jewel of a lens to look and hold too.

[Cinegain]

Question. If one were to get a cinema lens... should said person rather buy it with a metric (m) or imperial (ft) focus scale?

Should it really be based on the country one lives, because it makes most sense to work with the same kind of units?

Or... would a imperial markings lens (so, in ft) retain a better resale value? Would be better if one would get international, having other people working with you?

Personally, I really don't give much damn (or atleast, not yet. But then again, maybe I should?). It's not like I'll be going around with measuring tape and all. Where the focus needs to be, that's where I'll make sure it is and that to me is just turning a ring... I'm not gonna look at the lens whilst shooting, I'll be checking the monitor/EVF with punch-in magnification/focus peaking.

Aren't focus scales a thing of the past or perhaps for really high profile planned out shoots? My Nikon glass has both and I'm not really using either scale to be honest. But again, maybe I'm missing something here. Just wondering if there are other practicalities I should consider.

[andy lee]

the days of non reflex off set view finders on film cameras is long gone (my first 16mm film camera had an offet finder !!) and not many people on this forum are getting out tape measures to aquire the exact distance to a subject - which you need to do with a non reflex finder - if you want to do that these day there is Cinetape that everyone sticks on the front of their Alexa or Red , Cinetape is an industry standard .

http://www.cinemaelec.com/products/cinetapemeasure.php

So I personally dont ever look at focus scale markings as the EVF gets me spot on focus everytime.

I have some rehoused Schneider Cinema lens that have no focus scales on them at all - they work just fine

So dont worry about imperial or metric - just buy the lens if you like it !

[Cinegain]

the days of non reflex off set view finders on film cameras is long gone (my first 16mm film camera had an offet finder !!) and not many people on this forum are getting out tape measures to aquire the exact distance to a subject - which you need to do with a non reflex finder - if you want to do that these day there is Cinetape that everyone sticks on the front of their Alexa or Red , Cinetape is an industry standard .

http://www.cinemaelec.com/products/cinetapemeasure.php

So I personally dont ever look at focus scale markings as the EVF gets me spot on focus everytime.

I have some rehoused Schneider Cinema lens that have no focus scales on them at all - they work just fine

So dont worry about imperial or metric - just buy the lens if you like it !

​Thanks for that, your help is very appreciated, as always! I had a feeling it was kinda like that. I hadn't really given this much thought before today and was just wondering if there was any use or reasoning in picking one over the other, since there's the option to pick either really. I'm finding mixed reactions online. Some say 'it makes sense to go metric if you're on the European mainland as most rental places will predominantly rent out metric scale lenses and the ACs there are used to having it like that' and 'I have built-in cinetape, they're called 'eyes' and are familiar with what a meter looks like', others claim 'imperial is the industry standard' and 'RED users looking for a metric scale on their lenses had to wait an eternity for availlability' (all paraphrasing). I guess I'll just go with imperial. I have seen Andrew use Cooke S4 primes and those had the focus scale measured in ft (although both he and Cookes share the fact of being British, so that doesn't really say anything ah, exuse me, miles, but at the same time measuring stuff in (centi)meters; my bad), he's in Berlin and haven't seen him adressing any problems arising from that. Must be a bigger market for imperial overall as well I'm guessing. Besides, it would actually ship out faster if I went with imperial and not put in a request for metric (kinda supporting the point earlier of metric not seeming a that high of a priority to manufacturers). Thanks again!

[Daniel Acuña]

Hi

So I recently bought a Contax Zeiss 50mm f/1,7 for my Gx7. I bought an adapter to fit my focal reducer (C/Y to EOS), everything is working well but I just can't focus to infinity with apertures like f/1.7, f/2.8, even f/5, it only seems to focus to infinity at f/16, I don't know if this is normal (maybe it's a stupid question), It maybe has something to do with the adapter or the focal reducer  I don't know. I did put a small piece of paper between the lens and the adapter for it to be tight. 

So could you please enlighten me on what is going on?

Thanks.

[JBraddock]

Hi

So I recently bought a Contax Zeiss 50mm f/1,7 for my Gx7. I bought an adapter to fit my focal reducer (C/Y to EOS), everything is working well but I just can't focus to infinity with apertures like f/1.7, f/2.8, even f/5, it only seems to focus to infinity at f/16, I don't know if this is normal (maybe it's a stupid question), It maybe has something to do with the adapter or the focal reducer  I don't know. I did put a small piece of paper between the lens and the adapter for it to be tight. 

So could you please enlighten me on what is going on?

Thanks.

​Not sure which focal reducer you have but, the RJ has an infinity focus adjustment. I also have GX7 and Contax Zeiss 50mm f/1.7 with the same problem you have. RJ sent me this picture so that I can fix it. But I just didn't have time to do it. Just be careful though; mark the current position and rotate it in small increments until you are satisfied. 

In my case, I can focus to infinity but I just have to dial it back a bit. This is to fix it so that when the focus in at infinity sign, it is actually focused to infinity. 

Hope this helps.

[John Palmer]

If I work on a set where the camera is on sticks the majority of the time I usually measure the distance with a tape, plus all of the other distance related info. I'd say its a good habit to keep. Depends on the shoot though. Usually one of the AC's  will do that anyway. Sometimes lenses can say your focus point is 7' away when its really 8', especially on older lenses. If you're buying $$$$ vintage cinema lenses I would make sure they are properly calibrated

[Cinegain]

If I work on a set where the camera is on sticks the majority of the time I usually measure the distance with a tape, plus all of the other distance related info. I'd say its a good habit to keep. Depends on the shoot though. Usually one of the AC's  will do that anyway. Sometimes lenses can say your focus point is 7' away when its really 8', especially on older lenses. If you're buying $$$$ vintage cinema lenses I would make sure they are properly calibrated

​Thanks for the input! It's not really about vintage cinema lenses or top notch PL-stuff. I've actually backed this M43 cineprimes project (new/modern mini cinema lenses, I'm shooting with the GH4 and BMPCC). So now that things are moving along, I need to state my preference for either imperial or metric markings.

[Daniel Acuña]

​Not sure which focal reducer you have but, the RJ has an infinity focus adjustment. I also have GX7 and Contax Zeiss 50mm f/1.7 with the same problem you have. RJ sent me this picture so that I can fix it. But I just didn't have time to do it. Just be careful though; mark the current position and rotate it in small increments until you are satisfied. 

In my case, I can focus to infinity but I just have to dial it back a bit. This is to fix it so that when the focus in at infinity sign, it is actually focused to infinity. 

Hope this helps.

​Thanks for answer, I have the Mitakon focal reducer it's seems to have the same screw, I'll try it later and see if it works. 

[bunk]

​Thanks for answer, I have the Mitakon focal reducer it's seems to have the same screw, I'll try it later and see if it works. 

​Not the first thing I would adjust if it's a used lens you bought. If you adjust the adapter to this lens it could be off to any other lens you attach. If you have several lenses, first check the others to see if they can focus properly. If that is the case adjust Contax Zeiss instead. Chance is that it was cleaned before shipping and put back together without checking infinity. If the lens looks similar to a Contax Yashica (judging from some potos on the net it does) it should be fairly easy to do so. Here is a link with photos http://forum.mflenses.com/infinity-tune-for-contax-lens-t7011.html
The three screws let you turn the focus with the lens. If you loosen the screws some you can turn the ring without moving the lens. Rotate the ring 1or 2 degrees fasten the screws and see if infinity is in reach. Don't overdo it or you will loose minimum focus distance. 

[JBraddock]

​Not the first thing I would adjust if it's a used lens you bought. If you adjust the adapter to this lens it could be off to any other lens you attach. If you have several lenses, first check the others to see if they can focus properly. If that is the case adjust Contax Zeiss instead. Chance is that it was cleaned before shipping and put back together without checking infinity. If the lens looks similar to a Contax Yashica (judging from some potos on the net it does) it should be fairly easy to do so. Here is a link with photos http://forum.mflenses.com/infinity-tune-for-contax-lens-t7011.html
The three screws let you turn the focus with the lens. If you loosen the screws some you can turn the ring without moving the lens. Rotate the ring 1or 2 degrees fasten the screws and see if infinity is in reach. Don't overdo it or you will loose minimum focus distance. 

Good idea. This was my initial thought as well though my lens was almost brand new when I got it so not sure if it'd been serviced before. But I will try to test another EF mount lens to make sure that it is indeed the focal reducer that creates the problem.

[Wedookayfilms]

Hey sorry if I am going off topic but I just was wondering about some recommendations for my next lens purchase...

On my shoot last week, I realized I need more than my 12mm and 25mm focal length. I have the hyperprime CINE I Slr magic 25mm and then the SLR magic hyper prime 12mm... I want to get a 50mm and also an 85mm.. Any other focal lengths that you recommend to have?

But more importantly, which lenses would you purchase for the 85mm and 50mm? My budget is decent ($2,000) so I want to buy some NICE glass. What do you recommend for the gh2? Would the Carl Zeiss CP2 prime lenses blow my SLR magic lenses out of the water- image wise? Thanks!

[Cinegain]

Hey sorry if I am going off topic but I just was wondering about some recommendations for my next lens purchase...

On my shoot last week, I realized I need more than my 12mm and 25mm focal length. I have the hyperprime CINE I Slr magic 25mm and then the SLR magic hyper prime 12mm... I want to get a 50mm and also an 85mm.. Any other focal lengths that you recommend to have?

But more importantly, which lenses would you purchase for the 85mm and 50mm? My budget is decent ($2,000) so I want to buy some NICE glass. What do you recommend for the gh2? Thanks!

​If you're looking for something native, the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 is lovely (not quite 85mm, but certainly something to consider, it's high on my wishlist). What 50mm concerns... another great Olympus is the 45mm f/1.8 (although not quite 50mm). These have great rendering, bokeh and color. But you might feel like they're a little too modern and sharp almost, compared to what you have right now.

If you really feel like splurging some cash... there's the Panaleica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2. Voigtländer has the same focal length with f/0.95. If you want to stick with the SLR Magic-touch, the 50mm f/0.95. Then there's a couple of Samyang/Rokinon/Walimex lenses you could look at, e.g. the VDSLR 85mm T1.5.

Or if you're willing to give up native mount lenses... you could go with a speedbooster and some sweet 2nd hand lenses. I'm sure Andy Lee could give you endless tips on that. Of course there's the Nikon ED AF-S 28-70mm f/2.8D, which combined with a Metabones speedbooster, or cheaper focal reducers like the RJ or Zhongyi Lens Turbo's makes a nice f/2 Hollywood style solution, covering multiple focal lengths (shooting the M43 GH2 with 2x crop 28-70mm with 0.71x focal reducer roughly becomes a 40-100mm (28x2x0.71 and 70x2x0.71) but retaining that constant aperture of f/2 (2.8x0.71). This btw, might not sound like it will get you much bokeh, but remember, if you up your focal lenghts, you're already creating much more subject isolation/background separation than you'd be able to get with something shorter.

[studiodc]

++ What Cinegain said. 

I LOVE my 85mm Rokinon t/1.5. Fantastic glass, gorgeous look especially on a speedbooster. I have also ordered a DSO FF58, which I'm very excited about. The older Nikon, Contax/Yashica (Zeiss), and Minolta 50's are fantastic too. I'm a big speedbooster fan, so consider getting an EOS EF speedbooster, a Nikon F to EOS adapter, and you'll be set for both Nikon and Canon glass (as well as M42, C/Y, etc with proper adapters). That gives you 2 fields of view for each lens you buy, plus the option of an extra stop of light if you need it. Great combo, you can use some amazing glass and it won't break the bank.

[Wedookayfilms]

Thank you guys! If I do get something like the Carl Zeiss Planar 85mm 1.4 or the Carl Zeiss 45mm Planar- which adapter do you recommend for my gh2? Is there a type of adapter that will give me better quality like the metabones adapters?

I'm thinking of the Carl Zeiss Planar 85mm 1.4 (from ebay) and then either the voigtlander 50mm or slr magic 50mm.. What do you think?

[Cinegain]

I've seen the thread you started, be careful with eBay lenses. 'NO EFFECT ON THE SHOOT SO SLIGHT' sounds nice and all, but personally I would never accept a lens with known fungus inside of it. This can spread through the lens, might even transfer to other glass. Stay away is what I would say. I only accept some very light cosmetic damages, such as a scratch on a housing and fainting paint or something and you'll have trouble finding anything vintage that hasn't got a few specs of dust inside. But other than that, take care that it looks good, has no dents (especially not on the lens thread) or is otherwise impaired. The glass should be crystal clear, without scratches, funges, haze or cleaning marks (again, there's bound to be a few specs of dust, that's okay). Focus (and zoom) should turn smoothly. Mind with rubber rings, that these are still neat. Usually a light color shift from black and some whobbling indicates it might needs to be exhanged. Make sure the seller claims everything is working fine. No stuck apertures or anything. Also the aperture shouldn't be swimming in oil. These are the main things I care about when buying a 2nd hand/vintage/legacy lens. Feel free to ask a seller about something if you're unsure and always read the description very carefully. Maybe you're bidding on a lens with known defects, that's being sold for parts or repair. Carefully read what state a lens is in to avoid surprises. If you do this and pay attention to the upload pictures of the lens your bidding on, you should be fine. I've done my fair share of buying 2nd hand lenses and so far I've really been blessed. Most of the time the lenses look as good as new. I also check what's included. If it's being sold with original packaging, accessories & lens caps and is being shown used with an UV filter, this usually means that the owner really took great care of it. Only once I had one with a stuck aperture (partial refund) and one time there was some hazing going on, which wasn't advertised or noticeable from the pictures. But overall, I made some really really good calls.

Carl Zeiss CP2 primes sure are nice, but I'm not sure if with cinema lenses you will be reaching the limits of the GH2 (in the sense that there's more potential to the lenses than is being captured). I think cinema primes make more sense on a little bit higher end cameras. It's kinda like putting a turbo charged V12 inside of a Volkswagen Golf. I mean, you can do it, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. Just my two cents. I guess the vintage Planar's should be pretty awesome though, but I know too little about them. Guess Contax CY mount types would be the adapters/focal reducers to look for if you're taking that route. But I would encourage you take a closer look at the recommendations as posted earlier as well.