Lenses

[Mattias Burling]

Just started playing with the Viltrox Auto Focus 85mm f1.8 for Fuji. It is very sharp and well built.
Have only tried it on a X-Pro1 so far, which doesn't exactly do it justice. But I will try to get hold of a newer Fuji soon.
Could be an alternative for portrait shooters on a budget.

 

[thephoenix]

didn't know viltrox was making lenses ?

[Emanuel]

On 3/15/2019 at 12:26 AM, noone said:

That 28 f2 Vivitar is a decent enough lens but to me it has two main issues.    Firstly it has a lot more distortion than most 28mm lenses and secondly it often gets stuck blades.    I had two and one did have the blades stuck together while the other was ok.       I used it a fair bit but was not good with people close in due to the distortion.

I don't find it that way to be honest, here's a sample shot on P4K from a PXY file:

[BTM_Pix]

On 3/13/2019 at 7:15 PM, mercer said:

 

Do you happen to have the 24mm?

Right, its charts and bottles time again !

Haven't got a PL adapter for anything full frame at the moment so these are from RAW stills from the Blackmagic Pocket 4K.

Same as the other test, so maximum aperture in the left frame and again at f5.6 in the right frame.

Bit of a caveat as the RPP Prime is in T stops so I had to get it in the ballpark and then adjust exposure to match.

Also the framing wasn't matched as its a different focal length but also due to having to mount the PL on rails but, hey, its a free test so I reserve the right to be a bit sloppy

So, across the top we have the Samyang 24mm  f1.4 and across the bottom the RPP Prime 25mm t1.8

Charts first.

Then the same story with the bottles, with the focus set on the Cointreau bottle.

CONCLUSION ?

Less contrast on the RPP makes it look a bit smoother but we again we are quite a fair way from night and day differences. 

The Samyang though.....bargain.

[BTM_Pix]

Another cheap and cheerful second hand MFT lens, this time the Olympus 45mm f1.8 on the Blackmagic Pocket 4K

This grab is from an HD ProRes LT recording as I was running out of card space when I was out today !

[mercer]

2 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Right, its charts and bottles time again !

Haven't got a PL adapter for anything full frame at the moment so these are from RAW stills from the Blackmagic Pocket 4K.

Same as the other test, so maximum aperture in the left frame and again at f5.6 in the right frame.

Bit of a caveat as the RPP Prime is in T stops so I had to get it in the ballpark and then adjust exposure to match.

Also the framing wasn't matched as its a different focal length but also due to having to mount the PL on rails but, hey, its a free test so I reserve the right to be a bit sloppy

So, across the top we have the Samyang 24mm  f1.4 and across the bottom the RPP Prime 25mm t1.8

Charts first.

Then the same story with the bottles, with the focus set on the Cointreau bottle.

CONCLUSION ?

Less contrast on the RPP makes it look a bit smoother but we again we are quite a fair way from night and day differences. 

The Samyang though.....bargain.

Dang... hmm... between my most recent 50mm tests and these Samyang tests, I am second guessing everything that is just and pure in the world. 

Btw, nice Oly sample... I really like your color. Teach me. Lol. 

Speaking of my 50mm tests. Here is yet another sample from my Zeiss Rollei 50mm shot wide open...

And for good measure, here’s a B&W frame grab from the Zeiss 25mm 2.8...

To add...  @BTM_Pix thanks a lot for the Samyang tests. I think I may try and pick up an 85mm. I’m curious how it will hold up against my Nikkor aI-s 85mm 1.4.

I started these “tests” to try and whittle down my lens collection but I think I’ve ended up with more questions than answers. 

For instance, I’m beginning to think that Zeiss are the best lenses ever made for a seasoned photographer/filmmaker because it isn’t easy to find their sweet spot, but when you do... it smacks you in the face. With that being said, I think I’ve only found that spot once or twice and the above samples aren’t it. But they’re alright, so I figured I’d share them. 

[leslie]

i suspect you could throw a piece of broken glass in font of the bmp4k and the footage would still look good

honestly between you and mercer and the others posting lens samples, i dont think anyone can go wrong with the glass thats available, be it vintage or new. Of course some glass will be better suited to some projects more so than others. To some extent i think its how you use or exploit those lens traits that will define a video and whether people find it filmic or not

[BTM_Pix]

34 minutes ago, mercer said:

Dang... hmm... between my most recent 50mm tests and these Samyang tests, I am second guessing everything that is just and pure in the world. 

The diminishing returns are certainly particularly diminished when it comes to the Samyangs versus lenses many times their price.

I hadn't really considered the 135mm but I will certainly pick up a cheap used one when I next come across one.

44 minutes ago, mercer said:

Btw, nice Oly sample... I really like your color. Teach me. Lol. 

Just push sliders in random directions until you like the look of it !

Many, many moons ago when I was a young pup recording engineer there was a set of cards made by Brian Eno called 'Oblique Strategies".

The idea was that if you reached a creative block in the studio you pulled out a card at random that had a phrase written on it that would stimulate you to take a different approach.

So there were ones like "Don' be afraid of things because they're easy to do", "Cut a vital connection" or "Give way to your worst impulse".

The one that always stuck out because it was generally the most effective though was "User fewer notes".

If Eno did these cards for colour correction he'd definitely have one that said "Use fewer nodes"

 

[JordanWright]

43 minutes ago, leslie said:

i suspect you could throw a piece of broken glass in font of the bmp4k and the footage would still look good

 

My beat, battered and heavily scratched Helios 44-2 that I picked up for £4.99 produces an incredible image on the Pocket that made me sell my Sigma 50-100 

@mercer the falloff on the 25mm looks fantastic 

[mercer]

1 hour ago, JordanWright said:

the falloff on the 25mm looks fantastic 

There’s little written about this lens but everything I have found about it has been stellar and it lives up to it’s reputation. 

The 50mm holds it’s own against the ZF Classic 1.4 50mm which is pretty crazy considering it’s about 40 years older.

The 85mm also seems to have promise but I haven’t done as much testing with it. 

I think my next round of tests will be the 25mm vs. Zeiss ZF 28mm f/2.

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

Just push sliders in random directions until you like the look of it !

Many, many moons ago when I was a young pup recording engineer there was a set of cards made by Brian Eno called 'Oblique Strategies".

The idea was that if you reached a creative block in the studio you pulled out a card at random that had a phrase written on it that would stimulate you to take a different approach.

So there were ones like "Don' be afraid of things because they're easy to do", "Cut a vital connection" or "Give way to your worst impulse".

The one that always stuck out because it was generally the most effective though was "User fewer notes".

If Eno did these cards for colour correction he'd definitely have one that said "Use fewer nodes"

Interestingly, in screenwriting there is an acronym often referred to called KISS... Keep It Simple Stupid... and yes I am the Stupid they’re referring to. I have a tendency to over complicate things, so these little sayings really resonate with me. What editing program, that has sliders, do you use?

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

The diminishing returns are certainly particularly diminished when it comes to the Samyangs versus lenses many times their price.

 I hadn't really considered the 135mm but I will certainly pick up a cheap used one when I next come across one.

They are indeed interesting. I would just need to justify them over my other fast lenses... my 1.4 Nikkor 35mm and 85mm I paid $300 each for. It seems like the 85mm is easily found for less than $200 but the 24mm is closer to $300+ so that becomes a little more tricky to justify if I want a set of Samyangs. Maybe I’ll just try out the 85mm first and see what happens. 

On 3/13/2019 at 3:13 PM, heart0less said:

Beware of the Sammy 24 mm - there is a big copy variation. Some of them are stellar, some - not so much.

 

If you get a good copy, it's an exquisite lens.

Good to know, thanks!

[thebrothersthre3]

I like how small my Nikon 1.8 is compared the samyang or rokininon 85mm.

I had a chance to use some Sigma cine lenses on a shoot today, 14mm 1.8, 24mm 1.4, 50mm 1.4, and 135mm 1.4. Really heavy but beautiful glass.

[kye]

3 hours ago, leslie said:

i suspect you could throw a piece of broken glass in font of the bmp4k and the footage would still look good

honestly between you and mercer and the others posting lens samples, i dont think anyone can go wrong with the glass thats available, be it vintage or new. Of course some glass will be better suited to some projects more so than others. To some extent i think its how you use or exploit those lens traits that will define a video and whether people find it filmic or not

I'll test that theory..  here are some old pics from a less than stellar technical setup (photos, not frame grabs).

IIRC these are all Panasonic GF3 and the 14-42 3.5-5.6 kit lens, with the camera probably on full-auto.

The first three were taken blind out the window of moving vehicles.

2 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

If Eno did these cards for colour correction he'd definitely have one that said "Use fewer nodes"

Nice...  

1 hour ago, mercer said:

What editing program, that has sliders, do you use?

Have you considered Film Convert?  I've never used it but I suspect it might be a possibility to get the kind of look you want with the fewest controls to mess with.

[heart0less]

I finally did manage to convert that Minolta MD 58/1.4 to EF.

It was a tricky process, mostly trial and error since you can't predict how much you need to file down some parts in order to reach infinity focus.

I couldn't have done it without this guide: https://web.archive.org/web/20131026030722/http://www.cogitech.ca/Rokkor/index.html (thank God we can travel back in time, because the site doesn't exist anymore)

 

But all in all, I think it was worth it.

 

Wide open it's a bit glowy, but sharp and contrasty. Bokeh is quite bubbly.

At f/2 the glowiness is gone and both sharpness and contrast improve, bokeh is more smooth.

Helios 44-4 at f/2.

 

And, finally - Minolta MD 58/1.4 on a Viltrox EF-M2 speedbooster meant for EF lenses.

f/1.4:

and f/2:

 

More importantly: it works in an anamorphic setup, but vignettes slightly when combined with a speedbooster.

f/1.4

f/2

 

 

Fun fact: at f/1.4 it's 150K colder and just a tiny bit more green (3 units) than at f/2

 

 

 

Mission accomplished, yay.

[mercer]

@heart0less listen for it... SLOW CLAP.... great job. It looks nice. Amazing how much the Viltrox and Anamorphic cleans that puppy up. So cinematic and clean. It almost looks like a modern lens if not for the vignette. What camera do you use again?

[buggz]

On 3/13/2019 at 4:23 PM, BTM_Pix said:

It does need a modification but its perfectly easy to do.

Here is a full tutorial on how to do it for this specific lens (but can be applied to other similarly tricky EF-S lenses) although this is a far higher precision route to doing it than I did.

I took the "hacking" part of the title of this tutorial a little bit more literally !

 

How much is the 10-22 vignette on a GH5 with Metabones 0.67XL sppedbooster?  I have been thinking of trying this, however...

I use the Metabones 0.67XL speedbooster on my GH5, and both the EF APC mount Sigma 18-35 Art and EF APC mount Tokina AT-X Pro 16-28 vignette a lot at the widest settings.

I was thinking of trying the fullframe ultra wide zooms, Sigma 12-24 Art, or Sigma 14-24 Art.

While I dream of the Canon 11-24 FF...

[heart0less]

1 hour ago, mercer said:

@heart0less listen for it... SLOW CLAP.... great job. It looks nice.

Thank you!
I have to admit that all the discussions in this thread made me really motivated and helped finish it.

 

1 hour ago, mercer said:

What camera do you use again?

A humble Panasonic G80 / G85.

 

1 hour ago, mercer said:

Amazing how much the Viltrox and Anamorphic cleans that puppy up. So cinematic and clean. It almost looks like a modern lens if not for the vignette.

I'm pretty surprised, too!

Never considered speedboosters and anamorphic adapters as image cleaners - turns out they're quite okay at it, haha.

Vignetting is entirely gone, when I start recording due to 4K Photo Mode crop, so it's not that bad.

( :

[BTM_Pix]

55 minutes ago, buggz said:

How much is the 10-22 vignette on a GH5 with Metabones 0.67XL sppedbooster?  I have been thinking of trying this, however...

I use the Metabones 0.67XL speedbooster on my GH5, and both the EF APC mount Sigma 18-35 Art and EF APC mount Tokina AT-X Pro 16-28 vignette a lot at the widest settings.

I was thinking of trying the fullframe ultra wide zooms, Sigma 12-24 Art, or Sigma 14-24 Art.

While I dream of the Canon 11-24 FF...

I haven't got a GH5 or a 0.67XL so I can't give you a definitive answer.

I have got a GX85 and a 0.71x though so I went outside to do a quick comparison with some white walls for you.

Top is the 10-18mm @10mm and the bottom is the Sigma 18-35mm @18mm 

As you an see, there is some vignetting on the Canon and I just adjust for this by zooming in a fraction as I'll still get the extra FOV, the light gathering and the sharpening but it can be put on a dumb adapter as well to avoid any vignetting.

And the vignetting that is there is more than the Sigma.

Hopefully you can extrapolate from that for your own system based on how you know the Sigma performs with your 0.67XL

Bottom line is if the Sigma vignettes on it then the Canon will too and a little bit more.

Hope that helps.

 

[BTM_Pix]

16 hours ago, mercer said:

What editing program, that has sliders, do you use?

FCPX for video.

Aperture and Lightroom for stills. (The former for work when its all jpegs).

I'm going to download the trial of the Chromatic plugin for FCPX this week.

For my needs (which are pretty basic), I'd sooner use ProRes and stay inside FCPX than have that nth degree tweak ability of RAW and Chromatic seems to me to be a good bridging device to a more pseudo-Resolve depth for correction with tracking power windows etc.

 

[mercer]

30 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

FCPX for video.

Aperture and Lightroom for stills. (The former for work when its all jpegs).

I'm going to download the trial of the Chromatic plugin for FCPX this week.

For my needs (which are pretty basic), I'd sooner use ProRes and stay inside FCPX than have that nth degree tweak ability of RAW and Chromatic seems to me to be a good bridging device to a more pseudo-Resolve depth for correction with tracking power windows etc.

 

Yup, I use FCPX as well and prefer it to Resolve... even the newer basic coloring tools in FCPX I prefer over the node based Resolve method. I really only use Resolve for two things... as a transcoder to get my Raw footage to ProRes 444. And I also use it for my silly lens tests. I do like how I don’t have to save timelines in Resolve, so it works great for those two reason.

I used to use Color Finale but find it is unnecessary now. However, Chromatic does seem interesting so update us how you get along with it. I also have Colorista IV and I must admit, I love their guided color correction tool. It’s great for inept colorists like myself. But I stopped using it, not because I am too good for it, but because it slows down renders way too much.

I’ll, probably, eventually buy a P4K just for the convenience of having ProRes for FCPX. I’ll still shoot in 1080p though... haha.

[kye]

Now is the time to buy and adapt Medium Format lenses...