Lenses

[kye]

17 hours ago, Anaconda_ said:

Hey all, I hope the holiday season's been treating you well.

I'm looking for a wide full frame lens and keep coming back to Canon's L 17-40 f4. It's a pretty 'old' lens, but is amazingly low priced second hand. Is this still a reasonable lens to be looking at? 

It'll be going on a speedbooster and be used in tandem with the 24-105 f4. Essentially, they're both f2.8 and I figure will match characteristics pretty well.

No experience with that lens, but I agree with @TheRenaissanceMan about it covering some very useful focal lengths.

You should be able to search places like flickr to see many example images - being an L lens there might be some reviews bouncing around too.

Even if it is “optically middling” maybe that’s a good thing?  Lots of people are fans of vintage glass as they take the digital edge off modern cameras, especially those with internal sharpening and h.264 compression.  Being an L lens it should still be really nice though - my 70-210 F4 FD lens (not L) was lower down in the range and quite old now and is still lovely to use, so Canon has been putting out high quality glass for a very long time.

[noone]

One nice thing about the Canon 17-40 L is it has a slot for rear filters (the thin ones you cut to fit I think).

 

[Anaconda_]

Thanks guys. Shooting in a car is exactly what I'll be using this lens for, and I like the point about reducing digital sharpness. The lens seems to be pretty soft in the corners, especially wide open. That said, the speedbooster will make it f2.8, so if I stick to using f.4 I've technically stopped the lens down and that might actually help a little.

Going to see it tomorrow and will probably pick it up... Will keep you guy posted. Thanks for the help.

[kye]

4 hours ago, Anaconda_ said:

Thanks guys. Shooting in a car is exactly what I'll be using this lens for, and I like the point about reducing digital sharpness. The lens seems to be pretty soft in the corners, especially wide open. That said, the speedbooster will make it f2.8, so if I stick to using f.4 I've technically stopped the lens down and that might actually help a little.

Going to see it tomorrow and will probably pick it up... Will keep you guy posted. Thanks for the help.

Soft in the corners isn't such a bad thing either.

Lots of cine lenses have quite poor performance in the corners (even taking into account field curvature) and this only really matters when you put the subject in the corners of the frame.  The eye is naturally drawn to things in focus (which is why DOPs use shallower DoF - people don't spend the entire movie looking at blurry backgrounds) so if your subject is nearer the centre then the softer edges will actually help draw attention to the subject instead of away from it.

[thebrothersthre3]

The over done shallow DOF is tedious though. 

[kye]

1 hour ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

The over done shallow DOF is tedious though. 

It's relatively easy to work out how much DoF your eyes have by bringing up a test chart on a laptop / tablet, putting your finger in the line of sight of the chart and focussing on your finger and seeing which detail in the test chart is discernible and which isn't.

It ranges with focus distance of course, and also with low light when your eye opens up giving a larger aperture.

It's not the crazy DoF of a 50mm at 1.2 or anything, but the background defocus is a thing, and F4 of 5.6 is easily within the range of our vision, so should look natural.

It's a good experiment to do so you're aware of it.

[thebrothersthre3]

3 hours ago, kye said:

It's relatively easy to work out how much DoF your eyes have by bringing up a test chart on a laptop / tablet, putting your finger in the line of sight of the chart and focussing on your finger and seeing which detail in the test chart is discernible and which isn't.

It ranges with focus distance of course, and also with low light when your eye opens up giving a larger aperture.

It's not the crazy DoF of a 50mm at 1.2 or anything, but the background defocus is a thing, and F4 of 5.6 is easily within the range of our vision, so should look natural.

It's a good experiment to do so you're aware of it.

Yes but f4 or 5.6 is far from what we are seeing so often now. I think its a little ridiculous to think the audience is going to be concentrating on a backdrop, if that's the case the storytelling is probably very lacking. Maybe a more creative use of it would be if you want the character to feel boxed in as that is essentially what you are doing to the audience. 

Anyways that's just my little rant as I really hate the overuse of it in a lot of films I see. Not so much low budget stuff as they are often trying to work around non existent set design, but in hollywood stuff. 

 

[Anaconda_]

So I tested and bought the lens. Despite seeing tonnes of reviews its a lot wider than I expected. I've only done some simple tests, and I'm looking forward to shooting with it in a car. 

Edge sharpness is not a problem in what I've shot so far, though I'm going to limit it's use to f4 on the booster. Interestingly, when I first put it on my XT3 with Viltrox booster, I saw some pretty bad vignetting which really surprised me. However I changed modes and now I can't replicate it... 

 

[SandKa]

It's my first post on this forum so I'd like to say hello to everyone. Could you help me identify the mount of a lens I got from my friend? It's probably a C-mount lens - the thread is ~1 inch (25 mm) in diameter and it was used in a medical equipment. The brand and specification of the lens is as follows:

Carl Zeiss Planar 1,4/50 T* (made in Japan)

I was trying to google it but I haven't found any information regarding this lens for a C-mount. Zeiss website lists a similar looking Carl Zeiss Planar 1,4/50 T* for F-mount and M42x1-mount (under ZEISS Industrial Lenses - Classic Lenses). My lens doesn't seem to match as M42 & F-mount have a much wider thread diameter.

The next question is how could I use this lens? I know there are adapters available for C-mount but there is a question of coverage. I currently have a Samsung NX-mount camera as well as an old Canon APS-C DSLR but plan to buy a new gear soon anyway. It would be great if I could use this lens on the existing/future gear - what are your recommendations? 

[mercer]

Happy New Year lens friends... 

I have successfully whittled down my collection to a reasonable number and after my shoot the other day, I took a few more shots with the Samyang 50mm 1.4.

This lens has been on the chopping block so many times, I now root for it as the underdog of my collection, but as BTM has said a bunch of times before... Samyang lenses punch a lot more than their weight.

[Cinegain]

My new year's resolution... other than 1080p, 4K, 6K, 8K etc xD is to actually shrink the collection and refrain from my usual shopping frenzy GAS. Not sure what will be tougher... that goal or having six pack abs by summer. ?

Still got two incoming for now though. That Sirui Anamorphic 50mm f/1.8 and the VLEV Edition cinehoused Ironglassadapters HELIOS 44-2 58mm f/2. Should all be in before Q1 is over. The latter was supposed to ship last month... I went from PL to EF mount... but now that it hasn't shipped I'm thinking about reverting back to original spec and getting their adapter (which is additional ($_€), does that still count?) lol Not that I'll be shooting a PL cinema camera anytime soon, but it's still more versatile... right? (Which stage of denial is that again?)

Sure hope nobody will be releasing anything tempting. With the Leica 10-25mm f/1.7, that Sirui anamorphic & VLEV+IGA collab amongst other things there's been way too much excitement in 2019. It will be tough not to get the 10-24 & 20-70 T2.9 Linglung lenses by DZOFILM dropping this very 2020. But focus needs to be setting up photo/video as a viable side business as I forsee wanting to go parttime on my day job within the next 3 or so years (which would cut down the number of times I'd have to be abroad for work allowing me to settle down a little; also: just a funner balance making a living offa effectively two hobbies of mine). Would love to specialize into aerial work, but ain't nobody got time for all the rules and regulations they've put in place flying quads, hexas and octos around. We'll see. Gonna be an interesting and defining decade.

[kye]

14 hours ago, Cinegain said:

My new year's resolution... other than 1080p, 4K, 6K, 8K etc xD is to actually shrink the collection and refrain from my usual shopping frenzy GAS. Not sure what will be tougher... that goal or having six pack abs by summer. ?

Still got two incoming for now though. That Sirui Anamorphic 50mm f/1.8 and the VLEV Edition cinehoused Ironglassadapters HELIOS 44-2 58mm f/2. Should all be in before Q1 is over. The latter was supposed to ship last month... I went from PL to EF mount... but now that it hasn't shipped I'm thinking about reverting back to original spec and getting their adapter (which is additional ($_€), does that still count?) lol Not that I'll be shooting a PL cinema camera anytime soon, but it's still more versatile... right? (Which stage of denial is that again?)

Sure hope nobody will be releasing anything tempting. With the Leica 10-25mm f/1.7, that Sirui anamorphic & VLEV+IGA collab amongst other things there's been way too much excitement in 2019. It will be tough not to get the 10-24 & 20-70 T2.9 Linglung lenses by DZOFILM dropping this very 2020. But focus needs to be setting up photo/video as a viable side business as I forsee wanting to go parttime on my day job within the next 3 or so years (which would cut down the number of times I'd have to be abroad for work allowing me to settle down a little; also: just a funner balance making a living offa effectively two hobbies of mine). Would love to specialize into aerial work, but ain't nobody got time for all the rules and regulations they've put in place flying quads, hexas and octos around. We'll see. Gonna be an interesting and defining decade.

You forgot whatever Veydra reissues Meike will be releasing for next to nothing!!  

I look forward to your ironglass lens impressions and footage...  

[Cinegain]

35 minutes ago, kye said:

You forgot whatever Veydra reissues Meike will be releasing for next to nothing!!  

[..]

True! That happened! Though, you know, less interesting for me having the original set and all (except the oddball T2.6 19mm; if anything, as a proud early backer I thought I was getting a steal on cinema lenses and but now they really are, oh well, at least I can convert mine from MFT to E-mount I suppose, lol).

Quote

I look forward to your ironglass lens impressions and footage...  

I mean, it will be HELIOS 44-2 58mm f/2 still, I'm not going for personalization with coated elements and anamorfake inserts or anything, so the familiar look. But it will still be awesome to have it as a properly housed lens ready to survive a few more decades and a lens that's able to grow with you when your productions do too.

[kye]

8 hours ago, Cinegain said:

True! That happened! Though, you know, less interesting for me having the original set and all (except the oddball T2.6 19mm; if anything, as a proud early backer I thought I was getting a steal on cinema lenses and but now they really are, oh well, at least I can convert mine from MFT to E-mount I suppose, lol).

I mean, it will be HELIOS 44-2 58mm f/2 still, I'm not going for personalization with coated elements and anamorfake inserts or anything, so the familiar look. But it will still be awesome to have it as a properly housed lens ready to survive a few more decades and a lens that's able to grow with you when your productions do too.

Ah, yes.  I guess as an owner of the original Veydras the Meike releases aren’t quite the good news that they are for other people!  Doh!

There is the possibility that they aren’t the same level of quality though, as we know that the Veydras are superlative because of the rigorous lensrentals tests, but no-one has done equivalent testing of the Meike releases, so although they look the same the glass or materials may not be equivalent.

[Cinegain]

I didn't know there were MFT to Z-mount adapters out there. I was aware of the MFT to E-mount, but this? Hum. Who would've thought MFT would give you the most versatile mount? xD

[homestar_kevin]

On 1/3/2020 at 4:17 PM, SandKa said:

It's my first post on this forum so I'd like to say hello to everyone. Could you help me identify the mount of a lens I got from my friend? It's probably a C-mount lens - the thread is ~1 inch (25 mm) in diameter and it was used in a medical equipment. The brand and specification of the lens is as follows:

Carl Zeiss Planar 1,4/50 T* (made in Japan)

I was trying to google it but I haven't found any information regarding this lens for a C-mount. Zeiss website lists a similar looking Carl Zeiss Planar 1,4/50 T* for F-mount and M42x1-mount (under ZEISS Industrial Lenses - Classic Lenses). My lens doesn't seem to match as M42 & F-mount have a much wider thread diameter.

The next question is how could I use this lens? I know there are adapters available for C-mount but there is a question of coverage. I currently have a Samsung NX-mount camera as well as an old Canon APS-C DSLR but plan to buy a new gear soon anyway. It would be great if I could use this lens on the existing/future gear - what are your recommendations? 

 

Hey, Sorry for the late reply, just saw your post.

That is a C/Y mount Zeiss 50mm 1.4 with a C mount adapter.

If you push the little silver button/lever on the back of the lens down or back (towards the rear of the lens), you should be able to unmount the lens from the C mount adapter.

After it's loose from the adapter you can get other adapters to mount it onto your Samsung NX, Canon EOS, or pretty much any other camera you'd buy in the future.

 

 

 

[leslie]

 i have seen two sites that state that canon wont be making any new ef lenses instead focusing on rf mount.  https://petapixel.com/2020/01/08/canon-done-making-ef-lenses-unless-photographers-demand-more/

I presume they will still make ef lens for a while yet otherwise there is a bunch of guys probably going to be out of work. So with that in mind, do you think 2nd hand  ef  lens price may drop or go up ? Also is there a lens you would be tempted to buy before they go off the market ?

[noone]

I think they will make the currently available EF lenses for as long as they make EF cameras (and some years beyond too maybe) but this just means they will not be developing any future EF lenses (there are likely some still yet to come though).      I guess it just means the next round of tilt shift lenses will be RF mount and not EF for example.     The replacement RF lenses will probably mostly be better so the value of the EF lenses could well drop fairly quickly once there is a decent supply of new RF lenses.

[leslie]

i remember that canon just stopped making fd lenses pretty suddenly once digital and ef mount came out. So its not like they haven't done it before 😎

[noone]

5 hours ago, leslie said:

i remember that canon just stopped making fd lenses pretty suddenly once digital and ef mount came out. So its not like they haven't done it before 😎

Not so sure that is correct.     My FD 85 1.2 L was made AFTER some of the first version EF 85 1.2 L lenses were I am pretty sure.     I think there was a couple of years overlap.     EF mount started in 1987 and the last FD camera was introduced in 1992 with lenses made for a few years after that it seems.