Lenses

[QuickHitRecord]

5 hours ago, mercer said:

I'd love to mess around with ML on the eos-m, but it seems my camera is broke and won't turn on any more. It could be that all of my batteries went bad... I used to buy really cheap ones.

There are some pretty long threads of things that other users have tried in the EOS-M Facebook group. Maybe something in there will bring your little camera back to life?

5 hours ago, mercer said:

Here are a couple shots that didn't turn out terrible...

These look great! I have always enjoyed the look of the Takumar lenses. What is your film about?

[PannySVHS]

Hopefully it's just the battery. These little gems getting quiet expensive these days. Great shots, makes me want to try the Pentax, great testimony to a lens! @mercer Was mistaking them as Canon 5D3 Raw shots. But you made that Sigma FP sing. There aren't any small mechanical 2x or 3x zooms for 16 or S16 unfortunately. @QuickHitRecord Maybe there might be some in 2/3" cctv land, but it would seem kind of silly to put that on a og pocket or m2k losing too much pixel realestate. On the Eos M that crop would mean 2/5 of the sensor and x axis pixels and be in the 2k ballpark. A 2/3" crop might sound appealing for the Eos with a tiny 2/3" zoom.:)

[QuickHitRecord]

15 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

There aren't any small mechanical 2x or 3x zooms for 16 or S16 unfortunately.

Actually, that 12-36mm lens I mentioned earlier seems like it might fit the bill, if you are willing to make some modifications. I posted a question about it on another message board and a member named Boris Simović actually had one. He shared these photos (attached), taken with his E-M1 Mark II. To get the lens to work with his MFT body, he removed the rear plate and just screwed on an MFT adapter in its place. It won't focus to infinity at the longer focal lengths yet, but he's going to see if he can work with the adapter a little more to make it work.

He says it's somewhat heavy and feels like it needs more lubricant, but I think that the images look very promising.

It's available as the FOCtek C-M1236IR in the US for around $300, or $160 on AliExpress (without coupons applied). I am seriously struggling to keep myself from picking up a copy. But maybe you would be interested?

[mercer]

20 hours ago, QuickHitRecord said:

There are some pretty long threads of things that other users have tried in the EOS-M Facebook group. Maybe something in there will bring your little camera back to life?

These look great! I have always enjoyed the look of the Takumar lenses. What is your film about?

I'll have to take a look one of these days because I would like to mess with it... plus I have all these c-mounts lying around and I'd like to have a camera to use them on.

Thanks, I feel like I am flying blind some times with color work because my screen sucks so bad. The idea I am outlining right now is kind of a coming of age horror film about adult characters.. kinda like Stand by Me if the dead body was looking for them.

[mercer]

Here's another shot from the Tak/FP combo. I don't know about anybody else, but I have been noticing some major disparities between the image in my computer and what the image looks like posted to different sites/devices, so this is also a test of that for me.

Either way, I really like this lens with the FP. I've been saying for years that some lenses just work better with certain cameras. I was about to sell this lens, now I'm going to dig through my closet and find my 35/3.5 Tak.

[PannySVHS]

Looks stellar.@mercerGood thing the Sigma is not really better regarding battery performance in comparison to the P2K. That way I won't long for it.:)

Wow, awesome find! @QuickHitRecordWould love to see some results and moving pictures filmed with that lens. The 2/3" route could also show some potential for tiny zooms. I found a 6x 11.5 - 69mm Kowa, which translates to a 44 - 264mm lens in 135 film terms,  weighting 300g. 10mm at the wide end would have gotten me exited. On a 2/3" cropped Eos M or a GH5/6 with a 2x Digizoom this might still be an interesting zoom lens.

[mercer]

12 minutes ago, PannySVHS said:

Looks stellar.@mercerGood thing the Sigma is not really better regarding battery performance in comparison to the P2K. That way I won't long for it.:)

Wow, awesome find! @QuickHitRecordWould love to see some results and moving pictures filmed with that lens. The 2/3" route could also show some potential for tiny zooms. I found a 6x 11.5 - 69mm Kowa, which translates to a 44 - 264mm lens in 135 film terms,  weighting 300g. 10mm at the wide end would have gotten me exited. On a 2/3" cropped Eos M or a GH5/6 with a 2x Digizoom this might still be an interesting zoom lens.

Thanks, I think I should clarify my earlier statement about the battery life... when I said it's not much better, I was probably exaggerating... it's no GH series camera regarding battery and considerably less than my 5D3, but it's not nearly as bad as my experience with the P2K.

And even with its flaws, which there are many, I still think the FP is probably the best camera for your money on the market today... if you're interested in narrative filmmaking... or even casual video if you don't mind taking your time and using a bunch of storage.

Even the internal 8bit 4K cDNG raw is quite usable if you want a smaller set up. One of the reasons I tested the camera with the Tak was to see how the internal 4K 8bit raw was for a B&W delivery... knowing the yellowing from the Thorium could help with the final B&W image. 

[PannySVHS]

If I got that right, the Sigma offers not only a S35 mode in Raw, but other crop modes as well? What crops does it offer besides S35, maybe Mft or S16? That would be super nice, some sweet S16 50p.😊 @mercer

[mercer]

On 4/10/2024 at 10:49 AM, PannySVHS said:

If I got that right, the Sigma offers not only a S35 mode in Raw, but other crop modes as well? What crops does it offer besides S35, maybe Mft or S16? That would be super nice, some sweet S16 50p.😊 @mercer

I believe it only offers a S35 crop. Due to the compression methods from the 6K sensor, some say that the S35 crop is superior... but I didn't buy a FF camera to shoot in S35. And the difference is probably minimal and I don't care about minimal.

But as usual, I'm probably the weirdo here, because I still prefer good 1080p over run of the mill 4K.

For instance, I mentioned earlier that I think some lenses shine with certain cameras. After thorough testing, most lenses look pretty good in 4K. By that I mean, most vintage lenses have a certain level of sharpness that is good enough due to the 4K. In fact, I think vintage lenses help to tame the sharpness... resolution of 4K.

Now with my 5D3/ML Raw, some of those same lenses just don't work. But with a more modern lens, the image looks really good, in my opinion better than the FP.

Here's a shot from the 5D3 with the older non-Art Sigma 50mm 1.4...

 

And here are a couple shots of the Takumar on the 5D3...

Obviously, they're different shots so in some ways they're incomparable...

And here's a B&W shot with the Tak on the 5D3 that's a lot more interesting...

So what's my point...

I have way more options than I need and B&W makes everything look cooler.

That is all. 

[kye]

Vistek just dropped a pretty comprehensive video about how to test lenses, but it includes a bunch of really interesting stuff, ranging from what the various aberrations are, how to test for them, how to see them in the test images, and a range of other factors.

He drew heavily from the incredible book The Cine Lens Manual: The Definitive Filmmaker's Guide to Cinema Lenses which is basically the new reference for lenses and has a whopping 836 pages and seems to have come down in price to only $175 or so (it was a lot more previously!)

 

[PannySVHS]

I especially love the second shot. @mercerLooks fantastic. I have not come around filming anything for almost a year now unfortunately. All my colabs have moved themselves into the shady hideaways of oblivion and my aspirations to be a full time crewmember have been very low after my accident I had on a job. But your posts are some of the very few on this forum which inspire me to start filming again. S35 is fine for me on my S1H btw.:) Also waiting for some more fine reads from @QuickHitRecord  😊

[BTM_Pix]

Wide end of the Panasonic 20-60mm kit lens on an S5ii capturing some people so desperate to avoid the outlandish parking charges at British seaside town that they've decided to parachute in.

 

[MrSMW]

Had one, sold it in favour of something faster.

Sold the something faster and bought a pair of used 20-60’s to be my video workhorses.

The reality is I either work in good light and don’t use these things any faster than f5.6, or I light the scene, so in either scenario, plenty fast enough for me.

Also, 20mm is more than wide enough as is 60mm long enough because in my bag, is a 70-200 f4 for those scenarios when 60 really is not enough reach.

They are really good ‘kit’ lenses.

I wish they were constant aperture but then they’d be bigger, heavier and much more expensive.

 

[BTM_Pix]

Panasonic 35mm f1.8 L Mount.

Frame extracts from 4K file on my Panasonic S5ii.

It isn't lacking in sharpness that's for sure.

 

[mercer]

8 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Panasonic 35mm f1.8 L Mount.

Frame extracts from 4K file on my Panasonic S5ii.

It isn't lacking in sharpness that's for sure.

 

My friend has that lens for his S5iiX. Steady with IBIS and the AF works well with it... and yes it is razor sharp and contrasty. He originally had the Sigma 24mm but when shooting vLog, at 640 iso on a bright, sunny day with a VND, there was some heavy vignetting. So he returned it and decided on the Panny 35mm. 

[BTM_Pix]

9 minutes ago, mercer said:

My friend has that lens for his S5iiX. Steady with IBIS and the AF works well with it... and yes it is razor sharp and contrasty. He originally had the Sigma 24mm but when shooting vLog, at 640 iso on a bright, sunny day with a VND, there was some heavy vignetting. So he returned it and decided on the Panny 35mm. 

That’s really interesting to know as I was considering that lens with an Fp-L (yes, I’m considering doubling down!) as a kind of sort of nearly improvised Leica Q3.

Despite the typical pissing down on a Sunday summer afternoon weather yesterday it was still bright enough to have to use have the Vari-ND on max on those shots as I was using vLOG.

I used this one which I have to say does live up to the promise of no X pattern even when at max.

[MrSMW]

7 hours ago, mercer said:

He originally had the Sigma 24mm but when shooting vLog, at 640 iso on a bright, sunny day with a VND, there was some heavy vignetting

Could be the glass but might have been the VND which he also changed?

I had the 20, 35, 65 and 90 f2’s and never experienced any issues with any of them.

Even sharper and with more character than the Lumix f/1.8’s, nicely tactile and with aperture rings.

Loved them, nicest primes I ever used.

I would go back to them over the Lumix primes in a heartbeat except for one factor and that it is was my insistance on trying to wrestle primes to work for my needs when I needed zooms.

If I could, for sure I’d run the 20 + 65 combo indoors and the 35 + 90 out.

But sadly I cannot!

[mercer]

For you vintage lens fans, here's an oldie but a goodie...

I was able to get out over the weekend with my FP and I finally tested the 10bit cDNG mode... hat tip to @BTM_Pix for recommending that mode... feels really solid while saving some storage space... and I brought out the Minolta MC 55mm 1.7. Wide open it's a little glowy, but not bad, but stopped down to 2.8 and I feel it shines...

[Ninpo33]

While waiting for new cameras to drop in late 2024 I have been instead having a lot of fun playing around with vintage lenses. Excited to see how my new Yashica Scope 1.5x does on a bunch of new stuff arriving from Japan this week. The good news about all the new cheap Anamorphic lenses coming out recently means that the adapters are dropping to rock bottom prices again. Feels like 2010…!!!

Rapido has no more small variable 8A diopters for the baby scopes and I fear they are going to be out of business soon. Would love to figure out a small solution to keep this little setup tiny. anyone have any ideas? 

[maxJ4380]

Anyone using an unconventional lens out there ?

I have the 7artisan 4mm 2.8 mft lens. I quite like it, although its much too easy to get a finger / head / foot in the picture. Its also fiddly to focus even with peaking. It seems to me the plane of focus isn't actually accurately represented by the peaking. There's more testing to do yet and i need to get my brain accustomed to what the peaking is telling me and what the range on the lens is telling me and maybe the fstop / dof is contributing to the issue as well. 

Probably the nicest image so far but still away to go. I do have some thoughts on using it for video however i figure i need to get my brain working with images side of things first.  

I also have some thoughts on mounting everything to a monopod but thats another story. Probably when more parts arrive to build it up.