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Recommendations for 100 to 150mm lens

tom in mpls

Active member
I would like to find a lens, either zoom or prime, in the 100-150mm focal length for my GF1. Wide aperture, fast focus, small and inexpensive! Oh, great IQ, too. Ok. Getting real, let's start with fast focus first. Maybe f/4 or better?
 

wjlapier

Member
The 13.5cm/3.5 Nikkors for Rfers are usually pretty cheap to buy ( LTM's are cheaper than S usually ). Sharp too and have a tripod mount. Mine is a chrome one in LTM. Very heavy well built lens. Takumar 135/3.5 is cheap and sharp--I think I paid $50 for mine. Comes in M42 mount. I have a Leica 90/4 LTM that is pretty small, generally light, kinda sharp, but hazy :eek: It only cost $100, so not all too bad.
 

tom in mpls

Active member
The 13.5cm/3.5 Nikkors for Rfers are usually pretty cheap to buy ( LTM's are cheaper than S usually ). Sharp too and have a tripod mount. Mine is a chrome one in LTM. Very heavy well built lens. Takumar 135/3.5 is cheap and sharp--I think I paid $50 for mine. Comes in M42 mount. I have a Leica 90/4 LTM that is pretty small, generally light, kinda sharp, but hazy :eek: It only cost $100, so not all too bad.
Thanks, Bill, but for a "long" lens I am limiting my options to AF lenses.
 

bensonga

Well-known member
Hi Tom. Are you looking for a 100-150mm in mFT/FT format or the 35mm equivalent focal lengths? It can get so confusing these days.

Gotta remember that when I stick my Leica 50mm Summicron on my G1, I'm actually looking at the equivalent of a 100mm FL field of view.

Gary
 

photoSmart42

New member
Thanks, Bill, but for a "long" lens I am limiting my options to AF lenses.
In that case you're really limited in your options. Here's a link of the compatible lenses that have AF (you'll need to buy the DMW-MA1 adapter to fit them and get AF): list of m4/3 compatible lenses.

Your best bet really is the 45-200 lens for right now I think (unless you already have the 14-140). Supposedly Panasonic is coming out with a 100-300 lens sometime this year, so that will reach out further and have AF.
 

tom in mpls

Active member
Thanks for the link. The 14-150 and 45-200 both seem to be hard to find. I'm not sure I'm ready to spend $1k+ but the 14-150 does look terrific.
 

photoSmart42

New member
Thanks for the link. The 14-150 and 45-200 both seem to be hard to find. I'm not sure I'm ready to spend $1k+ but the 14-150 does look terrific.
Panasonic 45-200mm
Panasonic 14-140mm

You can also browse the Buy&Sell sections of various photo forums to see if you can get a good deal. Try posting a Buy posting on this forum and see if someone has a spare 45-200 they can sell. The 14-140 is definitely a nice lens, but it's pricey (optimized for video on the GH1). There are some compatible 4/3 Olympus lenses that have AF (the 40-150mm and the 70-300mm Zuiko), but those would be larger and I'm not sure on the price (can't be too expensive).
 

RichA

New member
I would like to find a lens, either zoom or prime, in the 100-150mm focal length for my GF1. Wide aperture, fast focus, small and inexpensive! Oh, great IQ, too. Ok. Getting real, let's start with fast focus first. Maybe f/4 or better?
Canon's 135mm SC lens f2.5 is a good one, and can be had pretty cheap. Any of the name brand 135mm's will work well, and you'll likely get them for a lot less than a 100mm which people for some reason still believe are portrait lenses and endowed with mystical powers.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-FD-135mm-...iewItemQQptZCamera_Lenses?hash=item25587a88a2
 

tom in mpls

Active member
Has anyone compared the 14-140 to the 45-200? My interest in these lenses would be at their longer ends; 140mm would be adequate. The 14-140 runs about twice as much which I am willing to pay if it is superior (focusing speed, sharpness, vigging, CA) at the long end.
 

pellicle

New member
tom

I just bought last week, and I'm awaiting delivery the 45-200 by Panasonic. Since you say you want AF I reckon that this is about the only real option as essentially all of the desirable Oly lenses are MF only on the Panasonic (see here). I have been told that this is not the case with the E-Px cameras which is a substantial point in their favour in the light of the total lack of stuff which does AF on the G1 (which seems funny as its the camera which is best suited to using a tele having a grip and EVF)

I have speculated that the choice of AF system (no, I don't mean CDAF, I mean a far more integral component of the mechanism) is the major limitation of extending their cameras in the AF Telephoto lenses.

Personally I'm eager to get my 40-200 as I want to test the tracking AF on something moving quicly
 

ggibson

Well-known member
From the tests at slrgear.com, their sharpness is pretty similar at 140mm. The 45-200mm has the advantage of being about a stop faster (over their overlapping ranges) though. From 70-140mm, the 14-140mm is f5.8 minimum, whereas the 45-200mm ranges between f4.3-4.7.
 

pellicle

New member
As I think this though more clearly, which lens is better at 140mm?
better at what and with or without the corrections which the G1 will apply to the JPG on the 45-200 and perhaps not to the other lens?

seriously a more accurately focused image (which I'm hoping the 45-200 will be) will be better than an optically superior lens in which the focus was slightly off and image degraded from motion blur.

thus I've purchased the 45-200 to see

neither of them will do as well as the Oly 150 but that won't AF on a Panasonic (damit Janet)
 

hodad66

Member
a few shots from the 45-200.... I can't make a comparison
as I don't have the 14-140..... The Pan Lieca 14-150 is
supposedly sharper.....





 
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