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So, what is a good manual normal lens now?

J

Jonas

Active member
In another thread I mentioned I had high hopes for the CV28/2 Ultron. My hope was that it should work well with the G1 as a reasonably fast normal lens. As it didn't pass the smearing border test I don't know what to do really.

What I am looking for is a lens in the 24-28mm range, at least f/2, manual with good feeling to it, preferably small. In a perfect world there should be one somewhere with nice rendering of the out of focus background stuff.

Any suggestions?
 
M

meilicke

Guest
Take a look at KEH, occasionally they have some 24mm 2.0 from various manufacturers. Currently there are a few from Minolta and Nikon, possibly others (I did not check them all). My guess is that the SLR lenses exhibit less smearing at the edges because they are all further from the sensor plane than LTM/M, and thus more telecentric. But I have not tested this, nor seen any evidence to suggest this is true. :(

-Scott
 
scho

scho

Well-known member
Jonas said:
In another thread I mentioned I had high hopes for the CV28/2 Ultron. My hope was that it should work well with the G1 as a reasonably fast normal lens. As it didn't pass the smearing border test I don't know what to do really.

What I am looking for is a lens in the 24-28mm range, at least f/2, manual with good feeling to it, preferably small. In a perfect world there should be one somewhere with nice rendering of the out of focus background stuff.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Some of the SLR lenses seem to be performing better than the RF lenses with respect to corner/border distortion, but then there are the size and speed issues. At this point, I'm just waiting to see what the 20 1.7 can do and also the 7-14 for the wide solution.
 
M

monza

Active member
For those that like to experiment, there is a 25/1.4 Pentax lens in c mount for under $100. At that price there is little risk, but maybe great reward. It is tiny, too.
 
R

Ranger 9

Guest
monza said:
For those that like to experiment, there is a 25/1.4 Pentax lens in c mount for under $100. At that price there is little risk, but maybe great reward. It is tiny, too.
Click to expand...
Got a link to where one could find out more about these?
 
R

Ranger 9

Guest
Monza, thanks for that link. Seems as if there's quite an interesting range of C-mount lenses, at, um, a range of prices (check out that $60,000 Fujinon... that should make those Leica M8 poseurs think twice!)

It's worth noting that apparently not all C-mount lenses are alike, though -- here's a link to an esoteric discussion on the subject from a forum for users of the RED Scarlet HD video camera.
 
M

monza

Active member
True, just like in the 35mm world, not all lenses are alike.

I have ordered a copy of the 25/1.4 Pentax and if it doesn't work out I can always send it back. ;)
 
J

Jonas

Active member
monza said:
For those that like to experiment, there is a 25/1.4 Pentax lens in c mount for under $100.
Click to expand...
Hi

That's a fun suggestion. From the available Pentax on-line literature I understand it as the lens is supposed to cover a 1" image circle which would make it suitable for the 4/3 sensor. I also understand it as it is not in the high resolution megapixel series of CCTV lenses (which are bound to have awful bokeh). Interesting!

Thank you, /Jonas
 
J

Jonas

Active member
meilicke said:
(...)My guess is that the SLR lenses exhibit less smearing at the edges because they are all further from the sensor plane than LTM/M, and thus more telecentric. But I have not tested this, nor seen any evidence to suggest this is true. :(
Click to expand...
I have tried a Zeiss C/Y 35/1.4 Distagon. No success. I guess we'll have to try them all... :p

thank you, /Jonas
 
J

Jonas

Active member
scho said:
(...) At this point, I'm just waiting to see what the 20 1.7 can do and also the 7-14 for the wide solution.
Click to expand...
That's a reasonable approach. Now I would very much prefer a manual lens with good overall rendering. I fear the tiny and fast aspherical 20/1.7 will not be to my taste. It will however be hard not to buy it for size and convenience.
 
M

monza

Active member
The 24/2.8 Nikkor is excellent, with great bokeh and floating elements for close focus correction. It's hard to find a wide lens with great bokeh and it's essentially a normal lens on micro 4/3, so makes for a good match.
 
J

Jonas

Active member
My conclusion: Right now we simply don't know of any good manual normal lens for the G1...

That's not exactly what I expected when buying the worlds most adoptable digital camera... But we didn't know about the border/corner smearing back then... OK, such things happen to early adopters.

Jonas said:
What I am looking for is a lens in the 24-28mm range, at least f/2, manual with good feeling to it, preferably small. In a perfect world there should be one somewhere with nice rendering of the out of focus background stuff.
Click to expand...
 
m3photo

m3photo

New member
Not all C-Mount Lenses ...

Ranger 9 said:
It's worth noting that apparently not all C-mount lenses are alike, though -- .
Click to expand...
Indeed so. I went ahead and bought a job lot of three for $93 just to see and can tell you two of them are of no use on the G1. Incredibly enough the one with the shortest focal length is the best of them. Neither these or a Carl Zeiss Jena DDR Tevidon 25mm f/1.4 (for another $39) will focus to anywhere like infinity and are only useful for the odd close-up flower shot "with a difference" IMO. The thing is, if the rear element is too small in diameter don't bother buying it. Examples:
1) Tevidon 25mm at f/1.4
2) Tevidon 25mm at f/8
3) Cosmicar 8.5mm at f/1.5
4) Cosmicar 8.5mm at f/16
 
petermcwerner

petermcwerner

Member
monza said:
I have ordered a copy of the 25/1.4 Pentax and if it doesn't work out I can always send it back. ;)
Click to expand...
Please show us the results. I am still experimenting and a 1.4 apertures seems attractive if it fills the whole sensor area with good sharpness and no strong vignetting

My current favorites:

- 21-35mm/3.5-4 Vario Elmar R Asph.
- 20mm/4 Nikkor
- 16mm/2.8 Zenitar
 
M

monza

Active member
Re: Not all C-Mount Lenses ...

m3photo said:
Neither these or a Carl Zeiss Jena DDR Tevidon 25mm f/1.4 (for another $39) will focus to anywhere like infinity and are only useful for the odd close-up flower shot "with a difference" IMO. The thing is, if the rear element is too small in diameter don't bother buying it. Examples:
1) Tevidon 25mm at f/1.4
2) Tevidon 25mm at f/8
3) Cosmicar 8.5mm at f/1.5
4) Cosmicar 8.5mm at f/16
Click to expand...
I think you mean rear diameter 'too big.'

The Tevidon will cover the sensor in 16:9 mode. There are ways for them to focus to infinity. :)
 
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