G1 body as the base for your own custom camera "system"

[JBurnett]

- Tokina ATX 90mm f/2.5 macro with extender
- Vivitar Series 1 90mm f/2.5 macro (still looking for the extender)
- Canon Fd 100mm f4 macro
- Canon Fd 50mm f/3.5 macro
And of today a MD mount Kiron 105mm f/2.8 macro on its way to me.

MR. MACRO. Jerry, you certainly have superb macro photos to justify your collection. But I'm not sure most of us would hang on to so many lenses at similar focal lengths. How do you decide which you're going pack for a shoot?

 

[JerryMK]

MR. MACRO. Jerry, you certainly have superb macro photos to justify your collection. But I'm not sure most of us would hang on to so many lenses at similar focal lengths. How do you decide which you're going pack for a shoot?

lol , John you have a point there. My favorite (now) is the Tokina 90mm. It almost never leaves my G1. I started out with the Canon 100mm and still hold on to it but not use that one anymore. The Vivitar was/is sort of a backup for my Tokina, specs are similar but I love the buildt of the Tokina more. The Canon 50mm is perfect to use on my Bellows setup and is a real sharp lens too, Canon did that well.

The Kiron 105mm is a lens I do not know yet but from what I have heard could be replacing my Tokina as favorite... Many people think the Kiron is the best ever produced macro lens. Maybe I will tell the same soon...

 

[apicius9]

Interesting thread. I have to say that the G1 helped me to 're-discover' the fun in photography beyond the 'point and shoot' approach that I had fallen back on over the last few years. Since I am easily excitable (and not good with money ) I bought a few FD lenses very early on, thinking they offered the best value for someone who wants to play but not invest heavily (I have the 50/1.4, 28/2, 85/1.9?, and the 50/3.5 Macro is on its way).

Before I could really explore the FDs, I fell victim to the c-mount (and Kodak) craze and one estate sale, several ebay lots and about 50 lenses later I am now sorting things out and started selling the (many) ones I won't keep. Finally, I have an affinity to Leica (unfortunately, without the adequate financial backing), and I really enjoy using my trusty old 50/2 R Summicron as a portrait lens, and I added a heavy Telyt 250/4 + extender for the long shots and just ordered the 60/2.8 Macro, all Leica R. Oh, and of course I have the 2 kit lenses and look at the 20/1.7 also.

Now I am getting to the point where I think this is too much, too redundant and too confusing for a mere user/non-collector, and I am seriously thinking of narrowing it down - i.e. getting rid of the FDs and 'limiting' it to c-mounts and Leica. I have a hard time letting some of the c-mounts go, I think they are really cool - but not always have the best performance. We'll see what I will keep.

In any case, I am still trying to compensate the lack of talent (and/or experience) with a large number of lenses and equipment, but I am working on it... I'm not into guns but one of my friends who is always says you should fear the man who only has one gun - he may know what he s doing. Similarly, I may have collected a lot of lenses in a short time, but I see examples of talent and skills here by people with less equipment that are very humbling to me.

Stefan

 

[JBurnett]

Now I am getting to the point where I think this is too much, too redundant and too confusing for a mere user/non-collector, and I am seriously thinking of narrowing it down ...

It's easy for some of us to get caught up in the "equipment acquisition" phase, and perhaps even more so in micro-4/3, where the options are many, the prices attractive (sometimes), and experience and consensus is just starting to become available. I did a lot of buying and selling with my first DSLR, too, until I found the right "kits" for me. Then things settled down.

For MY photographic interests, I'm trying to put together the following:

A hiking/landscape kit (usually zooms; sometimes with a single fast prime and/or macro lens depending on destination)

An urban walkaround kit (faster primes and/or the wide-to-portrait zoom)

A macro lens

A couple of primes for portraits (one for full-length or seated, one for head and shoulders).

A travel kit (often the hiking/landscape and urban walkaround kits together; some lenses get left at the hotel/B&B depending on the day).

There's certainly some overlap. But sometimes the characteristics of a particular lens wins it a place in a kit even though there's already another lens with similar focal length and aperture.

Anyway, IT TAKES TIME to determine the right "set" of lenses for your interests. Take your time.

 

[Cindy Flood]

I haven't received my GF1 yet (hopefully soon with the EVF) but I expect to be using my Leica M lenses with it. The 21 Elmarit is a good choice as is the 28 Cron. I have a 75 Lux for the long lens but it is a bit awkward due to its size and weight.

Can't wait to get started

Woody

Hi Woody,
It is nice to see you in this forum.
I use the CV 28 f/1.9 once in a while. It works well on the G1. The 85mm Summarex (I know you have one) is wonderful, too, though it does not balance well. You will just have to try out the M lenses one-by-one as results have been mixed and lenses with less than 35mm focal length have generally not worked as well. I am now using Pen-F lenses. You might want to find a 40 f/1.4 Pen-F lens. It is cheap by Leica standards and is really wonderful on the GF1.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

It's easy for some of us to get caught up in the "equipment acquisition" phase, and perhaps even more so in micro-4/3, where the options are many, the prices attractive (sometimes), and experience and consensus is just starting to become available. ...

Anyway, IT TAKES TIME to determine the right "set" of lenses for your interests. Take your time.

I agree. One of the things m4/3 (and eBay) has enabled for me is to also explore lenses which I think I would like to have had but could not afford, another is that has allowed me to examine lenses more closely than I ever could before with 35mm film. Using tools like dcraw enables me to make consistent and comparable evaluations of the lens results which I could never be sure of with film without being certain of things like film stock batch and development consistency.

So once I have identified a lens which i think suits my needs (say, a compact 200mm lens) I can obtain some samples at low costs, test and compare image and operation then sell what I no longer want.

fantastic

 

[Jonathon Delacour]

My G1/GF1 system is built around the Pen-F lenses. I have the 20 f/3.5, 40 f/1.4, 42 f/1.2, 60 f/1.5, 150 f/4 and 50-90 zoom. For AF situations, I have the Panny 20 f/1.7, 45-200, and 14-140 (on the way). For macro I use the 50 f/2 Oly macro.
I have adapters to use my M lenses (especially Canon 50 f/1.2 ltm and Summarit 85 f/1.5), a Leica R 35 f/2, and Nikon lenses and have even adapted a few of my Mamiya MF lenses, but the Pen-F lenses are so sharp and small, that I rarely use anything else.

I followed Cindy, Vivek, and Godfrey in building my system around the Pen F lenses: 20/3.5, 40/1.4, 42/1.2 (with 60/1.5 and 100/3.5 on the way). But I'm thinking about branching out into Rokkor (58mm) and Hexanon (57mm) lenses too.

Nice Pellicle. I am also a FD lens fanantic. I have too much to mention but the most important are:
- Tokina ATX 90mm f/2.5 macro with extender
- Vivitar Series 1 90mm f/2.5 macro (still looking for the extender)
- Canon Fd 100mm f4 macro
- Canon Fd 50mm f/3.5 macro
- Canon Fl 58mm f/1.2
- Canon Fd 50mm f/1.4

Jerry, how is the Canon FL 58/1.2. I really, really like this focal length on m4/3rds and am curious how the FL 58/1.2 performs around f/2.8.

 

[JerryMK]

Jerry, how is the Canon FL 58/1.2. I really, really like this focal length on m4/3rds and am curious how the FL 58/1.2 performs around f/2.8.

Hi Jonathon, the FL 58mm is a very nice lens. Great for indoor portraits. At f/2.8 it is still bit soft but great retro alike picture quality. And looks really great and impressive on the G1

 

[Diane B]

Anyway, IT TAKES TIME to determine the right "set" of lenses for your interests. Take your time.

I agree. I'm trying to do just about the same as you and it does take time--and a bit of experimentation.

Diane

 

[Peter Leyenaar]

Hello All,
My first post, (other than in the F.S.forum)
Madness set in , bought a G1 with 14-45 kit lens, only one week after purchasing the GF1 with the 20mm 1.7 and the 14-140.
I have been selling my "heavy" equipment and settling for Panasonic u4/3.
It is this great forum that drove me to camera store,armed with a credit card, there was no stopping me.
Would you like a red or black, sir , we are out of blue, black it is , the whole
transaction lasted maybe 3 minutes, as I gleefully exited the store with a quarterback's grip on the camera box, golly gee , now, that was fun.

This is truly a great forum, I spend a lot of time, the past week following the various threads and examining images and tests posted by the members.
This helped me a great deal to make the right decision (for me)
I am no longer comfortable with expensive heavy glass and I enjoy
autofocus more for my purpose, Panasonic u4/3 suits my purpose , I really enjoy using it and the results.

I am attaching some images that I took flying through the mountains of
beautiful British Columbia, the Kootenay valley from Cranbrook to Radium.
These images are not of great quality, shooting one handed through the prop and plexiglass with bugs on the windshield, they do however give the general idea.
For my next flight I'll clean the windshield

Best Regards

Peter

 

[Cindy Flood]

Hello All,
My first post, (other than in the F.S.forum)
Madness set in , bought a G1 with 14-45 kit lens, only one week after purchasing the GF1 with the 20mm 1.7 and the 14-140.
I have been selling my "heavy" equipment and settling for Panasonic u4/3.
It is this great forum that drove me to camera store,armed with a credit card, there was no stopping me.
Would you like a red or black, sir , we are out of blue, black it is , the whole
transaction lasted maybe 3 minutes, as I gleefully exited the store with a quarterback's grip on the camera box, golly gee , now, that was fun.

This is truly a great forum, I spend a lot of time, the past week following the various threads and examining images and tests posted by the members.
This helped me a great deal to make the right decision (for me)
I am no longer comfortable with expensive heavy glass and I enjoy
autofocus more for my purpose, Panasonic u4/3 suits my purpose , I really enjoy using it and the results.

I am attaching some images that I took flying through the mountains of
beautiful British Columbia, the Kootenay valley from Cranbrook to Radium.
These images are not of great quality, shooting one handed through the prop and plexiglass with bugs on the windshield, they do however give the general idea.
For my next flight I'll clean the windshield

Best Regards

Peter

Welcome, Peter. Now that looks like a great way to enjoy photography. #3 is my favorite.
Congratulations on all the new gear.

 

[Terry]

Welcome Peter,
Congratulations on your new purchases! This forum is great place to visit but definitely dangerous to your wallet...

The bugs add ambiance to the first shot....or your sensor cleaner isn't working.

Terry

 

[pellicle]

Morning Peter

Cessna 172?

 

[Peter Leyenaar]

Morning Peter

Cessna 172?

Hello Pellicle

It is, good guess, do you fly ?

I used to have an older 172 with the manual flap handle, that I enjoyed more, however, this one is a nice flying bird too.

Best Regards

Peter

 

[pellicle]

Hi

Hello Pellicle

It is, good guess, do you fly ?

actually no, but I have sat in the other seat quite a bit. Have memories of a 2000Km journey in one (one refuel stop, but filled a few containers in the cockpit) ... its simply amazing to me that mid 50's planes are still just so effective and good and we've not really replaced them with anything better ...

well ... if you can put it on autopilot (or get your co-pilot to steer for you) you may take advantage of some lovely 70's optics for your newly acquired G1

I'm guessing that view out the window will favour slightly telephoto lenses but you may find some fun with some C mounts too ;-)