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Please recommend a good 35mm c-mount

K

Kewk

Guest
I'm looking for a good, relatively fast 35mm focal length c-mount lens. Budget of $100 or less. Anyone try the no-name lens sold by short-fin on ebay?
 
K

Kewk

Guest
Yes, I noticed the Fujinon. Samples of flickr look decent. Have you tried it?
 

apicius9

New member
Never tried it but that's the only one in that price range that I am aware of. Of course, there are the Tevidon and a very nice Schneider 35mm, but these are way up there in price...

Stefan
 
K

Kewk

Guest
I'm confused by all the various Fujinon lenses. Some are listed as being for 2/3 sensors and some are for 1" sensors. Also the mega pixel ratings vary. I wonder if they are all the same basic lens, or at least if they will all cover the 4/3rds sensor.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
More than coverage, fitting the various Fujinon lenses (lens designs are very different, btw) to a c-mount adapter is going to be a minor project by itself.

Normally, the "megapixel" ones have smaller coverage than the garden variety ones.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
I do not have the said 35/1.7 Fujinon lens (the one photosmart42 recommended). I see a few old version ones listed currently on eBay. The rear of the lens has to be unscrewed and the c-mount epoxied to make it fit a c-mount adapter (similar to a 50/1.4 Fujinon-TV lens that I do use).

I use a 38/1.8 pen F and a 36/1.1 GE (a Japanese TV camera lens in c-mount that shows "glow" ;)). Both cover the m4/3rds more than adequately.
 
K

Kewk

Guest
I picked up a 35mm f1.7. It was cheap and sample pics are easy to find so I know the coverage is decent.

I'm still curious about the current crop of f1.4 lenses:
HF35SA-1 5 meg 2/3 sensor lens
CF35HA-1 1.5 meg 1"
HF35HA-1B 1.5 meg 2/3

The last one is certainly a different lens. It looks different and is much lighter. It's so light I'm guessing most of the "glass" is plastic.

The top two are suspiciously similar. The product photos are identical. Same dimensions. Same distance to focal plane. A weight difference of 5 grams. I suspect the different parts numbers were done at the request of marketing rather than engineering. I'll have to buy one and find out....
 
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kds315

Active member
The 35mm Tevidon is excellent and allows close up focusing too.

All shot using a Lumix GH1, in full format, fully open except otherwise noted.



100% crop




100% crop:




100% crop:




100% crop:


Bokeh shots:


Xmas lights are great for that..


personally I'm very happy with the results....and not a bit vignetting.
 
K

Kewk

Guest
The Tevidon is no doubt nice, but I don't think it meets the budget.
 

Photomorgana

New member
I am a HUGE fan of C-mount cine lenses, period. However, I think, the FOV that makes the most sense buying are:
1. fast (f1-f1.5) 25mm or 26mm lens,
2. fast (f1-f1.8) 50mm lens
3. somewhat fast (f1.8-f2.8) 70-100mm lenses.
The benefits of those are: size, weight, some (like fast 25mm) are simple unavailable in other formats and if you go "top line cine" the draw of the lenses will be top notch.

35mm was not very popular FOV in C-mount because it was an equivalent of almost 100mm on S-16 format and too close to 70mm (which 25mm lense produced) Also it was easier to make a good 50mm lens than a good 35mm lens, so the 50s were the short teles with apprx 140mm in equivalent fov on S16 cameras.

So if 35mm is truly what you want, why not look at for example CV 35mm or Oly 38mm pen, zeiss 35mm f2 lenses, but I would not spend big $$$ on Tevidon in c-mount which is larger and more awkward to use that before mention lenses.
That said if the price is right, you will like the image quality of Tevidon. But it just has to make sense. (and to me $1500 for good cine 25-26mm f1 lens makes much more sense than $400 35mm f1.9 tevidon)

BTW if 40mm FOV is something you can live with, you will love Kodak f1.6, highly recommended. I saw some sold for around $250.
 
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apicius9

New member
Excellent summary IMHO. Except that $1500 for a 25mm lens is out of my price range ;) I also agree with the Kodak recommendation, great little lens if you can find one... If 40mm is o.k., you can also look at the Robot Schneider Xenon 40/2 for a small lens - still over budget but probably less than the Kodak. And of course, there are tons of 35mm lenses in other formats out there.

Stefan
 

Photomorgana

New member
Excellent summary IMHO. Except that $1500 for a 25mm lens is out of my price range ;) I also agree with the Kodak recommendation, great little lens if you can find one... If 40mm is o.k., you can also look at the Robot Schneider Xenon 40/2 for a small lens - still over budget but probably less than the Kodak. And of course, there are tons of 35mm lenses in other formats out there.
Stefan
Thats right Robot 40/2 is good lens.
Oly Pen 40mm f1.4 also great lens that I've had in past (around $200)
And not to forget CV 40mm f1.4, very compact, and nice performer judging from samples I've seen. (used around $300)

Of course there are tons of other options, but since you were asking about C-mount the assumption is you want it compact and stylish ;)
 
K

Kewk

Guest
Interesting thoughts Photomorgana, and I don't disagree, but I already have 4 25mm c-mount lenses, 2 50's and 3 75's.

My Fujinon 35mm f.17 arrived. Looks quite nice and focuses correctly. As expected doesn't fit with the rear plastic screw on piece fitted. Rather than hold it together with glue, think I'll drill and tap a series of holes to hold on the back piece.

This is what I like about the c-mount lenses. Fun to tinker with and little money lost if you make a mistake.
 
R

retnull

Guest
Sort of a tangent, but I just purchased a Fujinon 75mm f1.8, and it's performing better than expected. Very good resolution, excellent bokeh and color rendition. Not bad for <$100.
 
K

Kewk

Guest
retnull,what model number is the lens? How's the corner sharpness compared to the center?
 
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