Hi,
I've tested an Angénieux f:0.95/25mm in a shop in Paris that I'd like to buy.
However I still have some kind of hesitation that people here might help me to get rid of.
When I tested the lens, the focus ring was so stiff that it was almost unusable, which is not surprising for a lens that hasn't been used for years.
The seller wants 500 € for it (a good price, what do you think?) and will give it a little service (lubrification essentially) before I decide to buy it.
In the meanwhile, I've bought another fast 25mm, a silver f:1.4 SOM Berthiot (see attachments), mainly because it was very cheap in my opinion (50€) and also because it was the occasion to make some other tests and comparisons.
This lens is in the same state than the Angy, that is very clean but with a very stiff focus ring which leads to very painful manipulation.
The image quality is quite good even if the barrel distortion is quite pronounced. The image circle seems a bit larger than the Angénieux.
I don't know if this Berthiot has good reputation. Any experience from all of you is welcome.
So here are my conclusions and questions. It seems that many fast c-mount 25mm have this in common :
- Not completely covering the m4/3 sensor (we all know that and that's not the biggest problem) ;
- A focus ring placed at the very bottom of the lens which leads to painful focusing, especially when it's a bit stiff. Did somebody here experiment a really smooth focus ring ? Does it become really usable ?
- Quite pronounced barrel distortion for such a focal lenght, why ?
- Quite important quality fall between wide open and 1 stop closed (I mean compared, for example, to a Leica 50lux which is as pleasant at f:1.4 than f:2 with a different rendering)
By the way, there's a silver Berthiot f.095/25mm to sell on eBay these days, but of a different type than the black one posted by Vivek. Is it the same type, quality? And does somebody know how much it could reach compared to the Angy?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=190307925639
OK, any comment and advice are welcome to make up my mind...
cheers
.