Lens recommendations for NEX-5?

[Cindy Flood]

I'm in a class right now, so will take some photos later. The fins seem to stick out about as far as the Contax G 28mm, so it easily fits on the Sony Nex. With
the adapter, the 35-70 zoom sticks out about as far as the stock zoom. I say this because it fits into a case for the Nex 5 and a zoom.
John

John, Your report on the 35-70 zoom will be of interest. I'm looking forward to it when you have time.

 

[monza]

I had the 35-70 a few months ago, it worked very well on the GH1 but 70-140 equivalent wasn't something I needed...looking forward to seeing how it works on NEX

 

[John Inglis]

Here are four shots taken near Yellow Springs OH today in the afternoon on a cloudy day with a Sony Nex 5 and Contax G 35-70 zoom at 35mm and f3.5. This is wide open and at infinity--I hope. I assume it is important to see the detail (or lack there of) in the upper corners. Any comments on the lens or pointers on how to improve this sort of thing are welcome.

 

[Jim DE]

Thanks John .... One more question .... Did you have a polarizing filter on it during these shots

 

[John Inglis]

No filter, but I did use autotone in Lightroom which made the photos a slight bit brighter.

 

[ken_vs_ryu]

Can I see pics of the 35-70G on the camera?

 

[douglasf13]

Here is a link to another forum with a pic of the 35-70 on the NEX-5.

http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php?topic=92274.210

 

[douglasf13]

p.s. the thread I posted above has TONS of NEX adapter/lens info.

 

[Isohunt]

First post, so Hi all.
Yet another happy Nex 5 owner.
Amateur at photography, insterested in astrophotography and hoping the NEX-5 will do well.

Of the lenses I have tried now I have found 2 manual lenses that I really like both for Nikon mount.
Nikkor 50mm F/1.2 AIs *Make sure its the 9 bladed diaphragm version.
This beauty with our Nex systems high ISO can do some really interesting shots in near pitch black.

Image not enhanced in any way, only copied from 2 pictures to see the real visibility and with 1.2 apperture/high ISO.

Sigma 400mm F/5.6 *Metal body, est. 25-30year old version
Perfect for bird or astrophotography, using a Kenko 2X making it around 1200mm *35mm on the Nex.
Looks like some russian old school weapon for some reason. *Think twice before taking pictures near an army base with this thing....

Sony Nex-5 as of 2010 The Worlds most advanced rear lens cap!

So far I have had best luck overall on Nikon as an adapter.
Tried some Canon Eos and FD *Like FD more and Tamron AA
Havent done much on Sony Alpha lenses yet, waiting on my own adapter.
Overall, good MF lenses specially fast ones seems to be best priced on Nikon.

Pentax adapter on its way so I will try to compare more.
Pentax 35-70mm F/2.5-3.5 is my next victim.
And my Nikkor 300mm F2.8 soon to arrive...

I will keep you posted on my findings.

Best regards,

Isohunt
All we see is light!

nex.3dmark.org (Full size version of the images and soon also lots of sample images)

 

[John Inglis]

Douglas, thanks for that great French link,
Here are some shots of the Contax 35-70 on a Nex 5 with the Wayne Kayne case,

 

[Jim DE]

It appears that the 35-70 Contax G Zoom at 35mm with it set wide open and focused to infinity looks a lot like the 28mm set wide open and focused to infinity. I am seeing around the edges a slight color shift and vignetting with a very slight degree of smearing. Seems it, like the 28, is having issues getting a good light out to the edges of the sensor because of the depth of the rear element. No real big deal and easily worked around but in my eyes from those photos I can see a very close similarity to the 28mm in these examples.

Just for a case in point I use my 28mm a lot and these issues are easily worked around.

Thanks again John for posting these examples.

 

[Jerry_R]

>>- wide-angle landscape lens (something wider than the Sony 16mm lens)<<

You only budget choice will be the Sam Yang (Rokinon). I bought the Rokinon with Nikon mount so I can use it on my D700. I get the Nikon to NEX adapter and it works great.

No-one tried CV 12mm or Sigma 8-16mm?

 

[monza]

12mm:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=97458

 

[simonclivehughes]

Jerry, I've got the CV12mm (the new one) and its great on the NEX. Here's a couple of recent shots from New Orleans.

View attachment 37210

View attachment 37211


Cheers,

 

[Jerry_R]

Thank you monza & simonclivehughes!

I use u43 Panasonic 7-14mm and wonder how it would be compareable to CV and Sigma 8-16mm on Nex...
Sigma would be probably much bigger, question if IQ would be better...

PS: so far - from samples I saw with NEX and M lenses - I liked mostly ones taken with CV 12mm and 35mm Summarit ;-)

Best Regards,
Jerry

 

[uhoh7]

I suspect the nex five can control aperture on sigma 8-16mm alpha mount via LAEA-1 sony adapter, but am searching hig an low for somebody who can test it before i spend big bucks

A leads on who coun check this out would be great

 

[Jerry_R]

I have tested NEX-5 + Sigma 8-16mm via LAEA-1. You can change aperture. AF works, but incorrectly, so manual so far only.

I was not satisfied with IQ. I had to close it to f/8 - f/11 in order to achieve the same results as from Lumix 7-14mm at f/4 - f/5.6.
It it never, on any aperture - gave me more details than small Lumix.

Plus it is huge:

I gave up and sold NEX. After some time - my friend sent me his photographs made with "M" lenses.
Meanwhile - I found occasionally cheap ZEISS 25 2.8 and 50 1.5. I bought them as future investment - as I am waiting for LEICA FF EVIL since I sold M9.

So I bought cheapest NEX-3. And am amazed! The camera fits "M" lenses perfectly.
In past - I was thinking it is too small. But not for Leica, Zeiss, Contax lenses!
It just begs me: "take me, take me!" I must admit - last time I was hearing that voice when I had M9.

Bye the way - I set EVERYTHING to manual on NEX-3 and work in black and white mode.
Probably one day I will buy CV 12mm. I miss EVF and flash socket, hopefully NEX-7 will address that.

 

[John Inglis]

The comparison chart of older fast 50-58mm primes and a pdf on individual lenses is available below. On the comparison chart, the lower the number, the better the lens!

There are some translations on the following forum discussions, which I copy and paste some below. The magazine chart ranks the lenses on more than just the sharpness numbers.

From zxaar on Four Thirds Talk,
http://forums.dpreview.com/...t.asp?forum=1041&thread=35994153&page=2

Here is summary of that test. Scores smaller the better.
f/1.2 lenses
Lenses tested -------------f/1.2 -----f/2.8 -----f/5.6 -----Average
Pentax SMC 50mm f/1.2 --------101 -------77 ---------50 --------228
Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 ------116 -------73 ---------49 --------238
Canon FD 55mm f/1.2 ----------117 -------82 ---------45 --------244
Minolta MD Rokkor 50mm f/1.2 -117 -------75 ---------54 --------246
Canon FD 55mm AL f/1.2 -------117 -------84 ---------51 --------252
Yashica ML 55mm f/1.2 --------124 -------90 ---------51 --------265
Olympus Zuiko 55mm f/1.2 -----125 -------90 ---------60 --------275
Nicon Noct-Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 -158 ------107 ---------52 --------317
Leitz Noctilux 50mm f/1.0 ----152 -------97 ---------67 --------316
Konica Hexar 57mm f/1.2 ------166 ------129 ---------58 --------353

you see konica hexar scores 166 wide open compared to pentax 101 , based on this test at f1.2. hexar is actually the worse.

The following comments are from various people on:
http://forum.manualfocus.org/viewtopic.php?id=9310&p=1

It doesn't look like the AL version of the Canon lens scored any better than the standard S.S.C. It happens to be about 20 times as expensive though.

Hmm . . I just bought a Nikkor 50/1.2 AIS (NOT a Noct BTW) and it appears that it does quite well in these German tests compared to some of the other lenses in it's class. I think the Bokeh is probably not as good though.
That test actually said pentax F1.2 is sharpest wide open lense. (or best 50mm f1.2).

test does not include canon 50mm f1.2 (L version). My impression is canon version being almost equal or slightly better than pentax version in terms of sharpness. (i might be wrong though).

What the heck????!!!!! Last time I've seen a Hexar version of the 57mm F1.2 it cost twice as much as the Hexanon AR version which is the one we've been talking about here. To find out it's such a poor performer it's a shock for me! It's been a long time and memory might fail me, but perhaps it was a limited edition for the Hexar RF, I have no other explanation...
Anyway acording to the Konica Bibble: http://www.buhla.de/Foto/Konica/eHexanonHaupt.html
Hexar lenses were subcontracted (probably to Tamron) and they didn't stand up to Hexanon quality
So to sum it up:
Hexar AR = decent performers.
Hexanon AR = outstanding quality.

Padiej was able to locate the chart on individual lenses at http://www.systemkamera-forum.de/...2158-vergleich-von-lichtstarken-50mm.html
The article is by Walter E. Schön and was published in ColorFoto. Perhaps this is the article cited on http://www.tomioka.de/tomioka_e_main.htm as Walter E. Schön lens ColorFoto Practice Test - The High-Speed Normal Lenses Part 2, COLOR FOTO - Lens Test Nr. 3 Published by LATERNA MAGICA VERLAG 1978.

You can download the text and charts at:
http://www.kameradoktor.de/50er1.jpg

http://www.kameradoktor.de/50er2.jpg

 

[John Inglis]

On the camera is Canon FL 300 Fluorite 5.6
Off camera is Sony E 18-200
www.zumodrive.com/file/297763652

This Canon weighs in at 850 grams
The Sony E 18-200 is listed on Photozone.de as weighing in at 524 grams

The following page which can be translated with Google Translate praises it as in some ways the best of the Canon 300s, or at least of those compared,

http://www.luciolepri.it/lc2/marcocavina/articoli_fotografici/Canon_FLF_300_500/00_pag.htm

I found this page off of
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/fllenses/index1.htm

I am beginning the curve of the unstablized telephoto!
For example, how to still vibration on an old heavy Gitzo from the 70s
even when using 10 second delay (curses, searching for answers, but do I really
need a wooden tripod?)

 

[uhoh7]

I have tested NEX-5 + Sigma 8-16mm via LAEA-1. You can change aperture. AF works, but incorrectly, so manual so far only.

I was not satisfied with IQ. I had to close it to f/8 - f/11 in order to achieve the same results as from Lumix 7-14mm at f/4 - f/5.6.
It it never, on any aperture - gave me more details than small Lumix.

Plus it is huge:
I gave up and sold NEX. After some time - my friend sent me his photographs made with "M" lenses.
Meanwhile - I found occasionally cheap ZEISS 25 2.8 and 50 1.5. I bought them as future investment - as I am waiting for LEICA FF EVIL since I sold M9.

So I bought cheapest NEX-3. And am amazed! The camera fits "M" lenses perfectly.
In past - I was thinking it is too small. But not for Leica, Zeiss, Contax lenses!
It just begs me: "take me, take me!" I must admit - last time I was hearing that voice when I had M9.

Bye the way - I set EVERYTHING to manual on NEX-3 and work in black and white mode.
Probably one day I will buy CV 12mm. I miss EVF and flash socket, hopefully NEX-7 will address that.

TY very much for your input Jerry. No doubt the Lumix wide angle is a great lens. I hope I have better luck with the sigma 8-16.

Strange that it would not do well, since the Nex-5 has great IQ with so many lenses.

all the best,

Charlie