@markus_b Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, I already bought the Oly lens hood. At least I bought it with eBay bucks, so it feels a little less like spending money!

@Ebacherville, there might be 1-2 videos, not made so good. i couldn't find any video that will show me how wide i can get on ETC, and how good the zoom performs.. i somehow you'll be able to take a 10 seconds video with the 8-48 rainbow, it would be very kind :) also, are the 8-48 feel comfortable to work with in realtime?

@Ebacherville, the problem with the Tamron is that it cannot keep focus and also cannot zoom comfortably. i need a zoom lens for continuous manual zooming while shooting, keep the focus, and for it to be comfy somehow.. so i didn't find any videos proving if the Rainbow Computar, or Pentax options can do this.

I own the Oly 12mm prime, and it's tack sharp, edge-to-edge at f4.0. I'm very satisfied with it. I also considered the SLRMagic 12mm, but opted for the more clinical look of the Oly. I understand the appeal of the SLRMagics "character", I'd just prefer that it wasn't baked in (I can always add "character" to Oly footage in post, but I can't likewise sharpen the corners of SLRMagic footage). It's REALLY annoying, however, that Oly doesn't include a freakin' lens hood with their $800 lens, as it's pretty much a necessity.

I also plan to buy a Panny 7-14mm in the next few weeks, assuming NAB doesn't hold any surprises for us ultra-wide devotees.

I seem to be in the minority these days, but my goal is to develop an ultra-wide, deep focus cinematographic style. For all the talk of how "cinematic" shallow DoF is, the work of Welles, Hitchcock, Ford, Kurosawa, Wajda, Fellini, Tarkovsky, Rossellini, Mizoguchi, Bergman, Kubrick, Gilliam and many other great directors is characterized by compositions with both planes in sharp focus. And yet, ever since the glory days of the DVX100, digital filmmakers have dismissed the deep DoF properties of video as an un-cinematic handicap -- as if achieving that very aesthetic wasn't Gregg Toland's life's work!

I recognize the value of shallow DoF as a powerful cinematic tool, but feel that too many DSLR filmmakers are guilty of using rack focusing as a crutch. Rather than learning how to guide the viewer's eye with artful composition and lighting design, we just blur the shit out of everything and coo over the "bokeh" on forums. But why make content for the big screen if we're just going to smear vasoline over 2/3rds of every shot?

So less fast and shallow, and more slow and sharp please :)

For me like old guitars and amps - valve or transistor :) 12mm 1.6 flawed but alive - Leica 25 so perfect but Voigt so much more - horses for courses - I'm a bit analogue I guess! Great to have the choice :)

(Vitaliy_Kiselev) "Andrew, it is good idea to make separate topic on C-mount lenses and B4 zooms. People need detailed samples and video links to understand that is useful in their projects :-)".

i found very little footage of cheaper C-mount options such as Rainbow or Computar zooms. IS there a thread on those? couldn't find one. i really need a constant focus/aperture manual zoom option for ETC mode. also, how wide could i get? i found some 8mm wide zooms but on ETC i'm not sure it's even enough. any suggestions? actual footage? thanks!

Hi, Great thread. Thanks all! Does anyone have experience with the oly 12-60mm 1:2.8/4.0? I read that this one has a genuine mechanical focus system. (repeatable focus moves) I wonder about the focus throw too. The tokina 11-16 is sure popular, but I'm unsure of the adapter with iris configuration? Oly 12mm 2,o prime... Are repeatable focus moves possible? Lastly, I placed a pre-order on a voigtlander 17.5/ .9. $1700.00! I must be mad.

I think for the GH2 the SLR Magic 12mm f1.6 is probably the best wide angle. A little softer than the Olympus F2 competitor but has oodles of character and for me thats important. I hate the sharpness of the panasonic lenses. If the TV look similar to the EX1/3 is what you are going for ok, but for me commercials, music vids and films all benefit from a lens with character. But thats just opinion and experience.

@Nomad Yeah I was half asleep! ;-)

I can vouch for the sony ECU1 + 14mm f2.5 combo works very well indeed for wide angle work and very cheap if you look in the right places ;-)

VK > LOL :-) haha yep just read what i said, funny hey, not what i meant, but i think you understand VK. ...haha

Cool, great price, I must be remembering a price from when they were first announced, i'm sure it was over $200, it was so long ago, these adapters have been coming forever. I wonder why no work on the 20mm, the 14mm and 20mm are basically the same lens other than speed and focal length???

UPDATE: the spec is saying 14MM >11MM on BOTH lenses, so maybe it cannot focus on the 20mm or any further on the Zoom lens than 14MM. Bummer.

The price for the DMW-GWC1 on Panasonic UK is £129 which (although odd) will probably translate as pretty close in $

14mm 2.5 at $172 from ebay. Plus DMW-GWC1 wide angle adapter from Panasonic.

The 0.79x adapter would give 11mm focal length and 16cm minimum focus distance. Also it can work with x14-42 PZ lens to give 11-33mm. To be available in this May. Expected price around $129. Not necessarily light loss.