Lenses

Optimizing your lenses

Brian202020 — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:13:30 +0000

Both http://www.rplens.com/ and http://www.ducloslenses.com/Duclos_Lenses/Main.html will optimize your SLR and DSLR lenses to be used in more of a cinema situation. They put on a simi-permenant lens gear, a step up ring to 80mm OD/77mm ID threaded, and they de-click the iris. I beleave they also dampen the lens. You get all this for $250 per lens. I've been debating doing this to all of my lenses for a while now, but the problem is, I want to upgrade a few of my lenses first. Until I do I'd like to benefit from the standardized 80mm OD/77mm ID threaded step up rings. Does anyone know where to get these? They are more than just the standard step up ring especially the ones from http://www.rplens.com/.

Replacement for Panasonic 14-140mm and Panasonic 45-200mm zoom

johnhizzle — Sun, 21 Jul 2013 11:01:25 +0000

I had these lenses since the beginning of my GH journey, starting with the GH1. Now I'm on my GH3 and was wondering if anyone knows any good replacements for these lens or should I just hold onto them.

Thanks in advance

Nikon Nikkor: the right mount for GH2

club_irate — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 04:12:34 +0000

Hi, An excavation into the attic unearthed an old TOSHIBA COLOR VIDEO CAMERA ik-1900 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Owners-Manual-Toshiba-IK-1900-Color-Video-Camera-/230389930914)

It has a Nikon TV-nikkor zoom macro 12.5-100mm 1:1.6 lens which i have unscrewed out of the camera and wish to use it on my Panny GH2 but have no clue what mount to use to do the same. I tried asking all the DP's and techies i know but they have no clue on the lens. Even google hasnt been able to help at all. Can someone who knows their lenses well share any info on this and recommend me a mount for this lens for my GH2? Links to the right mount or names will be much appreciated.

Fast Zoom w/ AF Primarily for Stills?

mattyfein — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 23:11:23 +0000

I'm looking for a recommendation on a lens to use for shooting both video and stills of bands in clubs around LA and for shooting "behind the scenes" coverage on music video shoots, recording sessions, etc. So I'll need to be able to get a variety of shots on the fly in various types of locations with poor and/or uncontrolled lighting. I use vintage primes for most video on the gh2, but I want to get a versatile lens to use primarily for stills as well. Thoughts?

Ode to Summer with the TRUMP, DogSchidt lens. #fakeanamorphic

beeldlab — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 12:59:30 +0000

Panasonic Conversion Lenses

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:57:15 +0000

Conversion Lens DMW-GWC1/GTC1/GMC1/GFC1

Wide Conversion Lens DMW-GWC1, Tele Conversion Lens DMW-GTC1
Macro Conversion Lens DMW-GMC1 and Fisheye Conversion Lens DMW-GFC1

Panasonic is pleased to introduce a variety of conversion lenses for the Interchangeable Lens System Camera LUMIX G Micro System. Compact, lightweight conversion lenses propose users to experience the fun of switching lens and enjoy the different angle of view casually.

Compatibility*	Wide Conversion Lens DMW-GWC1	Tele Conversion Lens DMW-GTC1	Macro Conversion Lens DMW-GMC1	Fisheye Conversion Lens DMW-GFC1
H-PS14042
H-H014		-

Compatibility*

Wide Conversion Lens

DMW-GWC1

Tele Conversion Lens

DMW-GTC1

Macro Conversion Lens

DMW-GMC1

Fisheye Conversion Lens

DMW-GFC1

H-PS14042

H-H014

Wide Conversion Lens DMW-GWC1

Attachable to H-PS14042 and H-H014*As of January 9, 2012.

Enables capturing dynamic scenery in wider angle of view
Extends the focal length of wide-end from 14mm to 11mm by just attaching it to the front of the lens.
Compact, lightweight design featuring high mobility
Included Adaptor Ring for the use on H-PS14042 and H-H014
Helpful in shooting from dynamic landscapes to indoor group portraits

Tele Conversion Lens DMW-GTC1

Attachable to H-PS14042*As of January 9, 2012.

Enables capturing distant subject up close
Extends the focal length of tele-end from 42mm to 84mm by just attaching it to the front of the lens.*
Compact, lightweight design featuring high mobility
Included Adaptor Ring for the use on H-PS14042
Helpful in shooting from travel to street snapshots

* Attachable when the lens is at tele-end.

Macro Conversion Lens DMW-GMC1

Attachable to H-PS14042 and H-H014*As of January 9, 2012.

Enables shooting macro shot easily
Features closest focusing distance of 0.14m by just attaching it to the front of the lens.*
Compact, lightweight design featuring high mobility
Included Adaptor Ring for the use on H-PS14042 and H-H014
Helpful in shooting delicate, descriptive subject such as flowers or insects

* Closest focusing distance is 0.14m with H-H014 and 0.16m with H-PS14042. Longest Focusing Distance is 0.23m with H-H014 and 0.26m with H-PS14042.

Fisheye Conversion Lens DMW-GFC1

Attachable to H-PS14042 and H-H014*As of January 9, 2012.

Enables shooting unique images with rounded effect
Features 120-degree angle of view by just attaching it to the front of the lens.
Compact, lightweight design featuring high mobility
Included Adaptor Ring for the use on H-PS14042 and H-H014
Suitable for shooting characteristic, impressive images unique to the fisheye lens

Voigtlander 58mm f1.4 Nokton for GH2 Video

Matthew_Lawrence — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 07:40:11 +0000

Hi,

I'm looking to get the Voigtlander 58mm f1.4 Nokton (Nikon Mount) and adapter to use with my Voigtlander 25mm f0.95 on my GH2. I primarily shoot video.

When researching this lens I've come across a lot of talk about the lens overexposing by 2/3 f-stops and a few people are saying it's the chip that causes this. Am I correct in thinking that this don't be a problem for me on the GH2 as with a the camera wouldn't be able to meter the lens anyway?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks, Matthew

Recommended fast 20mm prime lens with stabilisation.

Donnie88 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:05:39 +0000

What fast (f/1.2 - f/1.8) wide-angle lens around the 20mm focal length do you guys recommend for the GH2?

I own a 28mm Nikkor AI-S f/2.8, but would love a faster lens that has stabilisation (for my tracking shots), and that would attach directly onto the GH2 without an adapter.

Anamorphic Pairing

UnTalGalvis — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:04:06 +0000

Well, hello there.

I've been studying Filmmaking for a year and a half now in Colombia and just recently bought a camera (A GH2). My lens collection is almost non existent, with only the 14-42 kit lens and an old Canon FD 50mm 1.8 ridden with fongus, and I'd like to start one.

Because of the look and overall feeling (Also, very rare in the indie/0 budget short film scene in my country) I'd like to go the anamorphic route. However, it is downright impossible to get an anamorphic lens here, so I don't have the chance to try one and then decide if I like it. I have to make those decisions online.

What I'd like to ask is what combinations of taking lens+Anamorphic has given you people the best results?

My two options right now are: Getting an SLR Magic Hyperprime 35mm T0.95 lens now and, after I get my savings account back in shape from that heavy blow, get an anarphic lens to use with it.

Or, getting one of the Dog Schidt lenses - https://www.facebook.com/DogSchidtOptiks?fref=ts -, which are much cheaper and have loads of character AND an anamorphic lens (With clamps, diopters and such)

Anyway, if there's already a thread like this, feel free to close this one up.

Thank you, guys.

Best wide lenses

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Mon, 02 May 2011 11:36:48 +0000

In this topic we'll talk about best wide lenses for m43, Canon, Nikon and Pentax cameras.

m43 lenses

Panasonic 7-14mm F4 - about $1000
Very sharp, highly recommended lens. Not fast.

Panasonic 14mm F2.5 - about $350
Also not very fast for prime lens. Sharpness is average, corners are quite soft wide open.

Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 - about $700
Very highly regarded lens. Good compliment to longer 2.8 zoom.

Samyang 14mm F2.8 - about $400
Very sharp, quite large lens. Has quite complex distortion, unfortunately.

Canon lenses

Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 - about $700
Very highly regarded lens. Good compliment to longer 2.8 zoom.

Samyang 14mm F2.8 - about $400
Very sharp, quite large lens. Has quite complex distortion, unfortunately.

20mm 1.7 Lumix II rant

stoney — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:18:15 +0000

Panasonic must release Lumix 20mm 1.7 II... fast AF and flawless AFC... unless Panasonic is a dumbass.

20mm f/1.7 lens ring

bkej — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:26:36 +0000

Hello, By default (if autofocus AF is on : when I click AF/MF button, MPAS is enabled) , the lens ring of my 20mm f/1.7 does nothing (unused).

Is it possible to assign the lens ring to some parameter ?

Thanks

50mm F1.4 Zeiss Planar

digger — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 20:13:48 +0000

I have the Zeiss C/Y Mount 85mm f/1.4 from West Germany (with the ninja blade bokeh) and love it; it's probably the best lens I own. I'm deciding on the 50mm f/1.4 and want to know if there is much difference between the C/Y mount and recent ZF. The C/Y is much cheaper and if I'm using it mainly for the GH2 (or even on the 5D) why spend the extra money? Unless it's a better lens for some reason.

anamorphic schneider kreuznach super cinelux on gh3

michal — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 13:16:33 +0000

Bonjour, here is a little vid i made from holydays for fun hard hard lens to use, got tired, but beauty flare porn. you can read the vimeo prensentation for more infos. What you think? don't hesitate ask questions friends !

ardeche anamorphic 2013 from Michal Wowczuk on Vimeo.

see you friends

Trade: Modified Rainbow 11.5-69mm F1.4 C-mount Zoom for Olympus 12-50mm

fosterchen — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:02:19 +0000

I have my last modified Rainbow TV Zoom lens available, and instead of selling it, I wanted to see if anyone wanted to trade for their Olympus 12-50mm Lens.

The Rainbow Zoom lens has a zoom range of 11.5-69mm, and fast f1.4 aperture. Since it is a 2/3" lens, it should be used in Video ETC mode. I've permanently attached a c-mount to M43 adapter to it and used the original screws for the tightest fit possible.

I've also added zip gears to the focus and zoom so it is ready for follow focus use! This is a fully MANUAL lens with a clickless aperture ring. Glass and optics are clean and clear, no haze, fungus, or scratches.

PM me if interested!

Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 SP Di VC USD

RRRR — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 17:47:34 +0000

Never been a fan of Tamron glass but this tele zoom ticks the boxes when it comes to video work. Parfocal, internal mechanisms, fast and well built. Optically it´s nice too, very competitive in this range of zooms. Very nice to chase stuff around with from afar, especially on a crop sensor (m43). Had a very quick test of it (mainly to see if it was parfocal), and although it´s not exactly cheap I will definately get one when the time is right. Didn´t try out the stabilisation but it seems good.

reviews: http://www.thephoblographer.com/2013/04/30/review-tamron-70-200mm-f2-8-sp-di-vc-usd-canon-ef/ http://photo.net/equipment/tamron/70-200vc

ES CINELUX Anamorphic 2x MC test

bitcrusher — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:47:12 +0000

I had a hunch that this might be a good solution for shooting anamorphic on a GH2. They are projection lenses that were very common in the last generation film projectors at the cineplex. As movie theaters have "upgraded" to digital projection the cinelux started showing up on eBay for under $200, they sell new on the Schneider website for $3,488.

I don't have a good way to mount them yet but I will get something made soon. I shot this video the same day I got the lenses so the rig was hacked together. The big surprise was the image quality, it's really good...... I don't have anything to compare to it, but it looks better then anything I have seen, maybe better then ISCO's. It will only work with lenses 50mm or higher, I think on super 35 sized sensors it will vignette but works well with m43. It will focus at 1.7 meters without a doppler and still looks good with a large aperture.

I shot this with a Zeiss ZF 50mm f/1.4, and even wide open at 1.4 I had some usable stuff at f2. It looked awesome. The downside with using projector lenses it that you need to focus them with your prime lenses. The way that the Cinelux will focus is with a allen wrench, which is not ideal. Still working on the workflow so this vid is a little sloppy. Shot this with AVCHD.

Nikon 17-35 2.8 Vs Gh2

kurt10 — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:33:28 +0000

Hello The nikon zoom 17-35 2.8..manual Aperture Ring....Is it a good lens for gh2?? Thanks

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/1735.htm

Help choosing a wide angle lens.

Travo — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:20:27 +0000

Hello, I'm looking for a wide-angle lens to pair with my GH2 for use on a GlideCam, and I'd like it to have a minimum of f2.8 or better.

Lens on my list, 1. Olympus 11-22mm 2. Nikon 20mm 2.8 3. Nikon 24mm 2.8, 4. Olympus 12mm f2.0, if I can get at least $300 for a Nikon D300 body.

I currently shoot with a Olympus 14-54mm MK1 and the Panasonic Leica 14-50mm OIS 2.8-3.5, but I'd like something a bit wider than 14/28mm.

I also shoot photos with a D700, hence the Nikon choices. Dual use would be nice but not a requirement.

So my question is if you had to pic one on image characteristics alone, which would you choose?

Also I'm open to other suggestions.

Any information or insite is greatly appreciated.

Lumix 14-140mm AFS problem

WarLightUK — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:45:34 +0000

Hi everybody,

I meant to ask this for a long time but kept forgting about it.

My 14-140mm Lumix lens is not behaving itself in AFS mode on my GH2. It just can not focus. It is working fine with GH1, it is working fine in AFC mode. But won't work with GH2. No other lens have this issue on GH2 so I don't think it is a camera body issue.

I don't use Auto Focus for filming and rarely use it for stills anyway but it is an annoying issue when you need it...

Anybody had a similar problem? Any thoughts?

Thanks a lot

Focus throw on focus-by-wire lenses

theconformist — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 11:01:52 +0000

Since the focus on these lenses is not mechanical, is it/would it be possible to change the focus throw on it (shorter for photo, longer for video)?

Thinnest pancake lenses?

QuickHitRecord — Mon, 27 May 2013 00:41:35 +0000

Which lenses require the smallest flange distance (i.e. the thinnest MFT adapters?) And secondly, what are some of the thinnest manual lenses?

I've tried both the Konica 40mm Pancake and the Nikon Series E 50mm Pancake, but I'm curious to see if I can go thinner.

11-16mm Tokina

Aksel — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 02:27:10 +0000

Everybody is talking about this lens;however, I couldn't find a lot of info about it with GH2.
anyone can help

Which mount I should buy and why?
which adapter?
and with the adapter do I have full control over the iris?
if someone can make a video will be great
Thank you

Best zoom lens for weddings?

acuriousman — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:27:56 +0000

I'm going to shoot my friend's wedding next week and I was told I needed a zoom lens. What's the best zoom for a GH2?

35-200mm Vivitar F3.0-4.5

producer — Sun, 19 May 2013 00:40:17 +0000

This model of Vivitar seems to be the rarest lens - no any info, review, test or whatever.

Anyone, please?

Short films with Lumix 12-35 or 35-100

theconformist — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:43:24 +0000

There's a lot of great footage out there with the 12-35 that I'm interested in buying, unfortunately it's mostly nature/events, etc so it has a decidedly "home video" look, though the images, sharpness, color are all fantastic. I was wondering if there is any narrative work out there that has been done with these lenses, so I can get an idea of what it will look like in a controlled setting.

Minolta Rokkor Survival guide

nomad — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 04:56:13 +0000

I thought you might be interested in a little guide I wrote.

AllStar Cine Lenses - PL converted Glass

bannedindv — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:27:15 +0000

AllStar Cine has just announced 2 new lenses -

a 80-200 T3 in PL mount ~$2800 and
a 50mm T1.5 in PL mount ~$2600

I think the 80-200 is Nikkor based and the 50mm might be a Sony/Zeiss? or a Contax?

24mm Tilt/Shift Samyang

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 04:31:17 +0000

Specs:

Tilt-Shift Prime Lens
Full Frame/35mm Format
Aperture Range: f/3.5-22
Maximum Tilt: +/- 8.5º
Maximum Shift: +/- 12mm
Mount Rotation: 90º Left and Right

Available:

Wide Angle Adapters topic

kronstadt — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 19:32:53 +0000

Salute everyone,

Problem 1: The 2X crop factor of GH1 and GH2 which make 50mm lenses look like 100mm. It's not just a problem - it's a pain in the neck!

Problem 2: GH1 shoots in 16:9 aspect ratio, while most films today are made in 2:39:1

Possible solution 1: Use Anamorphic lenses or Anamorphic adapters.
BUT... LA7200, which made GH1 and GH2's 16:9 into a nice 2:39:1, is discontinued by Panasonic. The prices for LA7200 and anamorphic adapters and lenses have gone through the roof, and most people simply can't afford them.

Possible solution 2: use wider lenses and crop the top and bottom in post-production.
BUT... wide angle prime lenses are super expensive, and you are still really getting a usual 28mm shot out of your pricey 14mm pancake. And I still don't know how to get that nice Kubrick-style 14mm wide angle shot with my GH13...

So, I want to start a thread around this possible solution 3...
Possible solution 3: use those cheap (~£25-£60) 0.45X wide angle adapters from eBay that will make a 28mm lens behave more or less, like it should - like a 25mm. And a 14mm might finally appear like a nice 12.5mm...

The problem is... does it work? Has it worked for any GH1/2 users in this forum?
Which particular wide-angle adapter has worked well for you? And what about the sharpness, and loss of light-stops, and quality, and other issues?

If you have any information or experience with these wide angle adapters, please share. Because many of us, can't afford anamorphics or even decently wide lenses.

Thanks!