4/3 Lens Selection

Coldhitz

Coldhitz

MFT Lens Selection

Hello. I've got a question about my EPL1 and lens selection. I want to know about hooking up third party lenses via adapter. Do I have this right? Sigma for Nikon mount + Nikon to MFT adapter + adapter to camera.
  • Will I still have full control over the lens as if I were going straight from a Nikon lens + adapter to camera?
  • I am going to buy the VF2. Does anyone know where I can purchase a full coverage eye cup designed specifically for the VF2?
I appreciate the advice.:D
 
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Old Nikon primes on eBay or Craigslist can be a bargain - but prices have gone up as mirrorless shooters have started to snap them up.

I am looking at the new Rokinon cine lenses for Nikon. Made for filmmaking with "clickless" aperture adjustment and geared focus ring:
8mm: http://www.amazon.com/Rokinon-RK8MV-N-Fisheye-Declicked-Aperture/dp/B007R8U57Q?tag=battleforthew-20
35mm: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/884101-REG/Rokinon_CV35_N_35mm_T_1_5_CINE.html

14mm and 24mm coming in September.

Cheers,

Bill
 
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brunerww said:
Old Nikon primes on eBay or Craigslist can be a bargain - but prices have gone up as mirrorless shooters have started to snap them up.

I am looking at the new Rokinon cine lenses for Nikon. Made for filmmaking with "clickless" aperture adjustment and geared focus ring:
8mm: http://www.amazon.com/Rokinon-RK8MV-N-Fisheye-Declicked-Aperture/dp/B007R8U57Q?tag=battleforthew-20
35mm: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/884101-REG/Rokinon_CV35_N_35mm_T_1_5_CINE.html

14mm and 24mm coming in September.

Cheers,

Bill
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Awesome. That's cool, man. I've been wanting to check out some old Legacy stuff at my local camera shop and some people I know that are trying to unload some old glass that's in really prestine condition (I feel more comfortable if I can put it in my hand and look at it.) Man, you're not going to believe this, but I just came across the Carl Zeiss cine lenses over in the Black Magic thread and I've got to tell you they are nice. :yes: I'm set on primes, I don't want to fool around with zooms.

Thanks for those links. I'm going to be checking these all out this weekend, as I use the weekends for research. I'm so tempted to start building out this EPL1, but I've got to wait (budget constraints) until Cyber Monday so I can get the most equipment for the money on hand and by that point I will have socked away more $$$ into the warchest. I also feel by that time the GH3 will be available for pre order at least. Big time kudos, man. :abduct:

Do you have any new projects under way for which you're looking to select cine primes?
 
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Bill,
I went through and checked out the Carl Zeiss primes (the CP.2s for MFT). http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/searc...ount&sts=ma&N=4219636603&Ntt=zeiss+cine+prime
And I also checked out the lens reviews on DPreview.com and also checked out your links. While the Zeiss cine primes are very nice, that price is way out of my budget. In fact one would consume my entire budget. The other primes that I am considering at this time are the Olympus 12mm 2.0 and the 45mm 1.8. I'm also leaning towards that Rokinon 35mm that you gave a link to (though I'd really love to see it come out in an MFT mount :yes:)
  • Can you tell me the difference between an F stop and a T stop?
  • And what exactly is it that differentiates a cine prime lens from a regular lens such as the Oly/Pani or other lenses?
  • With the Olympus lenses and the stepper motor I didn't notice a switch to go from auto focus to manual focus. Wouldn't this eliminate the possibility of using a follow focus on my rig? Would it somehow strip out the gearing of my motor?

:director: "Starting my second year of school. I'm so excited!"

I want to thank you for all of your kind advice. I may not be back on the forums for a while, as when school is in session I have time for nothing but the books.
 
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Coldhitz said:
  • Can you tell me the difference between an F stop and a T stop?
Click to expand...
f-stop 'guesses' at light transmission efficiency by measuring the ratio of the entrance diameter or the lens to the focal length while the t-stop measures the actual light transmission efficiency. The best explanation I have found is here from Jared Abrams, who mixes Wikipedia definitions and plain English: http://thephotoletariat.com/f-stops-vs-t-stops-explained/

  • And what exactly is it that differentiates a cine prime lens from a regular lens such as the Oly/Pani or other lenses?
Click to expand...
Besides measuring actual light transmission efficiency, cine primes generally have 'clickless' aperture so you can open and close the aperture during a shot for fading in and out without the 'step' function common to still lenses (which is ok for stills, but looks terrible in a video) . Many of them also have 'geared' focus rings, so you can use them with follow focus devices.

  • With the Olympus lenses and the stepper motor I didn't notice a switch to go from auto focus to manual focus. Wouldn't this eliminate the possibility of using a follow focus on my rig? Would it somehow strip out the gearing of my motor?
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The auto/manual focus switch should be on your camera.


I want to thank you for all of your kind advice. I may not be back on the forums for a while, as when school is in session I have time for nothing but the books.
Click to expand...

My pleasure. Good luck at school!

Bill
 
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If there's a way to switch to manual focus on the E-PL1, I certainly don't see it in mine. There is a manual mode, but if you try and adjust the lenses manually the motors take over.

On my D5100 there's an actual switch on the lens that lets you toggle between Auto and Manual. I think this might be one of the sacrifices Olympus made to get the 4/3 form factor, though it's entirely possible I'm wrong.
 
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ClockworkNinja said:
If there's a way to switch to manual focus on the E-PL1, I certainly don't see it in mine. There is a manual mode, but if you try and adjust the lenses manually the motors take over.

On my D5100 there's an actual switch on the lens that lets you toggle between Auto and Manual. I think this might be one of the sacrifices Olympus made to get the 4/3 form factor, though it's entirely possible I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

Apologies to all for getting this wrong. Both of my micro 4/3 cameras (GH1 and GH2), my old T2i and my Nikon D50 all have switches allowing the selection manual focus. I assumed that the E-PL1 would have one too. If not, shame on me (and on Olympus too).

Bill
 
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brunerww said:
f-stop 'guesses' at light transmission efficiency by measuring the ratio of the entrance diameter or the lens to the focal length while the t-stop measures the actual light transmission efficiency. The best explanation I have found is here from Jared Abrams, who mixes Wikipedia definitions and plain English: http://thephotoletariat.com/f-stops-vs-t-stops-explained/


Besides measuring actual light transmission efficiency, cine primes generally have 'clickless' aperture so you can open and close the aperture during a shot for fading in and out without the 'step' function common to still lenses (which is ok for stills, but looks terrible in a video) . Many of them also have 'geared' focus rings, so you can use them with follow focus devices.


The auto/manual focus switch should be on your camera.




My pleasure. Good luck at school!

Bill
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Cool link to the Jared Abrams site. Very informative and exact. Prime lenses are the way I'm going at this point and the cine primes are most appealing to me for the exact reason that their design is aimed at the goals I have in mind for my production. I'm already experiencing the hunting around effect of my 14-42 kit lens using auto focus and it drives me crazy. I already knew I was going to have to go manual and now I can see why. A lot of time and effort would be wasted depending on auto tracking.

There is an AF/MF option on the menu, but it is only offered in shutter priority, aperture priority, or manual mode located on the dial. So far I've only found it functional as an option and it is very deep in the menus and one wrong move while backing out can completely erase the setting. The Olympus user interface is really more complex than I had anticipated. However, I am having a blast with this camera and getting some really great shots and have even started filming a couple of summertime thunder storms we've been having at night, even one the other day using under exposure (day as night technique.) Just test shots to see how far I can stretch this camera out as I'm learning. I like to push my gear to the edge, but first I've got to find out where that edge is at to determine exactly how I can plan out my shots and what's available to me is pre known.

Good luck to you as well and I'll see you around back on the boards probably when Photokina starts hopping. And I'll definitely be back over Thanksgiving vacation, as that's when I plan to start my first days of shooting. :yes:

:director: "For those about to rock, we salute you."
 
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ClockworkNinja said:
If there's a way to switch to manual focus on the E-PL1, I certainly don't see it in mine. There is a manual mode, but if you try and adjust the lenses manually the motors take over.

On my D5100 there's an actual switch on the lens that lets you toggle between Auto and Manual. I think this might be one of the sacrifices Olympus made to get the 4/3 form factor, though it's entirely possible I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

Clockwork, I've got a link for you to the EPL-1 manual. http://www.olympusamerica.com/files/oima_cckb/E-PL1_Instruction_Manual_EN.pdf

I've found while diving through the extensive menus on the EPL-1 that the auto focus manual focus option is only available under a couple of the control dial settings. I believe its shutter priority, aperture priority, or manual only and I'm going to check this out tonight or tomorrow and I'll get back to you with exactly how to find it and set it as its very temperamental and one false move could erase all the diving effort and reset your entire selections. But I know a Ninja would never make a wrong move. I'll let you know.

I was curious about what limitations you were coming up against in regards to the 14-42 kit lens that came with your camera.
 
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Coldhitz said:
Clockwork, I've got a link for you to the EPL-1 manual. http://www.olympusamerica.com/files/oima_cckb/E-PL1_Instruction_Manual_EN.pdf

I've found while diving through the extensive menus on the EPL-1 that the auto focus manual focus option is only available under a couple of the control dial settings. I believe its shutter priority, aperture priority, or manual only and I'm going to check this out tonight or tomorrow and I'll get back to you with exactly how to find it and set it as its very temperamental and one false move could erase all the diving effort and reset your entire selections. But I know a Ninja would never make a wrong move. I'll let you know.

I was curious about what limitations you were coming up against in regards to the 14-42 kit lens that came with your camera.
Click to expand...

The biggest thing that irks me is that the angles I could get from the picture were narrower than I was used to. So I had to step back further from the subject than I really might have liked, and in tighter quarters it made framing a good shot difficult if not impossible. For example, suppose you're in a museum and you want to take a picture of a mural on the wall or a really big statue. With a lot of cameras you can just zoom out the lens all the way, but with the E-PL1 you just won't get the whole thing in there, and there might not be enough room to back up enough to get a good shot.

Also, if you plan on doing anything with light-painting or night-time photography, it's much harder to take a shot in low light conditions than I would have liked. With my Nikon I can just click the shutter and it takes the picture no matter how much available light there is, but with the E-PL1 it needs something to focus on before you can take an exposure.
 
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ClockworkNinja said:
The biggest thing that irks me is that the angles I could get from the picture were narrower than I was used to. So I had to step back further from the subject than I really might have liked, and in tighter quarters it made framing a good shot difficult if not impossible. For example, suppose you're in a museum and you want to take a picture of a mural on the wall or a really big statue. With a lot of cameras you can just zoom out the lens all the way, but with the E-PL1 you just won't get the whole thing in there, and there might not be enough room to back up enough to get a good shot.

Also, if you plan on doing anything with light-painting or night-time photography, it's much harder to take a shot in low light conditions than I would have liked. With my Nikon I can just click the shutter and it takes the picture no matter how much available light there is, but with the E-PL1 it needs something to focus on before you can take an exposure.
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http://www.dpreview.com/products/Olympus/lenses
http://www.dpreview.com/products/Panasonic/lenses
http://www.dpreview.com/products/voigtlander/lenses
These are the lenses listed on DPreview for the MFT format. There is a good mix of prime super wides, as well as wide angle zooms that are very fast and perfect for low light shooting, street photography, and tight quarter shooting. They range in price as well. As each manufacturer offers several build qualities across their range lenses.

I'm enjoying my EPL1 and the kit zoom lens has taught me that I prefer primes, especially at the widest (14mm) and I also prefer 35mm for portraits. Panasonic just came out with a 12-35mm F2.8. Since I'm looking for primes, I'm going to go with these 2 numbers. I like the 14mm, but I'm looking to get wider, too. I think I'm going to go with one of two super wides that I have found and a 35mm cine prime that was suggested earlier in this thread. That's at this point. I have heard a lot of news about lenses being released, especially faster zooms and primes along with new cine lenses in the MFT mount at Photokina.

This is my first interchangeable lens camera so I've never experienced the difference in focal length which I believe is getting under your skin. Do I have that right? I notice when the lens reviews are published for MFT they always read for example "This 12mm lens is 24mm equivalent on full frame camera." Have you thought about buying an adapter for your Nikons to go onto your EPL1?
 
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Coldhitz said:
These are the lenses listed on DPreview for the MFT format. There is a good mix of prime super wides, as well as wide angle zooms that are very fast and perfect for low light shooting, street photography, and tight quarter shooting. They range in price as well. As each manufacturer offers several build qualities across their range lenses.

I'm enjoying my EPL1 and the kit zoom lens has taught me that I prefer primes, especially at the widest (14mm) and I also prefer 35mm for portraits. Panasonic just came out with a 12-35mm F2.8. Since I'm looking for primes, I'm going to go with these 2 numbers. I like the 14mm, but I'm looking to get wider, too. I think I'm going to go with one of two super wides that I have found and a 35mm cine prime that was suggested earlier in this thread. That's at this point. I have heard a lot of news about lenses being released, especially faster zooms and primes along with new cine lenses in the MFT mount at Photokina.

This is my first interchangeable lens camera so I've never experienced the difference in focal length which I believe is getting under your skin. Do I have that right? I notice when the lens reviews are published for MFT they always read for example "This 12mm lens is 24mm equivalent on full frame camera." Have you thought about buying an adapter for your Nikons to go onto your EPL1?
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_view

Not quite. But I bought the Nikon after getting the E-PL1, so I'm not sure I really want to bother with an adapter for it. Right now I'm mostly planning on keeping the Pen as a backup camera for places that won't let you take in a full blown DSLR or places where it wouldn't be practical. (Also, with 12 mp you're a bit limited on the size of prints you can make. The d5100 gives me more wiggle room with 18mp.)

For the most part the camera works great for landscape photography and outdoor shots, but indoors is where it gets tricky if you're restricted in space and you want to take pictures of big objects. But as it is I don't see a need for a Prime lens right now, especially not with my current budget. (At most I might pick up a telephoto lens for my Nikon, wildlife photography's difficult with an 18-55mm lens. Though I've got a 40-100mm on the Pen right now.)
 
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