A few questions on lenses

Yodaman

Yodaman

Hey everyone,

regardless of what camera I buy in the near future, I know that I'm going to have to purchase a couple of lenses to help get the best image possible and to add better DOF to my future videos. The problem is, I really don't understand "lens lingo", and so have no idea what type of lens I should buy, or if I could make do with buying just one cheap lens and using it in every situation...

These are the two cameras I'm considering purchasing. The Canon HF S100, combined with the Letus Mini 35mm adapter and a nice (but cheap) lens (price totals somewhere around $1850) can look almost as stunning as the $1700 Canon EOS 7D (the other camera I'm considering). I've seen two great videos shot with the HF S100 and good lenses that really makes it my camera of choice. It's also cheaper to start out with than the 7D. The only reason I'm considering the 7D is because I have a side-interest in photography.

But back to the point of this question: what type of lens should I look for? Is there any specific type of lens I'll need for specific shots and scenes, or could I buy this Nikon lens that ranges in price from $100-$200 and be fine until I needed to upgrade?

Also, what does the term "f-stop" mean? I've heard that it has something to do with light, or zoom, or something to that effect, but I'm really not certain. I figure the more I learn about lenses now, I'll be better prepared when buying the camera and equipment in a couple of months and might be able to make better videos just that much sooner. ;)

I guess those are really the only questions I have at the moment. Thanks to any and all who respond!
 
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Are you saying that the lens I linked to is incompatible with the Letus Mini?

That may be because I linked you to the wrong lens...:blush: This is the one which I know is compatible with the Letus Mini, however it's a bit more expensive than the other one.

I'll definitely keep Ebay in mind, as $50 $70 sounds unbeatable. But I'm confused by what you mean here:

These will work perfectly for your purposes because you don't need any of the stuff to make the lens talk to the camera
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Are you saying those lenses won't require me to purchase an adapter somehow, or will I still have to buy the Letus Mini/other 35mm adapter?

Thanks for your response!
 
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Yodaman said:
Are you saying that the lens I linked to is incompatible with the Letus Mini?

That may be because I linked you to the wrong lens...:blush: This is the one which I know is compatible with the Letus Mini, however it's a bit more expensive than the other one.

I'll definitely keep Ebay in mind, as $50 $70 sounds unbeatable. But I'm confused by what you mean here:



Are you saying those lenses won't require me to purchase an adapter somehow, or will I still have to buy the Letus Mini/other 35mm adapter?

Thanks for your response!
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The lens you linked to originally will work, if you have the Letus for Nikon lenses, and the lens is the right mount.

Your adapter will have a mount for one brand of lens (Nikon, Pentax, Canon, etc...). You can get a Letus for Nikon Lenses, or you can get a letus for Pentax lenses, or you can get a letus for Canon lenses, then those type lenses are all you can use with it.

Modern (read expensive) lenses are more expensive mostly because they have a bunch of crap inside that lets them talk to the camera body so stuff like auto focus and auto exposure will work. Old lenses (like old nikon E-series) do not. That means if you put them on your fancy digital camera you can only use it in manual mode (none of the features will work). This has caused a lot of people going to digital to sell really great glass for a cheap price (because they are lazy and uncreative and want their camera to do all the work for them). This has resulted in older lenses going for a song on ebay.

Well, you don't need the lens to talk to your camera, in fact, you CAN'T get your lens to talk to your video camera, (through the Letus) so all the fancy gizmos inside modern lenses that allow them to do that are exactly worthless to you. You are going to be working in a manual mode alll the time, so old manual lenses are what you want.
 
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Thanks for clearing that up! I see what you're saying now.

Well, after comparing prices all over the place, it would actually make more sense to buy the Canon 7D as it would be cheaper and is already compatible with several lenses (Canon's own, of course). The HF S100 would end up costing $2,000 or more. I'd definitely rather spend $1800 on the 7D and its kit lens than spend $2000+ on the HF S100, Letus Mini and Nikon lens.

But anyway, thanks also for linking to that article on f-stops/aperture. I now understand a bit more about lenses and how they work. :)

One more question; the smaller the mm size (for example, 28mm), the wider the shot, right? So, if I got a 7D with the standard kit lens (28-135mm), I'd be able to get some pretty decent wide and close shots, right?

Thanks again for answering! You've really helped me out.
 
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"So, if I got a 7D with the standard kit lens (28-135mm), I'd be able to get some pretty decent wide and close shots, right?"

Yes, the downside of a zoom (well for purposes of this discussion) is that it won't be as "fast" as a prime. You won't be able to open the aperture to as low an f stop number (unless it's a very expensive lens), so you'll need a bit more light, and you won't have the really shallow DOF of a prime. My pentax 28mm is the shallowest DOF I have ever seen. It makes it hard to focus it's so shallow.
 
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Is this the Pentax lens you're talking about?

Would you recommend buying it along with the 7D, if it's compatible? I like the sound of a shallow DOF; for my first "film" I want to make, I think it would be a good look. I might just order the 7D body alone and then the Pentax lens. $350 isn't such a bad price for a good-sounding lens. :)
 
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Yodaman said:
Is this the Pentax lens you're talking about?

Would you recommend buying it along with the 7D, if it's compatible? I like the sound of a shallow DOF; for my first "film" I want to make, I think it would be a good look. I might just order the 7D body alone and then the Pentax lens. $350 isn't such a bad price for a good-sounding lens. :)
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Won't work (well not without yet another adapter). The point is a "fast" prime lens like a 2.8 vs a "slow" zoom lens like a 5.6. The adapter will make you lose one F stop, maybe even more. So a 5.6 zoom becomes a REALLY slow lens. That's why most people shoot prime lenses on adapters. The Nikon primes are as good (or better) than the Pentax.
 
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Well, Id go the DSLR route for technical reasons, not price, and I HAVE the HFS100 with a Letus Extreme!

But your price for hfs100 and Letus is a bit off, if you'll consider used. The hfs100 is going for about $600 now, as is the Letus extreme, a few hundred in glass and support and your still under 2k. The Extreme is bigger than the mini, and though its technically better than the mini, its cheaper as its older on the market.

You will need to spend about the same on glass for your DSLR, or even more.. I've picked up a whole bunch of different canon fd lenses over the last few weeks, and am quite set..
 
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Another point against 35mm adapters..

The Letus mini wont work with any fstop below 5.6 (the grain of the glass starts to show)

As most lenses work better at at least one stop OFF of wide open, (sweet spot) the need for faster lenses goes up even more. If you start at f4, you got no place to go before F5.6!
I keep my 50mm 1.4 stopped to 2.5 which gives more DOF (still too thin for ease of use)
I used a 80\200 zoom for some close ups this last weekend (f4) and was happy..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=<object width="1280" height="745"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OcKAiZ73PiI&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OcKAiZ73PiI&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="1280" height="745"></embed></object>
 
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Well, Id go the DSLR route for technical reasons, not price, and I HAVE the HFS100 with a Letus Extreme!

But your price for hfs100 and Letus is a bit off, if you'll consider used.
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That's true. I've been able to find the HF S100 for as low as $600 on some sites, so that's something to consider unless I decide to go the DSLR route. I'll bet I could find a used Letus Mini somewhere for cheaper too.

The Letus mini wont work with any fstop below 5.6 (the grain of the glass starts to show)
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I've heard about that, and have seen some videos where they used a similar 35mm adapter and it looks terrible because of the amount of grain (and sometimes there's chromatic aberration alongside the grain, which just makes the video look even worse). However, I don't see this being a problem for me (the 5.6 fstop limit). I'll definitely take it into consideration though!

I really want to go with the HF S100 for a few different reasons. First, it's way more affordable than the 7D, especially if I buy it used. Secondly, I have seen great results come from it and think it would help push me to create better videos with something that isn't as impressive visually off the bat as a more expensive camera (like the 7D). Thirdly, it uses SD cards instead of Compact Flash, which helps me save a lot of money on recording media, and fourthly, there's no recording limit, so it will be better for live-event videography (something I want to do in the future). It just seems like the better choice for me. :)

While shopping around for other lenses, I stumbled upon this Canon EF series lens which is VERY highly rated, and is cheap ($99). The sample images look pretty good, too. So If I buy the Letus Mini with a Canon EF mount, do you think this would be a good lens to start off with?

Edit:

On second thought, I think I'll just go with the original Nikon lens I linked to in my first post. The Canon I linked to in this post earlier has been known to fall apart due to it being made out of mostly plastic. For my first lens, I want something that's going to last, and it looks like the Nikon fits the bill perfectly.

Thanks again for all the help and advice, guys!
 
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If your talking about 35mm adapter, then stick with the older mount technologies.. Nikon or Canon FD. You'll get a lot more bang for you buck (more lenses on the market, more options etc), and you cant use ANY of the advanced features of a newer lens with a 35mm adapter anyway.

Once you pick, most folks recommend Nikon for starting out, start hitting the pawn shops for lenses, seriously. I picked up a 200mm prime ($5) and a 80\200mm zoom ($15) last week, sure they're nothing special, but I don't have to worry about them either.. slap em on and see what they do! You'll want to get VERY familiar with your mount type, so you can recognize a lens that will fit when you see it! (lots of 3rd party lenses) Lots of ebay choices, Iv had nothing but good experiences with ebay, so Im biased..

For example a 50mm f1.4 is a great, all around, if you only had one to chose from, lens for adapters..
in Nikon mount:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NIKON-NIKKOR-50...ViewItem&pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item2a074f43b2

In canon FD mount:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-FD-50mm-1...ViewItem&pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item4aa1976cf2

Pay no attention to the price diff, I got my canon fd 50mm f1.4 on ebay just last week for $35 PERFECT shape.. so its just a matter of timing and whats available that day


Now compare those prices to a canon EOS version of the same lens..

http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-EF-50mm-f...ViewItem&pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item5192f8d3c3
 
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The only reason to go with an EF mount for a Letus would be if you already had a collection of lenses, if your buying lenses for the adapter, then its a HUGE increase in lens cost for NO added benefit. Settle on the Nikon mount and focus on getting Nikon AI lenses.

Compatible Lenses

These Lenses are known to work with the Letus Nikon AI Mount

*
Nikon AI lenses
*
Nikon AI-S lenses
*
Nikon AF Lenses
*
Nikon AF-D Lenses
*
Nikon AF-S Lenses
*
Carl Zeiss ZF Lenses
*
Carl Zeiss ZF.2 Lenses
*
Sigma AF Lenses

Any other lens that uses the Nikon “F” style mount (manufactured after 1959)


First lens 50mm f1.4
Next is just what ever suits your fancy\what you find..
 
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wheatgrinder said:
Glass is a whole nother time\money suck, so watch out.. soon you'll be coveting the 85mm f1.2 Then youll wish you went the DSLR route.
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I put away the nikon digital and got out my old Pentax K1000 (for the purpose of shooting film only for a while). I only had a crappy 80 to 200 zoom and the stock 50mm. In the past week I've dropped $200 on a 28mm, a 135mm, and an 85mm.
 
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wheatgrinder said:
considering you only spent $200, thats a LOT of glass. Now get your self a 35mm adapter for you home\B camcorder and you can REUSE that cool glass..
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I know, I'm not even sure they make one for the old Pentax bayonet mount. Those old Pentax lenses (the M series and earlier) are even cheaper than Nikon E series. I paid $50 shipped for an excellent 28mm 2.8 with both covers.
 
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