Newbie with Minolta manual focus lenses

J

jeremylangford

I'm a complete newb to anything video. However, I have spent many years shooting film photos with various old 35mm cameras. The main camera I use is a Minolta X-570 and I have several old Minolta lenses that I use with it, including a 16mm f/2.8 fisheye and a 28mm f/2.8. I love the shallow DOF that these lenses can provide and I don't really see myself getting into video unless I can get the same 35mm DOF and POV that I'm used to.

So, I'm wondering what options, if any, are available for me to shoot video with these same Minolta MD/MC lenses? I used to think that my only option was a 35mm DOF converter, but now I'm wondering if a full-frame DSLR is a better option. I'm not sure what the cheapest full-frame DSLR is but I seriously doubt I can afford it. Because I have little money to spend, I was wondering if I could possibly buy or make a 35mm vibrating DOF converter and then somehow fix it onto a cheaper digital camera with a video mode such as a Canon powershot. I am absolutely not scared of vignetting, in fact I love it and use it all the time when taking film photos with my Olympus XA.

Thanks
 
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SinEater said:
First off, linking to other forums is against the rules. Secondly, that post is over four years old, before video DSLRs were even on the market. 35mm have a lot of cons, and aren't worth the cost and hassle with the wide availability of DSLRs on the market.
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No need to bite off my head, mate. I hardly post here so didn't know about the linking to other forums rule.

I only googled that to give the guy a sense of 35mm adapters in depth. I glazed over the information, but it seem to fit towards his goals. I live in the UK, so pricing may be different to the US, and in that respect when I researched into it, I found my needs were more suitable to buying a 35mm adapter. This was a while back mind.

You say for him to buy a $2,000 DSLR, but if you recommend a camera that pricey, surely it would be best to buy a similar pricing camera that solely deals with film?
 
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Sucramdoow said:
No need to bite off my head, mate. I hardly post here so didn't know about the linking to other forums rule.

I only googled that to give the guy a sense of 35mm adapters in depth. I glazed over the information, but it seem to fit towards his goals. I live in the UK, so pricing may be different to the US, and in that respect when I researched into it, I found my needs were more suitable to buying a 35mm adapter. This was a while back mind.

You say for him to buy a $2,000 DSLR, but if you recommend a camera that pricey, surely it would be best to buy a similar pricing camera that solely deals with film?
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I found your link extremely useful. Are you talking about a film video camera?
 
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no, dreddys mistaken. Yes you do have to zoom your video camera in on the imaging screen to fill the frame, however, the IMAGE CIRCLE presented by the lens is the same as a full frame SLR camera. In most cases your can actually get MORE then full frame with a DOF adapter, if you accept some vingeting. If you want to be very technical, you will have to do a AOV\FOV calculation and calibration for EVERY lens you use on a 35mm adapter..

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

I dont think ANYONE ever does, I know I didnt..


You might know this already, but if you were going to shoot a movie on 35mm film. Youd have about the same "frame size" as a GH2\T2i crop sensor DSLR. vistavision digital is smaller then either..
 
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wheatgrinder said:
You might know this already, but if you were going to shoot a movie on 35mm film. Youd have about the same "frame size" as a GH2\T2i crop sensor DSLR. vistavision digital is smaller then either..
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I don't understand the above^.

My problem with crop factors is the following:

My Minolta SLR and 4 prime lenses (16mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm) provide me with a perfect setup. I am used to these 4 focal lengths and each lens is at least an f/2.8 which gives me plenty of light/shallow DOF (something that would cost me thousands of dollars with a DSLR/AF lenses).

If I use a crop sensor, I will zoom in the POV of each lens by a certain percentage. This doesn't seem like a big drawback but I am troubled by the fact that I will no longer have either a 28mm POV or a 16mm fisheye POV to use. Before the crop factor, these were my two widest lenses and they each provide an effect that I love and bought them for. This effect is completely dependent on their POV.

The only way I can get a true 16mm fisheye or 28mm POV with the crop sensor is to buy new and wider lenses. The problem I have with this is that not only will the new, wider lenses have a less shallow DOF, but they will most likely not be available in anything near an f/2.8 (or if they are I wouldn't be able to afford them). So to me, settling into a crop factor just creates a domino effect of problems that I will have to compensate for in various ways.

I guess I should start saving for a FF DSLR.
 
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Figured you discover that soon enough bravo!

Manual lenses are better for video anyway, Id rather have an old manual focus 50mm f.14 then a new 50mm f1.4.

The crop thing I just have to accept, and now I just ignore it.

What matters is how much of the scene I can get into the shot. Framing and desired look (DOF, long lens compression, etc) defines the focal length Ill chose, nothing else matters.

For the REALLY WIDE shots, I could use my 14mm auto Panasonic lens, or buy the 12mm pancake, but Iv never felt the need to do so.

I will play with the ETC mode on my GH2 and some of the super wide (6.2 mm cmount) someday, but for now.. meh.. Im happy.

I think you will be too.
 
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wheatgrinder said:
Figured you discover that soon enough bravo!

Manual lenses are better for video anyway, Id rather have an old manual focus 50mm f.14 then a new 50mm f1.4.

The crop thing I just have to accept, and now I just ignore it.

What matters is how much of the scene I can get into the shot. Framing and desired look (DOF, long lens compression, etc) defines the focal length Ill chose, nothing else matters.

For the REALLY WIDE shots, I could use my 14mm auto Panasonic lens, or buy the 12mm pancake, but Iv never felt the need to do so.

I will play with the ETC mode on my GH2 and some of the super wide (6.2 mm cmount) someday, but for now.. meh.. Im happy.

I think you will be too.
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Would I be correct in assuming that while these really wide lenses (14mm Panasonic, 12mm pancake, 6.2mm cmount) may closely reproduce the POV and distortion of my Minolta 16mm fisheye on 35mm photographic film, they are significantly slower than f/2.8?

Honestly, the thing I'm most excited about is using my 16mm fisheye and my 28mm lenses for video. And these are the lenses that would be most hurt by a crop factor. So I guess the real reason I'm whining about crop factors so much is that I love wide angle shots and unaltered distortion. If I loved 50mm shots, I could simply replace my 50mm lens with a 35mm lens of the same aperture and have almost no noticeable difference.
 
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jeremylangford said:
Would I be correct in assuming that while these really wide lenses (14mm Panasonic, 12mm pancake, 6.2mm cmount) may closely reproduce the POV and distortion of my Minolta 16mm fisheye on 35mm photographic film, they are significantly slower than f/2.8?
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The Panasonic 14mm is f/2.5, there's also a Tokina 11-16mm that you can adapt that is f/2.8. The Panasonic 7-14mm is slower at f/4.

EDIT: There's an Olympus 12mm f/2. There's also an announced Noktor Hyperprime 12mm that will have f/1.6.
 
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SinEater said:
The Panasonic 14mm is f/2.5, there's also a Tokina 11-16mm that you can adapt that is f/2.8. The Panasonic 7-14mm is slower at f/4.

EDIT: There's an Olympus 12mm f/2. There's also an announced Noktor Hyperprime 12mm that will have f/1.6.
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Wow, that's awesome. How much are the Panasonic 14mm and the two 12mms? And are they corrected for distortion.
 
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The Panasonic you can pick up for around $300. The Olympus goes for $800. The Noktor hasn't been released yet. You might also be interested in the SLR Magic lenses.

11mm f/1.4

26mm f/1.4

35mm f1.7

EDIT: As for distortion, I believe the Panasonic and Olympus are digitally corrected in camera for distortion. The Noktor is a manual lens so it won't have correction. The SLR Magic lenses aren't corrected either.
 
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SinEater said:
The Panasonic you can pick up for around $300. The Olympus goes for $800. The Noktor hasn't been released yet. You might also be interested in the SLR Magic lenses.

11mm f/1.4

26mm f/1.4

35mm f1.7

EDIT: As for distortion, I believe the Panasonic and Olympus are digitally corrected in camera for distortion. The Noktor is a manual lens so it won't have correction. The SLR Magic lenses aren't corrected either.
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11mm f/1.4 - Excuse Me?! I have to get to class but I thought that this kind of focal length/aperture combination was understood to be pretty much impossible lol.
 
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Does anyone know of a comprehensive list of video DSLRs? I'm looking at different ones and I like the Canon 60d because of it's movable screen. I'm thinking about about buying a Minolta to Canon adapter so I can put my lenses on my dad's Canon 30d and see the exact POV of my lenses with a 1.6x crop factor. I would prefer 1.6x over the 2x of the GH2. Does anyone know the best adapter to buy?

I'm hoping that my 16mm lens with a 1.6x crop factor will be wide with a slight but noticable distortion. And then after changing the aspect ratio, I'd love to create a look similar to this:

fishzh.jpg
 
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jeremylangford said:
11mm f/1.4 - Excuse Me?! I have to get to class but I thought that this kind of focal length/aperture combination was understood to be pretty much impossible lol.
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It's all to do with the size of the image circle they cast (or the size of the sensor they were designed for). A zoom lens for a 2/3" broadcast camera might start at 4.3mm f/1.8, for example.

jeremylangford said:
Is it okay to change the aspect ratio? Does the camera let you do that or would you do it in post.
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If you're shooting on DSLR you'll need to make changes to your aspect ration in post, but obviously it's important to plan for it while shooting so that your framing still holds up when cropped.

jeremylangford said:
Does anyone know of a comprehensive list of video DSLRs? I'm looking at different ones and I like the Canon 60d because of it's movable screen.
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This might be a good place to start: http://philipbloom.net/2011/03/17/whichdslr/
 
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After trying to find a good Minolta manual focus to Canon lens adapter, I read that one doesn't exist. It seems that the ones without glass can't focus to infinity and the ones with glass hurt the image quality too much. After finding this out, I tried to just hold my Minolta lenses in front of my dad's Canon 30d sensor and it seemed to work pretty good. Heres some shots with the 16mm fisheye:

14928004.jpg


77954702.jpg


85734782.jpg


I think this is the type of POV/DOF/Distortion that I find in all my favorite movies and it is what I would want to have in my own videos. I'd still like to see my 16mm on a FF DSLR but I'm wondering if the POV would be too wide on FF for most shots, something that the 1.6x crop factor fixes nicely (makes it a 26mm).
 
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