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Nikon Flat Profile Question...


mercer
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3 hours ago, Geoff CB said:

They will meter but you wont have AF, also depending on the prime they have very bad focus rings. The AF-D zooms however are some of the best lenses ever made.

Yeah, I figured the focus rings weren't that great. I have the 50mm f2 non-ai but I have heard that some non-ai lenses can hit the mirror on DX cameras, so I was thinking of getting a faster 50mm... maybe the 1.4D... Do you know how the focus ring is on that lens? I assume the D lenses are focus by wire?

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non-ai lenses hitting mirros? Never heard of that. You just have to convert them(remove some metal around the aperture ring, I did this myself and I'm totally useless for DIY stuff) so it doesn't interfere with the aperture plastic tab.

AF-D lenses, I hate them, most of my lenses are af-d because they were passed to me, but honestly, I would never buy one.

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2 hours ago, j-oc said:

They are not focus by wire but they are very undamped and imprecise for video. I wouldn't bother with them.

On the other hand you can't go wrong with AI/AIS lenses. Even the 50mm 1.8 series E I can for free with a film body is perfectly fine on a 1080 body.

Actually, I think I might have a a 50mm Series E. But I was considering a 50mm D lens due to their ability to meter on the 5500.

12 minutes ago, Nikkor said:

non-ai lenses hitting mirros? Never heard of that. You just have to convert them(remove some metal around the aperture ring, I did this myself and I'm totally useless for DIY stuff) so it doesn't interfere with the aperture plastic tab.

AF-D lenses, I hate them, most of my lenses are af-d because they were passed to me, but honestly, I would never buy one.

Ok, thanks. I must have misunderstood the article or skimmed it too quickly... It was a while ago. Unfortunately, there aren't many fast 50mm options with good reviews. There isn't much love for the ai/ai-s f/1.4 and the 1.2 is crazy expensive, but the 1.4D gets decent reviews for  its glass and IQ, I just fear that build quality. 

I was also looking at a couple zooms. I already have a Tokina 24-40mm AT-X that I really like, and its sister the 35-70mm, but I'd like a wide to medium zoom as well for run and gun. I saw the 28-50 ai-s and that gets decent reviews but I don't really want a push/pull zoom. Do you have or have ever used the 24-50 AF-D zoom?

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12 minutes ago, mercer said:

Actually, I think I might have a a 50mm Series E. But I was considering a 50mm D lens due to their ability to meter on the 5500.

Ok, thanks. I must have misunderstood the article or skimmed it too quickly... It was a while ago. Unfortunately, there aren't many fast 50mm options with good reviews. There isn't much love for the ai/ai-s f/1.4 and the 1.2 is crazy expensive, but the 1.4D gets decent reviews for  its glass and IQ, I just fear that build quality. 

The 1.2 is absolutely not worth the money but the 1.4 is really good. Don't know where you read otherwise. The 1.8 and 2.0 are both insane bargains.

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5 minutes ago, j-oc said:

The 1.2 is absolutely not worth the money but the 1.4 is really good. Don't know where you read otherwise. The 1.8 and 2.0 are both insane bargains.

Basically everywhere. If my memory serves me only the K version gets really good reviews, but the ai and ai-s versions get only so-so reviews. Supposedly a lot of issues up and down the aperture ring and to top it off some unpleasant bokeh. I have a pristine copy of the f/2... It's a beautiful lens... One of the sharpest 50mm lenses I've ever used... I guess I could send it off to get AI'd, CLAd and have it declicked... That's an option. Do you know how much that all costs... Approximately?

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Yeah, I may get a second mortgage to pay for that. If I'm going to get a fast lens, for lowlight, I'd like it to be decent wide open or have interesting character... At least the 1.2 has that dreamy look wide open, the 1.4 is just soft. After constructing rigs and modifying lenses and adapters for the BMMCC, I am honestly tired of DIY jobs for filmmaking. I am a cabinet maker by trade, so I'm sure I could do it, but I have little interest in working for my hobby. Not to mention my 50mm f2 is so clean, I'd hate to hack it up myself. 

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47 minutes ago, mercer said:

Basically everywhere. If my memory serves me only the K version gets really good reviews, but the ai and ai-s versions get only so-so reviews. Supposedly a lot of issues up and down the aperture ring and to top it off some unpleasant bokeh. I have a pristine copy of the f/2... It's a beautiful lens... One of the sharpest 50mm lenses I've ever used... I guess I could send it off to get AI'd, CLAd and have it declicked... That's an option. Do you know how much that all costs... Approximately?

Huh. I thought my 1.4 was great. Have you used one?

For whatever you'd spend on a lens tech to sort your 2.0 you might as well just buy an AI one on eBay. They are only £70 or so.

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5 minutes ago, j-oc said:

Huh. I thought my 1.4 was great. Have you used one?

For whatever you'd spend on a lens tech to sort your 2.0 you might as well just buy an AI one on eBay. They are only £70 or so.

Yeah, I had the K version and it was okay, but not great. Especially wide open. And as I said, if I'm going to buy a fast lens, I'd like it to be at least interesting wide open, I found the 1.4 pretty ugly wide open... But it's in my price range and it cleans up as you stop down, so it still may be an option. Do you have the ai-s or ai?

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2 hours ago, mercer said:

Yeah, I had the K version and it was okay, but not great. Especially wide open. And as I said, if I'm going to buy a fast lens, I'd like it to be at least interesting wide open, I found the 1.4 pretty ugly wide open... But it's in my price range and it cleans up as you stop down, so it still may be an option. Do you have the ai-s or ai?

I had the AI but I don't think there is any meaningful optical difference between the two.

There were two versions of the K lens, one with older optics and one with the AI optics. So you may have had the older version... or you and I differ on our criteria for good looking lenses!

Honestly though, I'd try and borrow one locally and see what you like.

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26 minutes ago, j-oc said:

I had the AI but I don't think there is any meaningful optical difference between the two.

There were two versions of the K lens, one with older optics and one with the AI optics. So you may have had the older version... or you and I differ on our criteria for good looking lenses!

Honestly though, I'd try and borrow one locally and see what you like.

Yeah, it may have been. I had it years ago, back in my t2i days, so my memory may be tricking me or maybe it looks better with a Nikon. I guess for the time being I'll use the series e and then either pick up a 1.2, when I can find a good copy for less than $300, or maybe that 58mm Voigtlander. I had the 25mm Voigt when I had the G7 and it was a gorgeous lens. After using it, no other lens looked good on that camera. 

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51 minutes ago, mercer said:

Yeah, it may have been. I had it years ago, back in my t2i days, so my memory may be tricking me or maybe it looks better with a Nikon. I guess for the time being I'll use the series e and then either pick up a 1.2, when I can find a good copy for less than $300, or maybe that 58mm Voigtlander. I had the 25mm Voigt when I had the G7 and it was a gorgeous lens. After using it, no other lens looked good on that camera. 

Don't bother with the 1.2. 

It has loads of veiling flare that only goes away at f4 or so. It's not terrible but do you really really that tiny extra bit of performance v a 1.4 or 1.8?

The new Nikon 1.8 primes are really nice. Light, small, well built, autofocus very fast and great value.

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I used to get excellent results with the current 50mm 1.4G on a D750 shooting flat before switching to Canon. shot weddings, docus. great look overall. all my other nikkor primes are vintage AIS though as i'm not a fan of the 1.8G series and having lens aperture control is so nice.. as for the original topic, there are much flatter picture profiles available for nikon bodies out there. nikon flat really isn't that flat but it's so easy to grade..

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1 hour ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

Everything I've seen out of the 58mm f/1.4 Voigtlander has been gorgeous, and it has both an aperture ring and full manual focus. Seems like a slam dunk for video.

And it has CPU data transfer for metering on the 5500. The problem is that the money I'll spend to get lenses that will meter on the 5500, I could just get a D7200 or halfway to a D750. Hell, if I decided to be really frugal with my lenses, I could just save up for the D500 and have IBIS in 1080p and obviously cropped 4K... Of course I'm unsure of the actual 4K crop on the D500. 

Anyway, but yeah that Voigtlander looks gorgeous and I love what Geoff has been doing with them. 

6 hours ago, j-oc said:

Don't bother with the 1.2. 

It has loads of veiling flare that only goes away at f4 or so. It's not terrible but do you really really that tiny extra bit of performance v a 1.4 or 1.8?

The new Nikon 1.8 primes are really nice. Light, small, well built, autofocus very fast and great value.

Nah, probably not... I'll probably be fine with just getting the ai f/2 50mm or a 1.8 ai-s. Or maybe I just had a bad copy of the 1.4... They're so cheap with great resale, maybe I'll just try another... You haven't steered me wrong yet. 

58 minutes ago, Django said:

I used to get excellent results with the current 50mm 1.4G on a D750 shooting flat before switching to Canon. shot weddings, docus. great look overall. all my other nikkor primes are vintage AIS though as i'm not a fan of the 1.8G series and having lens aperture control is so nice.. as for the original topic, there are much flatter picture profiles available for nikon bodies out there. nikon flat really isn't that flat but it's so easy to grade..

I heard some good things about Cineflat and obviously the Flaat series of profiles... But as you said, that Nikon Flat is so nice and easy to grade and I definitely see some shadow latitude with it.

Yup, I was looking at the D lenses for the on lens body aperture control, but I haven't seemed to find one videographer/filmmaker that actually likes the lens, so I'll probably just stick with my ai-s lenses, but I'll keep an eye open for that 1.4G, thanks for the heads up. 

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12 hours ago, mercer said:

Yup, I was looking at the D lenses for the on lens body aperture control, but I haven't seemed to find one videographer/filmmaker that actually likes the lens, so I'll probably just stick with my ai-s lenses, but I'll keep an eye open for that 1.4G, thanks for the heads up. 

keep in mind lens preference is a personal subjective thing.. depends on what qualities you are looking for.. also results may vary depending on body. 

1.4G was a good match to the D750s FF sensor.. if you're on older crop, maybe another (DX/D/AIS) lens may provide same/better results..

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7 minutes ago, TheRenaissanceMan said:

What lens did you use on the second shot? Very cinematic look there.

You guys may be selling me on Nikon...my only issues are the backwards controls and lack of upgrade path.

The center shot was my Tokina 24-40mm f2.8. I love that lens. I actually have another I am going to sell but it's in the OM mount... Of course, you can switch the OM mount out with a Nikon mount and it will work with Nikon cameras... I think you can get the conversion kit for 20 bucks from China on eBay. 

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