mercer

I looked up the CP.2 lenses on eBay last night and was surprised to see the prices of some of them but when you hear of their lineage, it doesn’t really make sense unless you’re working on a proper production with a proper focus puller and using matte boxes. Since I will have none of those luxuries, the ZFs make more financial sense. I’ll start off with the Distagon 35mm and see if I like it and then add a 50mm and 85mm if I like them. I’ve never owned any MF lenses but I have had a few of the Jena 135 lenses. Obviously, the Flek 35mm is a beaut of a lens but the mechanics of those East German lenses leave a little to be desired. I have 2 or 3 Tessars and none of the apertures work. But I shoot them wide open anyway so it doesn’t much matter. I briefly had the Pancolar a few years back and that was pretty damn nice. I also have a couple of the generic Taks (55mm f/2 and 35mm f/3.5) and I may dig them out to see how they fare with 5D3 Raw B&W... I assume the 35mm will be weirdly special in B&W... I have 3 or 4, brand new, Fotodiox Pro M42 adapters, so I wouldn’t mind putting together a cheap M42 set. I know the Helios and Jupiter lenses should be no brainers but I’ve never owned any and think they’re the obvious choice, so I am looking for something weirder... maybe Schneider, Meyer or Isco... ever used any of them? I’d also like to get the Chinon 55mm 1.7... I think that lens has a little of a cult following. When I switched from Canon EOS-M to 4K, the NX500 and then the G7, I noticed that individual, vintage lenses didn’t show as much of a difference in 4K but now that I’m back with Canon, I can really see the characteristics of the lenses more... I assume FF helps with that. It’s fun pulling out some of these old lenses and taking them for a spin again.

Yeah I have to agree that this is probably a FF Cine Camera with an EF Mount. It will probably be in between the Varicam and the LT... or maybe the LT and the EVA1.

Yup, ai-s Nikkors are great lenses and good investments if you buy the faster lenses. And if you’re patient you can usually find them for deals on eBay. I paid less than $300 for my mint 35mm 1.4 and sold it a year later for $400. I’m mostly interested in the Zeiss ZFs right now because I just read an article that they’re photo versions of CP.2s. So with Simmod giving competitive pricing on their mods, you can easily get some cinema quality lenses with the newer T coating for less than a 1/4 the price after the mod. And I don’t use a follow focus, so I would really do the mount change and get them declicked. But I’m also curious about the Sigma 50mm 1.4. The art version gets better reviews but not that much better than the older EX DG model. With my 5D, I’m looking for a sharp neutral 50 that I can get Push AF for Quick set ups.

How did you like the Rollei versions.

@BTM_Pix nice shots... out of likes for the day though. I had that lens and its Leica version. Such a wicked little zoom. My Leica version had a stuck zoom ring though so I never had a chance to mess around with it... supposedly it has a different look than the Minolta version (I think we discussed this before) and some reports say it has that Leica character. It’s probably good I got a dud... you guys would have been stuck looking at my screengrabs from Summicrons... lol. I’m really enjoying your Leica shots, but good thing I’m not a wealthier man.

Unfortunately I had to sell it... I had a bad year. About once a year I go through my lenses and test a few before I decide which ones are worth keeping and which ones need to go. But I don’t have any “sets” of lenses anymore either... of course I rarely change lenses so a set to me is 2 or 3 lenses in my favorite focal lengths. Right now I think I’m going to buy another Nikkor 35mm 1.4 and maybe the 85mm 1.4. But I’m really trying to decide if I want to put together a set of Zeiss ZF lenses and have them Leitaxed to EF. I’ve been into B&W a lot lately and supposedly the 35mm f/2 Distagon has insane micro contrast, so I may pick that up, see how I get along with it and decide from there. Thanks for the links. I rely on the photosynthesis site for Nikkor serial numbers but I haven’t checked out the others. I know some of the history behind ML lenses and they do seem to be a decent, budget alternative to Contax Zeiss. The 50mm f/2 I bought (yes those samples were screengrabs) seems to be an underdog in the ML collection that people keep referencing because they didn’t expect it to be so good, but I have heard that the 1.4 and 1.7 have a more direct lineage to their Zeiss cousins... so I am on the lookout for a 1.4, but for 25 bucks brand new... the f/2 will do for now. @Bioskop.Inc

@Bioskop.Inc nice work. I love the OG Pocket. And yes I used to own the Nikkor 24mm and it was a beautiful lens. But my favorite Nikkor has to be the 35mm 1.4. It’s so ugly wide open but with such great character... Here’s a screengrab from the first day of shooting my film... I did a quick B&W transform in the Lightroom App last week to see how I liked it. That shot had one dark street lamp above the actor’s head, I swear it almost sees in the dark. Here’s another B&W screengrab from that lens... And a colored one from my first day of shooting as well...

All the videos look good, I was just expecting something different.

Idk, so far from what I've seen, I prefer the S16mm look from the older sensor. The new camera has a more modern, video look to it (it looks good and crisp and clean) but the OG Pocket/Micro had a different aesthetic that I prefer. Ugh.

So... are there any plans to release a BMPCCii or BMMCCii with a more similar sensor to the original?

@webrunner5 here's another Yashica shot that's similar to the Nikon just with more saturation...

I like the Yashica. I effed up the first one by pulling too much saturation out of it, but the second one I like. But yeah, I agree that I think the Nikon overall is a better lens. For 25 bucks, they’re both keepers.

For a comparison from a Nikkor lens from the same era... here's a screengrab from a shot taken with the Nikkor 50mm f/2... also a $25 lens...

It even has a little swirly bokeh that is popular with some vintage lenses...

I know @andy lee recommended Yashica ML lenses for years as Contax Zeiss alternatives so I dug out an old, new in box, Yashica ML 50mm f/2 and brought it along with me on my shoot day on Tuesday... I must say, for a $25 lens... it's not bad at all.

Yeah, I know I am... it’s the end of summer GAS... I go through it every year. I really just need a point and shoot camera that I can carry around with me for casual stills and video.

Sorry to keep mentioning my 5D3 and ML Raw in your thread, but I just love that camera and image way too much to invest in a GH5 right now, but I am so impressed with what you’ve accomplished here that I need to have a go at it and the FZ2500 seems like a great option to me. I know it’s untested but I’ll be a guinea pig. Yeah, I noticed little difference between your GHA color and the color in the “Models” video from the P4K.

Honestly, I think what you guys are getting out of the GH5/s with Sage’s post profiles make the new P4K almost pointless. Other than Raw, I see little benefit in color or even with ProRes... but I assume ProRes may have some more wiggle room in post, but you lose IBIS and the anamorphic modes with the P4K. Very nice. I may be the first to test your Alexa color conversion on an FZ2500. I really enjoyed that camera and the prices just keep dropping on it. With an external recorder, 10bit 4:22 1080p is possible. But even the in camera 8bit will hopefully be enough. So basically a S16mm Alexa in a point and shoot camera... sounds like a bunch of fun to me.

@Wild Ranger really nice work. You use the CineLikeD version, right? If so, then it’s nice to see how little work is needed from LogC to the finished grade. Very cool.

Good point, although I think it will be an unpopular thought around here. I just don’t like using adapters anymore... especially on mirrorless. So, for me, a new mount would basically make my EF lenses obsolete on the RF... so not really a selling point. At that point I may as well go Nikon or Sony because there’s nothing keeping me faithful to Canon. But a 24-70mm f/2 lens with IBIS could do it if they include cLog. I’ll even happily take mjpeg, that’s how easy I am to stay with Canon. Well that must be what I remember and that does sound pretty interesting... at that point I suppose RF stands for RetroFit... hell that may as well make FD lenses fit too... now that would be something... lol.

The 1DC has been THE camera I’ve wanted for years. The 1DXii is close with its 4K 60p but without cLog, it just falls a little short. When the 1DC gets down to C100 price point, I may HAVE to buy one. C100 Mark 1 vs. 1DC... thoughts?

So, if the rumors are true, it looks like Canon followed in Nikon’s footsteps and are introducing a new mount called RF for their rumored upcoming FF mirrorless. The rumor states the camera will called the EOS-R. Hopefully, the rumor is only partially true and they have instead figured out how to go FF mirrorless and maintain the EF mount. Otherwise this would make 3 different lens mounts for Canon cameras... EF, M and RF. Perhaps Canon has figured out a way to mount both EF lenses and these new RF lenses onto a single mount. I do remember reading something a few months back where a Canon executive said they have created a very creative solution for lens mounts... perhaps this is it... Maybe they can make the M mount work as well and the RF mount will be Canon’s Swiss Army mount... somehow I doubt it. The good news is that if this rumor is true, there is another rumor that states, they will also be releasing a 24-70mm f/2 RF lens. Now that would be great news, if they can keep the kit at $3000 or less. Secretly, I’m hoping the R stands for Raw and they are going to employ RawLite video into their new mirrorless line... haha... a reluctant Canon fanboy can dream can’t he...

Not too bad at all. The color looks high end!!! But still maybe missing some of the depth and thickness of the OG Pocket and Micro.

If rumor is true it will have IBIS as well. The specs seem kinda underwhelming so it may be true and knowing Canon, people will probably love it. Hoping for cLog and EF Mount.

I’m still a couple months out before I get one, so just doing research right now. I’ve already changed my mind once or twice just today, so we’ll see what happens.