Ninpo33

Yes, 100% Tokina made and these lenses predate the Kino and Komine partnerships. Vivitar lenses have a serial number system that will tell you which original manufacturer made the lens normally but these older 60’s preset versions predate that serial number system. I’ve researched them quite a bit over the years however and found information confirming Tokina. My 35mm is doing great and solid, maybe you got one that was not very well taken care of?

They are also really, really cheap. I think I paid $35 for the 135mm and $45 for the 35mm. The 85mm 1.8 is a rare one that is fast for a 60’s era lens and i use it to match with other similar era lens sets that never got a fast 85mm. Got that one for $150 so it was a score. There’s even a super rare 135mm f/1.5 “Vivitar Professional” In the set but pretty soft and overpriced, ($2,500) these days. The 135mm f/3.5 is super tiny. (pic 2)

Not as easy to find, but the Vivitar Preset lenses made by tokina in the 60’s are pretty sweet. Single coated and have circular aperture blades with smooth movement which work out well for filmmaking. As I mentioned before, stoped down to f/3.5 is fine to keep round bokeh on these but you still have f/2.8 as needed. Soft and dreamlike with great out of focus areas. Bodies are small and light and quite well built. Threaded T mount so easily adaptable to M42 or other modern mounts. I have the 28mm 2.5 (pyramid) 35mm 2.8 85mm 1.8 (rare) 135mm 3.5 and 2.8 200mm 3.5

Yeah, i did ok without it on the shoot but was worried the whole time. There’s no off the shelf solution but I took a chance on the smallrig clamp designed for Sony Cameras and got that one the other day. Worked out and it fits perfectly. Blocks the USB-C but i use a dummy battery anyway.

Did you even really read my post? I gave several suggestions and the OP never clarified or said his requirements were set in stone. Soft vs clinical, deep focus and circular bokeh right? There are a few ways to achieve that look. Most vintage lenses are soft compared to modern lenses. Does OP want REALLY soft? Why? Very easy to take a vintage soft lens and add a desired look in post for anything extreme. My vintage Yashicas and old Vivitars all have many bladed apertures and produce round apertures at f/2.8 so I get some low light benefits as I need it while still being vintage soft. But I can live at f/3.5 or f/4 as desired. So no, I wasn’t just waiting to talk, I was offering a perspective and fostering a discussion.

Had a fun time trying out my X-M5 micro cinema rig on a low budget, 3 day music video shoot last week. No overheating or issues of any kind shooting 6.2k prores raw in open gate mode to an Ninja V+. Insane what this little guy can do for an $800 purchase (body).

There are so many options out there with those requirements. Any of the major brands had some real gems depending on the era. Anything 2.8 will really clean up at 3.5 and still be vintage soft vs modern and clinical. 2.8 copies will allow you to not get jammed up in low light situations when you might need it but you can live in deep focus the rest of the time. I have the whole Contax Zeiss set and they’re a perfect blend of vintage and not too sharp. great color. Can be found cheap now. Also highly recommend the Yashica M42 stuff and Konica AR for cheap underrated options.

You first asshole.

One has nothing to do with the other. For all the things you are complaining about, someone else in Africa having a worse time could say YOU are also grossly exaggerating things. everything is subjective.

Imagine of the S1Rii had come out with exactly the same specs that it did but in a proper range finder style body with EVF... People would have flipped out. All of the RS issues and other niggles would have been downplayed because people would say, "well, look it's a proper rangefinder with all the right features but wow, it sure can do some sweet 8k video"

Everyone is talking about how they used the Ronin 4D on the "Adolescence" and how well it did. I bet they only used it in like 4 shots though.

Did someone say wide adapter? I’ve been having fun working on a few adapter solutions with my rangefinder lenses. Will be fun to see what covers the GFX Sensor.

I suppose it depends on a few things, namely how yellow your 57mm has become and yeah, not mixing the older single coated versions or even the second gen MC versions. I honestly haven't had any trouble with mixing all lenses from the newest gen and maybe only need to do a slight adjustment in post for really, really subtle color shifts. Have you thought about the UV light trick with your? I remember there was a cheap IKEA light that people were using for a while with nice results. I should look back into that because I have a few M42 Yashica and Mamiya lenses that could really use it.

Watched the whole thing in one sitting, really remarkable. Really solid acting from everyone involved and the 'one take" episodes were very well done. I almost want to watch again and just focus on the camera the whole time. There were some interesting choices with where to have the various episodes take place and to have to think about the limitations of space and time that come with this style of storytelling. It's normally easy to manipulate these elements in traditional filming and editing so here it's fun to see the creative use of transitions and blocking.

Oh yeah, sounds like you’re only missing a few. I also scored great deals by just waiting around until something reasonable came up. I refuse to spend top dollar on vintage glass when it can always be found cheap if you’re patient. I bid on a 21mm a couple of weeks ago that went for just about $500. Given that there’s a Tokina wide for much less out there I decided to let it go. The Konicas are only now starting to get some attention for video finally after the rehouse projects at Ancient Optics and Old Fast Glass. I’m working on a speedbooster project to mount on Fuji APS-C. Really tough because of the short flange distance but I found an ALPA speedbooster that works if I make a custom adapter.

I have the whole set of Konica Hexanons. Just recently picked up the older F mount version of the 52mm 1.8 and 1.4 lenses. Wow, these are really good bang for the buck. Got them both for $50 total. For AR mount the 40mm f/1.8 is one of my favorites. A great pancake for the Lumix S9 even with the adapter. The 35mm f/2 and the 28mm f/1.8 are also mandatory in my opinion. The 28mm is rare in that its minimum close focus is only 7". The 21mm f/2.8 is really good but stupid expensive now so I would skip it. What's been really fun is all of the undiscovered rangefinder glass from 60's Konica's. With a little time and energy one can adapt these vintage beauties with some really stunning results. The 48mm f/2 especially. I'm working on a bunch of Leica M mount conversions for all of these old rangefinders I've been picking up in Tokyo. Konica 48mm f/2 Rangefinder modified to Sony E mount on A7RV. (Not my photos BTW)

Anyone geeking out over the gorgeous lens choices of Season 3 of White Lotus? Season 3 shot on Sony Venice with DP Ben Kutchins. From what I can find out they used a lot of custom vintage Leica M glass from Zero Optik this season with maybe a handful of OMs as well. Last couple of seasons featured Zeiss Superspeeds, Cooke S4s, Baltars, Angénieux, Panavision Primos and Canon EF Zooms. Quite the buffet... A lot of people complain about the overuse of shallow DOF but it's creatively used in my opinion and only extreme in a handful of shots. Plus those shots are justified as a narrative tool in those instances. Tons of other shots with deep focus and the series always does a great job of establishing the exotic locale. I'm actually working a press event with HBO and the cast of season 3 next week here in Los Angeles and really looking forward to it.

I hear that. There's always a balance and you're right that getting stuck in the theoretical is no good for anyone if it's not ever put into practical application. I guess for me I try to remember that there are camera specs that I don't care about but other people use those same specs daily in a high pressure environment. The S1Rii got everyone's attention because it's a true hybrid and was about a year too late. Because of that everyone was keen to really dive in and see if it was for them. Also, it's hard to achieve the high res - low noise - good DR balance so everyone is putting it under the microscope to see if it balances those things out as well as the Z8 or A1.

I have the OG S5 I could sell/move to C camera and make room for a LUMIX FX3 style camera. However if it’s priced around the S1Rii I may still go for that. After 4k 120p uncropped and a faster readout speed, we’re really running out of things to complain about. What will people even argue about on YouTube anymore? LX3? They should troll Sony with that model number.

Even with the Ninja V+ and the new smallrig cage the little X-M5 is still quite light. Gearing up for an event next week and will test out battery life and any overheating issues. Rolling shutter isn’t as good as the X-H2s but still totally fine. Also, lack of IBIS is mitigated by building up the rig a bit. The increased dynamic range is pretty impressive on this little guy. Still can’t believe this is an $800 camera. 6.2k open gate Prores Raw. just need to do some better cable management and maybe look into 3D printing a tiny side panel to help hide cables and wireless receivers. Loving these little Andycine Lunchbox SSD caddies too. Gets rid of all the extra space with standard SSD’s and cheaper than the expensive Angelbird units.

https://www.l-rumors.com/hot-panasonic-will-announce-a-new-lumix-l-mount-cine-compact-camera-in-april/ Maybe now everyone will leave the poor S1Rii alone…

Nah, you missed my points big time. I kind of feel like you have an idea about things and aren’t really looking to hear or grow from other peoples experiences but just keep doubling down on your own hot takes. That’s fine. For clarification, the DP I mentioned who was well versed in post production was shooting to get exactly what he needed and not wasting time with shots or elements they weren’t going to use. The only reason he was that efficient was because he was dialed in to how to best achieve what he needed and how to use after effects so well. He wasn’t “fixing it in post”. He was “shooting for the edit” not for “excessive coverage” and wasting everyone’s time. Much like how David Fincher works if your familiar with his subtle use of VFX in narrative storytelling. And the other DP/Operator was an ass. He bought an FX6 and a barely knew how to use it but would book jobs anyway and literally be reading the manuals on breaks in between takes. He was lost, but definitely not in technical specs. When you say that pros aren’t on here talking about camera gear, how do you know? Do you know who’s on here and what they do? Also, many of the guys I’m friends with here in LA go to trade shows and meet up at companies when new products come out. They beta test stuff and talk directly to the engineers and then we all chat about it over dinner or coffee. You’re way off if you think the conversations don’t sound like how we talk here. Camera guys nerd out on camera gear, they just do it in private circles with other pros.

I figured it might go the way of the X100V. Sales paused on the tiny but mighty X-M5 for now. Wonder if I should flip mine on the black market for big $$$$$$ https://fujiaddict.com/2025/03/14/fujifilm-x-m5-sales-paused-overseas/amp/

Exactly... Dissecting every little stat on paper and arguing in YouTube comments over various cameras is one thing... but there's something to be said for mastering your craft and learning your tools. I research the shit out of gear and then after I pull the trigger on a purchase I rarely look back. I keep my cameras, lenses, lights etc...for YEARS. Really knowing how you can push a camera or other tool while out in the field is a solid skill. I have worked with so many camera ops, even DP's on set who said to me, "Oh, I didn't even know this camera had that mode/function... But alternatively, I was working as a 1st AD on a small indie feature a few years back and that DP was really, really good. He was the one person on set who was getting paid full rate. And it was worth paying him with how tight and efficient he was. He also was really good at After Effects and compositing as well as color grading and was going to end up doing that stuff later in post. I'll never forget the lesson I learned on a very full day watching him shoot. He was so efficient with our massive shot list and there were a lot of times we thought we had to go again for third and fourth takes. I would walk over to the director and make sure we were good because I would notice little continuity mistakes or other issues and the DP would always dismiss me. Later at lunch he explained that he knew what we needed and that the background was going to be replaced in post, or he was just going to mask off the extra that walked into the frame etc... So many other inexperienced directors/DP's would have spent hours "getting it right" but been behind all day. So my parallel with the S1Rii here is that I want to be able to put it through its paces and how it will stand up to certain things. I want to know that if I'm shooting an event that I can shoot a wide video clip and know that later I can extract a few cropped stills and it will hold up. Because this is a hybrid camera, I want to really know if it will act like one when pushed. Of course we know it will be fine for most things and the 4k will be great but some of us are looking to push it.

While I do like the look of film and enjoy movies from the 90’s, you’re laying it on pretty thick here and a little over dramatic. There have been a lot of beautiful, cinematic films coming out over the years since that weren’t shot on film and I wholeheartedly disagree on your “hot take” on colorists. You have an opinion and that’s great but none of this is fact. Actually it’s rather naive and the Alexa 35 in the right hands might be indistinguishable from film at this point. 1. At the end of the day film is both an art form and a product. If the audience doesn’t mind or can’t tell the difference the cheaper and more efficient format will win out over quality/nostalgia 90% of the time. 2. It might be important to remember that we all have a perspective based on what we were raised on and what we enjoyed growing up. What looks “good” to us can taint our objectivity and it’s important to separate out nostalgia and familiarity from things like color, latitude and grain. 3. For someone raised on the internet and video games at 60p your idea of film being superior is laughable. The new generation is determining things now. Vertical format content delivered in bite sized portions all day long. That’s the norm. Steaming services competing over existing IP that has a built in audience and a race to the bottom.