The first official Lens-off.
I've seen plenty of threads on rigs and 35mm adapters but none on different lenses and lens styles. I'm curious to see what kind of lenses people use and why. I'll be looking for one soon so this will also help future buyers with info on their upcoming purchases.
Well, let me kick this off with something I posted before about Canon EF Lenses. Not the most ideal mount type for 35mm adapter due to the lack of manual iris control as well as some models not being able to use focus without power. However, if you already have an investment in Canon EF lenses, then this is what you can expect.Originally Posted by Paperwayte
http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=11764
Ronnie
I'm using Ricoh lenses which are k-mount. I am using the because they were handed down to me along with a Ricoh slr. I also have an old Nikon SLR, but I use some of those lenses with my Nikon D50 on occasion.
What kind of aperture ranges should I be looking for if I want that shallow look?
the further you can open your apeture the your depth of field will become more shallow. Higher apetures let in more light, however are not so ideal when shooting outdoors in natural light as things can get overexposed.
I'm using a canon FD fully manual 50mm f1.8 though I'm waiting for the ef/fd adapter to come. Good glass, and cheap.
I'm keeping my eye out for L series glass in FD mounts also.
Where can I research lens types and models as a perspective buyer?
There is some info here on types and typical uses
http://35mmadapter.blogspot.com/2008...ight-lens.html
Doesn't it make more sense, to lower the aperture of the camcorder, instead of the 35mm lens?
I never compared which would be better...I actually shoot with the apeture open on my camcorder and make adjustments on the lens itself
That might not be your camera lens sweet spot. In fact most lenses are sharpest stopped down a bit
________________________________
HV20
Brevis + Flip + Mattebox
depends... if you want to maintain a shallow depth of field, its best to set a wide aperture on your lens, and then let the camcorder compensate for exposure, its a matter of artistic control i suppose.
most lenses are soft wide open too, so you might want to open the camcorder aperture wide, so you can step down your lens to get the sharpest image if thats what you want... most prime lenses are at their sharpest around f.8
i shoot with nikon lenses, for their aperture control that you dont get much with EF's... primarily a 50mm 1.4, 15-30 3.5 [usually only with good light] and a 24-70 2.8
every once and a while, if theres a bright enough day i'll throw on a tele like the canon 80-300 ultrasonic to get shots of waterfront sports, but i prefer to shoot with something wide and actually go out on a boat to get close captures.
im thinking about making a much larger DOF adaptor with a medium format lens mount, i used to have some stellar hassleblad and mamiya lenses for photoshoots that got some stunning results, plus with a larger GG surface and lens i can probably minimize vignetting grain...
has anyone tried that yet?
Adjusting the HV20's aperture when shooting with a 35mm adapter is not going to affect the DOF, only the brightness of the image because the HV20 is focusing on the very thin focusing screen. I hadn't thought about it until now, but it may be handy to focus the HV20 on the focusing screen with the aperture wide open. If you focus on the screen with the HV20 already stopped down, when/if the aperture does open up the screen may no longer be in the field of focus. I really don't know about this, but it makes sense to me.
There are a lot of good points here I haven't taken into consideration...off to test some settingsThanks!
For me Canon FD and Nikon are the best. Because there are lots of lenses and are easy to find original or thid party manufactured. But the lens brand or mount is not the most important thing. The most important thing is the rear glass element to be bigger than 25mm to avoid vignetting and hotspot. This is the important thing. Another important thing is to avoid the canon EOS EF and the nikon G series because they do not have the diafragm ring. Another point is to chose full frame lenses instead of small sensor lenses because full frame lenses have a bigger area to use 36mm x 24mm instead of 25mm x 15mm.
Where can I find information about the lenses I'm currently using (Canon EF 50mm from an XSi)? Are its glass elements bigger than 25mm? Also, when buying how do I know if it'll have manual apeture adjustments (this Canon lens does NOT)?
I'm in the market for a lens, but I don't want to spend massive amounts of money (sub-$200), but want to get the brightest and sharpest image possible (with as little vignetting as possible.) I'm guessing that's something that everyone is looking for, huh? What about third party (generic?) lenses like the ones the JAG35 comes with - it's an f1.4 50mm but how would I know if it's better or worse than the Canon 50mm I already have?
-Rogue5-
Last edited by -Rogue5-; 2008 August 3rd at 21:27.
Maulsmash, Thanks for the blog link. I'm looking a little deeper though. I'd like to hear which lenses, specifically, you guys use and whether or not you're happy with the results. I'd like a lens with manual aperture / focus and an fstop range that will give me both shallow DOF and normal (everything sharp) DOF if needed. I'm interested to see what the answer to rogue's question is as this is the first I'm hearing of third party lenses.
I've been doing a bunch of reading since I posted and what I've found is that the FD -- a completely manual Canon lens with apeture adjusting and what looks like a giant rear glass element (4cm?) -- is NOT compatible with the Canon EOS body... Does that mean it's also completely incompatible with the Canon extension tubes that I'm using for my adapters?
-Rogue5-
For my digital still photography i stick to Nikon all the way, but for my adapter i am using a manual 50mm Ricoh lens and a 70mm-210mm Ricoh zoom lens...I chose these because I had them just sitting around.
Although I'm basically still testing and building up some experience I can say that I'm getting decent results with an old Nikon 50mm f1.2 stopped down to f2 on a static DIY adapter sporting a EE-S focusing screen. I try to always lock the HV20 at f5.6 (I've read that's where it has its sweet spot and the results in fact show) and then adjust the aperture on the SLR lens. I'm shooting mostly outdoors with mad amounts of available light. I never had any problems with vignetting on my static adapter even when the Nikon is all the way down at f16.
(I do have some massive problems on a vibrating one I built recently with the EE-A inside. I don't know if it's because of the EE-A but that's another topic.)
Anyway I also have an old Pentax SMC f1.7 which I actually prefer over the Nikon in terms of colour. It seems 'warmer' and at f2 it's as sharp as the Nikon - at least to my relatively untrained eyes.
So I guess the general consensus seems to be to get a Nikon to EOS adatper ring and start using Nikon lenses, huh? What is the best Nikon 50mm lens I should be looking for? I'd like to spend between $50 and $150, so should I be looking at Ebay? Also can the Canon FD lenses mount onto the EOS extension tubes or is it a physically different lense mount? From what I've read I can't tell if it's the AF/electronics that makes them incompatibile (which would be fine, because I need a manual lense anyway) or if they are two physically different connectors.
I have a pentax, but it's a f3.5-4.5 28mm-80mm, so it's pretty dark. Also I'm not sure how big the rear glass element is (and after Apertos mentioned bigger = less vignetting, I want to get something with big rear glass) and I don't know if it has manual apeture control.
@colonel: I think the EE-A might have something to do with your vignetting as I can't seem to shake it either and neither could forward looker. I want to get an EE-S, but my concern is that it will have too much DOF variance between it and the EE-A (I intend to mix shots with two different adapters.) I'm also worried that I just won't have enough light (I shoot with natural light, even indoors with the DOFadapter.) I was hoping to get a really bright lens to counteract both the EE-S's additional darkness and/or the EE-A's vignetting.
How do I lock the HV20's apeture to f5.6 and does it need to be reset to f5.6 every time I turn it on?
-Rogue5-
Last edited by -Rogue5-; 2008 August 3rd at 22:57.
Hi Rogue, you might want to check this thread out
http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=180
It's a bit of tinkering in the beginning but it's actually really straightforward. And yes, you'd have to repeat this method each time you turn the camcorder on.
I assume the f5.6 on the HV20 is an 'ideal' setting in 'ideal' conditions, ie. plenty of light etc. It's probably too dark for indoors shots with little light but experimenting will tell...
So I'm going to take a look at those nikon lenses. What f ranges I should be on the lookout for if I want shallow DOF with a 50mm lens?
you'll get shallow dof with anything f/4 or so and below, but there are other issues such as light loss and artifacts, i wouldn't go above 2.8. the nikkor 50/1.8 is one of the sharpest ones they ever made, and it's super cheap, fast, and you'll get very shallow dof.
/m
This is when you would want ND filters for your lens.
Ronnie
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