What lens to choose for 35mm adapter?

N

noloc45

Active member
Im a lil confused as to what lenses I could use. I see a lot of DIY projects using 50mm lenses, but I thought the idea was to get a 35mm lens?? I know f number is important and I see that 50mm lenses have lower numbers (1.2,1.4.1.8) and are also cheap at the same time. But Im confused as to what lens Im suppose to get. At first I thought about a 21-35mm Wide Angle with f3.5-4.5....but I dont like the higher f number. My question is, why would a 50mm lens work for a 35mm DOF adapter?? Thanks!
 
You will need an assortment of lenses ranging from 28mm to about 105mm. Do a search. This topic has been discussed at length.
 
The 35mm you are refering to is the one that measures the size of the film. Aka 35mm film. The fact that lenses use mm's as focal length measurements can become confusing but basically a 35mm adapter is just duplicating the Depth of Field (DOF) from a 35mm film size (sensor size) that our video cameras with much smaller sensors cannot accomplish on their own.


So in short, yes! a 50mm lens will work on your 35mm adapter because it isn't the lens focal length that you are buying the adapter for, its the depth of field. :)
 
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taormina said:
You will need an assortment of lenses ranging from 28mm to about 105mm. Do a search. This topic has been discussed at length.
Click to expand...
taormina, can you make me feel better by decreasing the minimum lens to 25mm? i just spent a grip of $ on one this morning...
 
The idea would be to have a wide lens, a normal and a telephoto. 35, 50 and 85 are the most conventional. It is also likely that they are the fastest lenses you will find.


Marco
 
-_- thanks for the support guys... but yea, i got my 25,50,85... aiming for 35 next, then 100, but those 2 has got to wait, im getting broke...
 
Willis,

I hope this makes you feel better that my mainstay wide is a 20-40mm f2.8 zoom. And in extreme cases a 15-30mm zoom. The latter has a "subjectively pleasing" falloff on the extreme corners.

I just dumped 3 lenses off my kit. The 85mm, the 105mm and 200mm. In their place is one nikon 80-200 f2.8 zoom. Very helpful in recomposing and framing without changing lens and or moving your setup.

Ted
 
Ted,
zoom lenses work well for you? i thought the traditional way was to go through primes. what is the downfall of using zooms?
 
Willis,

The downside, for some, is that good zooms, meaning those that are fast and good glass, are rather long and heavy and may require a support bracket on your rod system. And they are sometimes pricey.

The main reason why primes are popular with adapter users are that,
1. Theyre usually fast (most zooms start at 3.5)
2. Theyre cheaper (the fast zooms are expensive)
3. Lighter in weight thus ideal for handheld
4. Easier to focus since your dealing with just 2 rings(focus and aperture)
The older zooms are push/pull thus hard to work with. Newer zooms are now rings and are usable.

But, assuming youer able to get good quality zooms you can cut down your kit to just 3 lenses.
Lets say, 20-40mm, 50mm, 70-200mm.


Ted
 
for a fantastic zoom check out the Nikon Mount version of the Tokina 80-200 f2.8
you can usually pick them up for around $400 - $700. I got one recently and not only does it Auto-focus with my D200 SLR but it has an aperture ring so can be used easily with a 35mm adapter.
 
Willis,

The 20-40mm Sigma is an f2.8 and so is the Nikon 80-200 that i use is also f2.8. Its very bright. I replaced my old Tokina 200mm prime f3.5 with it.

Moojangles,
I havent tried the tokina zoom 80-200 but if its f2.8 that must be also fast.

Ted
 
I've also used a 15-30mm Sigma zoom at f3.5-4 fullframe lens. See a sample grab below.

the 80-200 zoom has no problem with vignette whatsoever.
The 20-40 has a "very subtle" falloff thats "subjectively pleasing" which is also there when you use it on a DSLR.

BUT since its a zoom you can tweak it till its pleasing to you.
The falloff of wide lenses is a subjective discussion.

This is always non conclusive since people have different zoom settings on the stock or built in lens of their cameras.

For reference in this discussion my personal setting on my fujinon stock is 28ish.
And my ground glass image size is at 29.6mm x 16.6mm. Its important to take note of this since others will say wide lenses vignette while others say otherwise.

Im attaching grabs from the wide lenses i'm using and judge for yourself their usability in your application. DO NOT judge them for sharpness since theyre mounted on my own custom hybrid lens adapter with spinning GG.

Hope this helps you,

Ted

1202114154.jpg


1202114498.jpg
 
very interesting, thanks for sharing ted! in time, i will test out the zoom lenses, since i've put so much into fast primes already, im going to give it a shot, still waiting for my parts to come... i guess im going through what all you guys went through already... the torturous wait time to obtaining what i've paid for weeks ago...
 
looks cool. I'd like to try out some super wides but the only ones i currently own are for DX digital sensors so they'd vignette like crazy or wouldn't be all that wide anyways.
 
I`ve the widest and brightest 14mm f2.8 L prime waiting for the Letus FD mount to arrive - we`ll see how bad it will be.

T
 
Toenis said:
I`ve the widest and brightest 14mm f2.8 L prime waiting for the Letus FD mount to arrive - we`ll see how bad it will be.

T
Click to expand...

I would love to hear how the 14mm treats you. I've been saving up for one for quite some time. Please let us know how bad the vignetting is once you've had a chance to play with it a little. It's a beautiful piece of glass.
 
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