Best 35mm Film Lens for the Letus Extreme Adapter?

H

HenryCruz

New member
I'm making the leap in April and buying the Letus Extreme adapter for my HVX200; I am looking to also invest in a decent set of USED 35mm prime lens...I heard good things about Nikon and Zeiss in terms of getting that film look....any adivce on which offer the best image? best place to get decent USED primes?
 
zeiss Offer the best qualaty but are much more expensive than a nikon. for example a used nikon 50mm lens cost about 100usd as apposed to the zeiss 50mm wich cost about 500usd.
 
Yep, Nikon nikkor primes are very good value for money. You can get nice ones from ebay. My personal favorite is the 50mm F1.4 and a 85mm F1.8. also got a nice 17-35mm F2.8 zoom but its pretty expensive. With a fast 28mm, 50mm and 85mm or 105mm you can cover a lot.

Put up a couple of lens experiments using the lenses I talked about, if your intrested check them out here:

http://www.vimeo.com/visualbrother

The 50, 85 and 180 are all AIs or AI lenses, for mechanical quality I like the old primes.
 
the adapter itself loses half a stop, but then you lose another stop and a third zooming in.
 
HenryCruz said:
a F 2.1 sounds ideal for my INDIE film shoots, because I think the Letus Extreme loses .5 stop. I did some research on e-bay...does anyone know if these older Zeiss 35mm lens work with the letus extreme? It's a bit more than I was looking to spend, but I was curious non-the less... still looking around for a under a $1000 US for a set of used primes:
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A set of Zeiss primes for under 1k's probably impossible, but you can get a set of Nikon or Canon primes used pretty easily with that budget. I have a 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, and 100mm, and I think all in all for the bundle I spent about (over the course of 5 months or so) $650. Now then again I didn't get the FASTEST of each lens, I sort of aimed for the SECOND fastest and saved a large chunk-o-cash. (i.e. my 85mm is an f2, as apposed to 1.4 or 1.8, but I've had no troubles) I like to think I'm sort of a king of low budgeting.
 
Hi Henry,

I think pretty much like everyone here : used Nikkor or Canon prime lenses are cheap but of great quality and built. I personally prefer the Nikkor AI-S type lenses (they were built like tanks!), mostly because I also use a Nikon D200 DSLR and they all fit on it, but also because they almost always get great reviews from many pro photographers. Roaming eBay and picking up the interresting deals is the thing to do if you've got the patience to wait for THE prime lens you need.

The prime lenses I describe here are those I own and tested thoroughly on a Letus. I tried quite a bunch (borrowed from friends who are photographers), but found that these are, IMHO, the best bang for my bucks I could get in terms of optical quality.

28mm : Kiron f/2 AI-S, good bokeh, a little less sharp at f/2 than it's Nikkor counterpart (that one's amazing but very expensive), but at f/2.8 it's as tack-sharp and gives almost no CAs. That lens was a bargain off eBay (Kino Precision's an obsure but great lens company that closed its doors in the early 90's, I got it for about 80 bucks including shipping!)

50mm : Nikkor f/1.4 AI-S. Great depth-of-field, very sharp at full aperture, solidly built, nice bokeh, this lens is simply amazing for its price. I got it on eBay for 200 bucks because it was like new, and so was a hell of a deal, but you could get one around 150$ that's used but in good shape.

85mm : Nikkor f/1.4 AI-S. Now I was lucky for this one (I got this for 500 bucks used but in perfect shape from a colleague who needed quick cash). At f/1.4 corners aren't as sharp as I'd love to, but center is dead on. At f/2 everything's perfect : bokeh, DoF, CAs, I simply love this lens! It's heavy though, a big chunk 'o old-fashioned glass. I've seen this lens go on eBay around 700-800$.

85mm : Nikkor f/1.8 AF-D. If money is a problem, take that one. They usually go about 375$ in excellent conditions. That lens is awesome, i own one too that I often use for its quick autofocus abilities in low-light portrait on my D200, and it's the best deal for the price/quality. Built is mostly made of plastics, so it's much less sturdy than a 85mm f/1.4, but it's solid nonetheless. Taking a f/1.8 AI-S might be better for renting in a prime set, but the lens is less sharper at f/1.8 and f/2 than it's AFD counterpart (though not by much).

I'm currently looking for a Nikkor 135mm f/2 AI-S to complete my prime set. I heard lots of good from this lens, I haven't tried it yet though, but I know it's expensive for a used lens. I also know you can get a Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 AI-S that delivers great pictures at full aperture for about 200 bucks. I tested this one and it looks good, I just think the aperture eats a bit too much light for a 35mm adapter if shooting inside.

Good luck in finding your prime set! Just remember that if money's an issue here, picking one prime after another is gonna take much more time than buying a full set all at once, but is also gonna cost you much less!

www.keh.com might be a good place to look to customize yourself a solid prime set if you're in a rush!

Gabe
Fotonik Films
 
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Here is how my zeiss primes break down (8 and 16mm are russian glass):

8mm Peleng F3.5 - cheap for a fisheye. Requires a LOT of zoom to avoid the massive vignetting. Perspective is excellent for music video and other applications that require that warped effect.

16mm Zenitar F2.8 - My only other non-Zeiss. Poor build quality but still great for the money. A typical 16mm that fast usually goes for $1k+ but this one sells for under $200 new all day. Could be sharper wide open. Ill shell out for the Zeiss once I find a good deal.

25mm F2.8 - Somewhat slow and not as sharp as I desire. Great MFD (min focus distance). Still searching for a good replacement. Perhaps i'll find a faster Leica somewhere out there. Vignettes some on Redrock, tiny bit on brevis, and almost none on the SGPro. Relatively cheap.

28mm F2 - Sharper and faster than 25mm. Great MFD. Zeiss did good job on this one but the price reflects that. If 25mm was faster I would sell this glass.

35mm F1.4 - My fav wide. fast, relatively sharp, slightly expensive. Doesn't vignette on SG or Brevis much but does just slightly on Redrock.

50mm F1.4 - Typical sharp normal lens and fast. Good bokeh. Cheap.

60mm F2.8 - Macro. One of my Favs. Can focus down to 6" and works great as a probe lens equivalent thanks to macro sharpness. 1:1 reproduction ratio. Barrel extends so use of FF is difficult. Great contrast.

85mm F1.4 - Great portrait. Sharp. Excellent bokeh. Some models have "ninja star" issue with the iris. Mine doesn't. Priced well. Poor MFD (3.5' I believe).

100mm F2.8 - Macro. Another Zeiss beauty. Fantastic telephoto macro. Another 1:1 reproduction ratio lens. Good contrast and sharp. Expensive. Hard to find.

135mm F2 - On the fence with this one due to its MFD (about 5' or so). Shots with a close foreground rack are difficult to frame due to this limitation. Great bokeh even stopped down slightly. Still sharp when open.

180mm F2.8 - Good telephoto. An F2 would be nice. Relatively cheap. Better MFD than 135mm.

I want to run my angenieux zooms through the paces a little more before reviewing them.

Its easy to spend well over $5000 on a similar set. I know the 135, 100, and 16 Zeiss easily sell for $1k a piece. But well worth it. Especially if you rent or charge for your gear for clients.
 
Avenger007 said:
Here is how my zeiss primes break down (8 and 16mm are russian glass):

8mm Peleng F3.5 - cheap for a fisheye. Requires a LOT of zoom to avoid the massive vignetting. Perspective is excellent for music video and other applications that require that warped effect.

16mm Zenitar F2.8 - My only other non-Zeiss. Poor build quality but still great for the money. A typical 16mm that fast usually goes for $1k+ but this one sells for under $200 new all day. Could be sharper wide open. Ill shell out for the Zeiss once I find a good deal.

25mm F2.8 - Somewhat slow and not as sharp as I desire. Great MFD (min focus distance). Still searching for a good replacement. Perhaps i'll find a faster Leica somewhere out there. Vignettes some on Redrock, tiny bit on brevis, and almost none on the SGPro. Relatively cheap.

28mm F2 - Sharper and faster than 25mm. Great MFD. Zeiss did good job on this one but the price reflects that. If 25mm was faster I would sell this glass.

35mm F1.4 - My fav wide. fast, relatively sharp, slightly expensive. Doesn't vignette on SG or Brevis much but does just slightly on Redrock.

50mm F1.4 - Typical sharp normal lens and fast. Good bokeh. Cheap.

60mm F2.8 - Macro. One of my Favs. Can focus down to 6" and works great as a probe lens equivalent thanks to macro sharpness. 1:1 reproduction ratio. Barrel extends so use of FF is difficult. Great contrast.

85mm F1.4 - Great portrait. Sharp. Excellent bokeh. Some models have "ninja star" issue with the iris. Mine doesn't. Priced well. Poor MFD (3.5' I believe).

100mm F2.8 - Macro. Another Zeiss beauty. Fantastic telephoto macro. Another 1:1 reproduction ratio lens. Good contrast and sharp. Expensive. Hard to find.

135mm F2 - On the fence with this one due to its MFD (about 5' or so). Shots with a close foreground rack are difficult to frame due to this limitation. Great bokeh even stopped down slightly. Still sharp when open.

180mm F2.8 - Good telephoto. An F2 would be nice. Relatively cheap. Better MFD than 135mm.

I want to run my angenieux zooms through the paces a little more before reviewing them.

Its easy to spend well over $5000 on a similar set. I know the 135, 100, and 16 Zeiss easily sell for $1k a piece. But well worth it. Especially if you rent or charge for your gear for clients.
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I like the idea of starting with a fast speed 50mm that has good picture on available light, or good for nightlife (with one key light)...maybe F1.8 ...that's not too grainy for night time stuff....any ideas? price?
 
Personally I don't think you can beat price / performance of a nice Nikon Nikor 50mm F1.4 AI or AIs lens. You can still find them on ebay for $80.-

Great optics and very nice mechanically when using a FF but most of all: great edge to edge at F1.4.
 
Avenger007... are your 25mm & 28mm Zeiss ZF lenses?

Avenger007... are your 25mm & 28mm Zeiss ZF lenses?

Avenger007 said:
Here is how my zeiss primes break down...

25mm F2.8 - Somewhat slow and not as sharp as I desire. Great MFD (min focus distance). Still searching for a good replacement. Perhaps i'll find a faster Leica somewhere out there. Vignettes some on Redrock, tiny bit on brevis, and almost none on the SGPro. Relatively cheap.

28mm F2 - Sharper and faster than 25mm. Great MFD. Zeiss did good job on this one but the price reflects that. If 25mm was faster I would sell this glass.
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Hi Avenger007,

Would you confirm if these lenses are the new manual focus Zeiss ZF's for SLR Nikon Cameras?

I really have a particular interest on the Zeiss Wide Angle 25mm f/2.8 Distagon T* ZF Manual Focus Lens for my Nikon Mount RedRock M2 with microX flip adapter ...

If so, do you recommend this as a nice lens? Any portholing issues? I already have the 35mm and 50mm Zeiss ZF's... Wonderful lenses both!

...or would the Zeiss Wide Angle 28mm f/2 Distagon T* ZF be a better option?

Thanks in advance.
 
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I have nikon 28mm 2.8 and 50mm 1.4. they seem to work great, but the 28mm is vignetting like crazy no matter the light situation but the 50mm has no vignetting at all. I don't get it and can't seem to fix it. anyone know why?
 
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