A good interview lens

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M4/3 is a bit smaller.
 
Stephen Mick said:
Zeiss ZF 50mm f1.4
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I own it. Those Zeiss Nikon mounts (or any mount) are the most overrated lenses in the industry. Wide open they're next to useless. That being said -- they beat zoom anything.

For 50mm manual focus I recommend without qualification the Nikon 50mm F/1.8 AI or AI-s (this is not the cheaper Chinese made plastic thing currently sold). This is an older manual focus lens that is as sharp or sharper than anything available new, focus handling defines perfect, and it has none of the distortion of the only-theoretically superior F/1.4 (translation: the 1.8 is better than the 1.4). Wide open the F/1.8 is sharper than Zeiss anything up to the F/3 range. At optimal conditions -- it's as good as or better than the Zeiss.

And, you can pick it up at B&H or KEH for 1/5th or less of the price of a used Zeiss ZF.

Although stuff is cheaper on Ebay -- I wholeheartedly recommend buying all used lenses from reputable sources like B&H and KEH -- who professionally evaluate and warranty the lenses they sell. There are lens problems out there that you don't know exist -- anything bought off Ebay is a gamble -- usually from sellers who simply don't know or simply don't care. I've bought thousands of dollars in used lenses from B&H and KEH -- and every single time the purchase came through looking and performing better than I expected for an inexpensive thirty or forty year old lens.

Another old winner is the Nikon 85mm F/2 AI or AI-s -- that creates an image so "filmic" it's ridiculous (this is the sharpest wide open lens I have ever encountered anywhere, ever). This lens will be a headache on an AF-100 due to crop factor.

Both of these lenses create magnificent head shots for interviews, and I've used both on a Letus Ultimate (full frame), 5Dm2 (full frame), and 7D (APS-C). The disclaimer here is that I have not used them on a micro four-thirds sensor.
 
Shooter said:
@AGMEDIA

Regarding the use of old lenses...I hope you factor in or consider this..

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?235813-Prime-lenses-rack-focus...alert

Have you tested all your old lenses for the issue? Keen to hear how they perform in this regard.

I have no issue with their optical quality.

For interview lenses. I think there are many ways to shoot an interview and so one chooses the lens appropriate to the style of the shoot.
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I watched your video and read through most of that post. I then tested three thirty-plus year old Nikkor (one Nikon, two primes and one zoom) lenses on a Canon 7D. Without excessively staring at a monitor or any other extreme efforts -- I was unable to reproduce your problem.

Despite your insistence that the problem is not with the adapter -- I honestly think it is. If it's not, then you've got damaged lenses. And, if the lenses aren't damaged and it's not the adapter, then it's got something to do with the AF-100 mount. Bottom line -- without extreme pixel-peeping on this end -- I don't have this issue.

The closest to any of this I've ever encountered was with the mount on a Letus Ultimate adapter with my Zeiss Nikon mounts -- and the problem was the Letus mount -- and thankfully Letus had a three second fix that entirely solved the problem.

Good luck! Best regards! (I love New Zealand)
 
Glad to hear the issue is not in evidence with any of your lenses. You are lucky indeed.

My technician has assured me that he will be able to alleviate it in mine to a practicable degree. He has done it for others who used them on DOF Adpters ...so has had some experience with the issue. I believe its a clean and re grease fix.
 
I'm a fan of the Tamron 17-50 f2.8; it's a nice little lens for interview situations with the AF100
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What adapter do you / would you.... use with this lens to be able to set the stop from the camera? THere is no manual f/stop on this lens)

I am considering getting the version without the "Anti Shake".

Took a look at it today and it seems a great utility zoom for the AF100. I think the focal range is perfect for run and gun as well as interviews.

I would test it ..but I need an adapter for a Nikon Mount to M4/3
 
There are only a few adapters that control the Nikon aperture. I have both the cheap ebay one as well as the MTF one. The problem with the ebay version is that the aperture control clicks in the extreme positions. It's hard to set an aperture other than totally open or closed. The MTF is solidly built with very smooth control over the iris. The other nice bonus is that there is a small screw lock to make sure the aperture doesn't change. The only downside is that the MTF adapter isn't cheap.

Shooter said:
What adapter do you / would you.... use with this lens to be able to set the stop from the camera? THere is no manual f/stop on this lens)

I am considering getting the version without the "Anti Shake".

Took a look at it today and it seems a great utility zoom for the AF100. I think the focal range is perfect for run and gun as well as interviews.

I would test it ..but I need an adapter for a Nikon Mount to M4/3
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bgundu said:
There are only a few adapters that control the Nikon aperture. I have both the cheap ebay one as well as the MTF one. The problem with the ebay version is that the aperture control clicks in the extreme positions. It's hard to set an aperture other than totally open or closed. The MTF is solidly built with very smooth control over the iris. The other nice bonus is that there is a small screw lock to make sure the aperture doesn't change. The only downside is that the MTF adapter isn't cheap.
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I googled MTF adapters and they seem to be mechanical adapters (of high quality). So would this adapter be able to set an aperture on the Tamron Lens?
 
If you get the Tamron Nikon mount, The Nikon to M4/3 MTF adapter will work and control the iris. Keep i mind though, that there is no indication as to what the aperture setting is.

Bob

Shooter said:
I googled MTF adapters and they seem to be mechanical adapters (of high quality). So would this adapter be able to set an aperture on the Tamron Lens?
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bgundu said:
If you get the Tamron Nikon mount, The Nikon to M4/3 MTF adapter will work and control the iris. Keep i mind though, that there is no indication as to what the aperture setting is.

Bob
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Good point and maybe a bit of an issue ( thinking about that some more.......)

Whats the alternative apart from proper cine style lenses?

Who is going to be first to provide quality cine style M4/3 lenses?
 
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