GH1 FD or Series E: which are the best to start from?

[frear]

Hello everybody, it's quite a while I'm reading avidly this great online resource, and found answers to questions I couldn't even imagine to ask myself just a few months ago.

Here's one that I couldn't answer with just searching and reading, and need some help.

I borrowed a Nikkor 28mm f2.8D AF to make some tries and tests with my "updated" camera.
Result is.. a lot of fun. But not better for stills against the 14-140 (way more useful and in my opinion, just better).

But in video mode.. wow, I found a really good reason to further experiment with prime lenses!
I'm no pro, so won't spend too many hundreds euro to play this game, and therefore found a couple of cheap alternatives to start from:

- Canon FDs or
- Nikon E Series

They sell for quite the same price.

1. I would like some advice on where to start from, 28? 35? 50mm? (if any lens is worth I don't mind mixing up the makes, I'm no purist at.. after all I've got a "hacked" m43!). If it took good stills that would be a nice plus, since I do both things when I take my camera out..

2. Is low f so important for video? Is the difference between a 1.8 and 1.4 so noticeable in video terms as it is in terms of money?

3. Do you think a 70-200mm old zoom would be usable on the GH1 + adapter? Ex. for shooting on golf yards. Or is it just way to heavy and dangerous for the mounts?

Thank you very much.

 

[stonebat]

I'd get 1.8 or 2.0. It still gives pleasant shallow DOF at max aperture. Get the ones w/ good performance at max aperture.

Start from the normal angle. That would be 20~28mm lens. I like a combo of lumix 20.7 and hexanon 40.8. the lumix pancake is great for photo, too.

Golf yard in sunny day... 14-140 + ETC mode will do it.

 

[Lpowell]

Is low f so important for video? Is the difference between a 1.8 and 1.4 so noticeable in video terms as it is in terms of money?

If you shoot outside at night or indoors without video lights, super-fast lenses make a phenomenal difference. With an f2.8 lens on a GH1, low-light shots above ISO400 are unacceptably noisy. With a lens at f2.0 or below, ISO800 becomes practical. At f1.2 and below, you can begin to see in the dark.

 

[frear]

Any advice for the FDs vs E Series? Are there any specific lenses worth buying in their range?

SB: you are right, I think I'll have a 28 (20s are too expensive) and a 50 for its low f. I read of many people using the 35 as "allrounder", but it seems to me quite too long for the GH1.
I used extensively the 14-140 + ETC mode on a photo safari trip to Africa and result is, in my opinion, very poor. Bidimensional, I would say. Therefore I was thinking of an old zoom, which could (?) also allow me for taking videos (wanted to try the "follow the ball", on the course.. as seen on tv.. ).
One of the question was if a 0,9 kilos teles would hurt the mounts. Did anybody try?

LP: first of all, thak you for your patches. You're getting fun out my camera.
Seeing in the dark is quite attractive, but I couldn't cope with a 2.8 in full light, and got overexposed video 'cause there was no more wheel to turn after 22f... If I had a 1.2 it'd have been good for "white screen" rotoscoping!
I'm reading a variND would help, but I still have to get the basics, so I might deal with a 1.8s for now, or not?

 

[trickhog]

It's probably best to start with whatever you can get your hands on that fits comfortably within your budget. I picked up 28/2.8 and 50/1.4 Canon FDn primes along with the excellent Ceico7 FD-->M4/3 adapter for about $150-$160 total and I really like the lenses for video and stills.

Now, these lense won't "cut" (at least without major grading/color-correction mastery) with the Panasonic 20mm pancake and 14-140mm HD zoom that I also have, but I really like the versatility that those 4 lenses give me, and think it is a perfect "beginning" set for someone like me who owned no glass prior to purchasing my GH2 last month. And depending on what deals you can get, the cost of all 4 lenses combined is about $1300, which isn't too bad. And if you don't need a good auto-focus, stabilized HD video lense, then dropping the 14-140mm and replacing it with the 14-45mm brings the total beginning lense kit that I have down to about $800. Or if you need more zoom, moving up to the 45-200mm also gives good performance and decreases the cost...