GH1 Compatible Lenses

C

ctb1010

Well-known member
Hello,

I picked up a GH1 yesterday with the kit lens and I'm starting to play around with it. I've been searching the forums but I feel totally overwhelmed with all the info here. Pair that with my lack of knowledge on still cameras and I need help!

Basically I got the camera to shoot video. I'll mostly be using it at weddings as the B camera, set up on a tripod with a wide angle shot of everything. I'd also like to use it for some details shots with a nice depth of field.

What are some good relatively inexpensive lenses that will get the job done. If I need an adapter, what adapter should I get? I see that for good low light results I should get an f 1.4 lens. I don't even know what that means or what a good brand would be to get.

Thanks for your help!
 
That is a *huge* question, and there's no way that I think anyone can narrow that down for you. C-mounts, Nikons, Canon FDs, Zeiss, it all gets crazy and overwhelming. What you just asked for could take a multitude of pages to answer. The GH1 has *lots* of various possibilities, depending on which set of lenses you would like.

I can offer some advice, and tell you what I use. I use a Nikon adapter from ebay (around $30), and I have a Nikon 50mm 1.4 manual that is my go-to lens, for lowlight. I did this because I already had some Nikon lenses. However, this 50mm probably won't work for what you want to do, because it won't go too wide, and things will be out of focus. The kit lens on the GH1, like many of the other camera kit lenses, is not all that good in dark places -- and having shot some weddings -- I don't think it'll be up to snuff unless it was outdoors during the day or if there was enough light in the room.

I haven't tried it, but the panasonic 20mm 1.7 may be your best bet -- it's lowlight and gives a good wide angle view, from what I hear. Plus, when it goes close-up, depending on how far the background is, it'll have that nice softness behind it. It'll probably be a good versatile lens for you, to use in addition to the kit.

But beyond those lenses, I really don't know.

I would suggest going to Vimeo and just do a search on "Gh1". Many of the people posting their videos there are very good at telling what type of lenses they use. It'll give you a good idea of how certain things are shot and how the final look would be.

As for what "1.4" means, it's referring to how fast the lens is. The lower the number, the faster the lens, which means it lets in more light. So a 1.4 is better in lowlight than a 2.8 which is better than a 3.5. (I'm sure someone smarter than me can explain in more detail about the f-stop and all how many stops of light are lost and all that techical stuff.)

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks a lot! I know this is such a wide open question, and that's probably another reason why I feel overwhelmed. I'm going to look into that Panasonic 20mm 1.7 that you recommend. I welcome any other recommendations!

Thanks!
 
IMHO the 20mm 1.7 lens should be in your bag especially for what you would be doing. It's an extremely good lens. I also use a 50mm 1.8 Nikon and will be testing a Canon 24-85mm later this week. Here's a sample of the 20mm lens: http://www.vimeo.com/12253791
 
There's 2 wide-ish angle low light micro 4/3rd lenses (which thus have autofocus and/or auto aperture(=f-stop control):

-the 20mm 1.7 panasonic, and the

-17mm f2.8 olympus. (actually zuiko)

the last one is a bit wider, but the other one doesn't need as much light. those are both 300-ish, I think the 17mm is a bit cheaper, but also a bit noisier, the 20mm has guaranteed silent autofocus etc..

If you want really cheap, pretty much any lens type (they all have different attachment methods called "mounts") has an adapter that fits on a mirco 4/3. But you lose all automatic functions like autofocus, however, you can pick up an adapter and a fast lens for 20-30$ each. I got a f1.8 50mm olympus for $30 in a local camerashop.

A popular lens mount is c-mount, what 16mm moviecamera's use, but everyone is getting a bit too excited about those and ebay prices can overheat, but there's also alot of people offering them, so you might get lucky. I got a Switar for $40 two days ago.. These things can be OLD though, like from the 50's. You need one that's between 14 and 30mm and between f0.95 and f2.8. With the really low mm's you get vignetting. You can also get a cctv camera lens, those are aslo c-mount for example 25mm/f1.4 is out there. and they go for "buy it now" prices of 30-40 , with decent results. The c-mount adapter is $20.
 
ctb1010 said:
If I need an adapter, what adapter should I get? I see that for good low light results I should get an f 1.4 lens. I don't even know what that means or what a good brand would be to get.

Thanks for your help!
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Once you get familiar with the attributes of lenses and learn what the terms achromat, apochromat, aspherical, recta-linear, bokeh, chromatic aberration, dispersion, diffraction, lens flare, multi-coating, Angular resolution, prime vs. zoom, lens mold/fungus, focal length, aperture, and etc. imply (all can be found on Wikipedia) in theory and in practice then you can know your mounting options by looking at lists like this:

http://shop.ebay.com/rainbowimaging...g=200&_sc=1&_sop=3&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14.l1514 <-- Read bottom to top...

Equipped with both you can make some nicely informed purchases and build a nice set up!

Enjoy learning! It's a lot of fun!

PS: Brand besides perhaps the name Carl Zeiss, is relatively unimportant. Probably stay away from zooms that were manufactured in the early 70's and prior and beware the fabled dust-pumps... errr, "one-touch zooms". :Drogar-Smoke(DBG):
 
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Tesselator said:
Probably stay away from zooms that were manufactured in the early 70's and prior and beware the fabled dust-pumps... errr, "one-touch zooms". :Drogar-Smoke(DBG):
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The problems with these lens are just with "dust" or also IQ ? Because I own one such lens (I used on a T50 20 years ago) and I sent to a lab to have it clean..
It costed more the lab than a new copy on ebay :-)

... I took hundreds of pictures with that lens and I'm attached to it...
 
mrduck said:
The problems with these lens are just with "dust" or also IQ ? Because I own one such lens (I used on a T50 20 years ago) and I sent to a lab to have it clean..
It costed more the lab than a new copy on ebay :-)

... I took hundreds of pictures with that lens and I'm attached to it...
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Zooms from the mid/late 70's and later use nearly identical optical designs as those manufactured today. Prior to around '75 or so things were't so good so the IQ can be lower on those - typically speaking - on average, they will be.

For "one-touch zoom" lenses dust is an extra issue. As the felt or sponge filter rings deteriorate not only do they become dust but the newly formed gaps also allow in external particulates. Usually a few specs have no measurable impact on the image at all but as the count goes up contrast is reduced and sometimes even blotches are introduced - especially for close focusing or long macro lenses. That's not to mention that fungus can only form on particulate matter and never on a clean dust-free lens surface - so you're also opening up the conditions for potential fungus growth as well. :P

If you're able to handle a lens in person it's fairly easy to tell if the filtering is still in place as the barrel movement will feel dampened as opposed to very free when the strips are toast. :D

These usually are not to difficult to clean yourself if you want to avoid the lab charges. You should probably set up a quicky make-shift clean-room tho. I think it's called a level one clean-room but I forget the numerical designations. Basically any room without rugs, and two fairly strong fans blowing outward from the room in two directions (hopefully on opposite sides across the workspace) for a few hours (after vacuuming) will do it. That will help a lot. The actual operation of opening the lens and cleaning it is usually just a matter of patience and a little TLC. Oh, and a set of very small screw-drivers. ;)
 
Thanks for your replay. The barrel movement is ... I don't know the word... "difficult" / "hard"... I asked to "easy" it to use for video pourposes but since I didn't bring the lens myself to the lab they just cleaned the lens (I don't know if they ever opened it !)

Just to say that 2 labs in my city refused to clean it !

The lens is an hanimex 75-200 f1/4.5 with fd mount, there is one on ebay with nikon mount now for less than 10 euros and when I for the first time searched it in ended auctions in ebay I just found one sold for 6 euros...

I bought a working lens just to open it... unfortunately I don't have the time to do it...
 
Anyone have a favourite wide angle? Wider than the 14/140 kit lens, but not as wide as the newly announced fisheye (8mm?).
I have an M mount on the way for some Leica lenses I own.
 
mrduck said:
Thanks for your replay. The barrel movement is ... I don't know the word... "difficult" / "hard"... I asked to "easy" it to use for video pourposes but since I didn't bring the lens myself to the lab they just cleaned the lens (I don't know if they ever opened it !)

Just to say that 2 labs in my city refused to clean it !

The lens is an hanimex 75-200 f1/4.5 with fd mount, there is one on ebay with nikon mount now for less than 10 euros and when I for the first time searched it in ended auctions in ebay I just found one sold for 6 euros...

I bought a working lens just to open it... unfortunately I don't have the time to do it...
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They refused? That sucks! Well, that's what I'm doing for a side business (the working retired! :)) right now - cleaning and repairing lenses. If your lens is this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Hanimex-Auto-Zo...mera_Lenses&hash=item483adf0346#ht_2523wt_853 (although that one looks like a Nikon mount) my price would be $50 (+shipping) if you were local. Of course I'm in Japan so I'm guessing you aren't local. Anyway those lenses are cake to work on. About 60 ~ 90 minutes in and out. Oh well.

BTW, too stiff is not a good sign either. It should ideally be dampened just enough to keep it from falling up or down under it's own weight when the camera is pointed up or down inversely. Such would /typically/ be a sign that the filters are in tact and doing their job.
 
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pianoboy said:
The Tokina 11-16 is very highly regarded. You can get them in Nikon or Canon mount.
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Can you control the aperture of this lens on the GH1 actually?

Another great choice for a wide angle on the GH1 would be the Olympus 9-18/4-5.6 lens. It is not very fast though.
 
Tesselator said:
They refused?
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Yes, they told me that for a 10e lens it would not be intelligent to spend money to clean it....

When my parents went to another city to visit relatives they took the lens to a lab that I used before.... I had it clean for 35e... but they probably forgot to ask for less grip....

Tesselator said:
BTW, too stiff is not a good sign either. It should ideally be dampened just enough to keep it from falling up or down under it's own weight when the camera is pointed up or down inversely. Such would /typically/ be a sign that the filters are in tact and doing their job.
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When I use the zoom I can't be fluid... I get some resistance... a plus, as far as I remember, is that zooming doesn't change focus.... no hunting...
 
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