Opinions needed Nikon Ai vs Canon USM glass!

S

samphibbs

Well-known member
Hey guys,

I know, I know just looking for opinions. I have an eclectic mix of Canon and M42 lenses so far:
Canon 24-105L F4 IS Reasonably sharp and has IS but focus ring is pretty damn short.
Canon 50 F1.4 USM Sharp!!!!! Nice colour and contrast, just the focus ring from hell!
Vivitar 28 F2.5 M42 Pretty soft til F4, vignettes, and flares but cool and retro lens
Mir 37mm 1B F2.8 M42 Pretty sharp at F4 but crazy hotspotting
Pentacon 50mm F1.8 M42 Soft till about F4
Jupiter 85 F2.0 M42 Soft wide open, but sharper as you stop down, nice CU lens
Pentax 135 F3.5 M42 Pretty sharp just flares like a mofo and pretty low contrast outdoors.

Now what I wanted to know is I love all my lenses for their idiosyncracies, but I am gearing up for a feature and I want to add to my lens kit, I want lenses that match and that are sharp for the big screen. Canon glass is cool, but expensive and the manual focus is pretty rough for focus pulling, however love the look of that 50 1.4!( I was initially just going to add a 28 or 35 and 85 in canon to my kit). However, I am rethinking now and leaning towards building a Nikon AIS kit from scratch after hearing such rave reviews from Shane Hurlbut. Are they as sharp as their canon counterparts?
I like the idea of having a set of lenses that have long focus throws are matched and have a solid build quality I just dont want to start plopping down cash if it is not really worth it.

What are people's thoughts? Any help is much appreciated.

Cheers
 
nikons are ok. i have a full nikon kit and have used them for about 3 years. i don't like them any more....

nikons i have/had;
28mm f2 AIS
35mm f1.4 AI
35mm f2 AI
35mm f2.5 series E
50 f2 AI
50mm f1.4 AI
50mm f1.4 AIS
85mm f2 AIS

colour matching - i've never done any formal tests between them. but i've never noticed anything after shooting a crap load of things... mind you i had a 24-70 f2.8 sigma at one stage and it was very yellow compared to the nikons. so i guess they match fairly well.

sharpness - good enough. never had any major problems. but AI/AIS models are from the 70's and 80's. the modern canons will be much much better wide open.

focus throw/draw - the AI models have a longer focus throw. most AIS models are decent enough. but you'll still want to use a follow focus on a proper shoot.

mechanics - most AI models have lose/shifting elements. which means if you rack focus fast or suddenly, it will look like you've bumped the camera slightly at the start of the pull. this is because the glass inside the lens barrel isn't being held in place perfectly while it's being moved. if you pull slowly you wont notice it though.

all the models before the AI series are even worse in this regard and are horrible to work with on a tripod. hand held is fine though coz you don't notice it.

most AIS models are fine in this regard.

breathing - my 28mm f2 AIS is pretty bad. the 35 f2 AI is ok. the 50 f1.4 AI is ok. the 85 f2 AIS is pretty bad but passable coz it's telephoto.

focusing direction - nikons focus anti-cinewize. were as canons focus cinewize. so it can be jarring going from one to the other.



nikons are ok. you get what you pay for really. i'd prefer an olympus OM f/2 kit myself. but they're often said to be soft and probably have their own idiosyncrasies.

if you wanna get a decent kit go for the new zeiss kits. but they're expensive :)
 
I have a full ai kit that I'm pretty happy with. Eventually I might upgrade to a zeiss kit but I like the vintage look of the nikkors.

24mm f/2
28mm f/2
35mm f/2
50mm f/1.4
105mm f/2.5
180mm f/2.8 ED

I also have a jupiter 9 85mm and a couple of other russian lenses but they don't match up with the nikkors.

I have a follow focus with cinevate gears on my nikkors.
 
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