Poor Man's Fujinon 19-90mm T2.9? Photo-lens alternatives

mcbob said:
I've been shopping for much the same solution (something more than ~24-70 ff-equiv coverage @ decent speed) on an AF100-owner budget (with planned rented-S35-sensor cam flexibility). Contenders thus far:
Already have the speedbooster, so once the invoices come in to pay off whatever decision I make, I'll be renting these to figure out what works well enough. LensRentals has (or will have) them all and a week's rental is far more reasonable than buying a lens that doesn't work.
Click to expand...

Very interested to hear back your results and decisions!

The Nikon 24-120/4 +SB is a very good option I think, it's excellent glass and a constant aperture, I hate the focus direction but it may end up being the only option. I would love to know if it does vignette on a super35 sensor like a BMPC/F5. The other option is:
Sigma 24-135mm f/2.8-4.5 +SB, variable aperture but right focus direction and similar speed.

Also, if you're using M43, why not the Olympus 12-60 2.8-4.0? Too slow?

And yeah, the Sigma 18-35/1.8 +SB on M43 would be like (math maybe wrong but still)...
12-24mm f/1.3 :kali:
 
Last edited:
Chris Lawes said:
Also, if you're using M43, why not the Olympus 12-60 2.8-4.0? Too slow?
Click to expand...
I currently have a Leica D 14-50/2.8-3.5 4/3 zoom. It's OK, but it has aperture stepping through the zoom, steppy electronic aperture, and focus by wire to deal with. The 12-60 is in much the same boat operation-wise - plus they're only useable on 4/3 sensors, so I'm up a creek if I ever need to rent a S35 body for a shoot.

I'm still slightly bummed that the Nikon 18-300 vignetted with the SB
 
Chris,

Im going to chip in once more, my 28-85 cost $200, (and could be sold for the same in a week) , I think your investment in shooting deserves trying such a lens maybe the Canon FD version (which I dont have much experience of) - basically buy one - just for fun!

I got into my manuals often buying $30-50 lenses to keep me occupied while out shopping with the Mrs while she was looking for shoes or something - I soon realised I was actually mining gold.

Im well aware of lenses like the 24-120 but they just dont feel organic to use - it is a strange phrase but the old metal and rubber seem to just feel goood - and also there is something very subtle about the focus feel, its like the modern lenses have a high co-efficient of friction so seem to leap when you start turning them, even if the actually rotation is smooth ie not grittt or sloppy

BTW I come from a perspective of money not really being an issue and still choose a $200 lens, no I cant afford a Cabrio but own many $3k lenses..

For example I own a nikkor 70-200 2.8 VR and generally choose to shoot with a $100 100-300 5.6 manual nikkor - nuts but true

I was going to buy a new 24-70 nikkor because its a great stills lens and also faster but again the focus throw just did not feel right, it had that little jerk as you started moving it..

S
 
Last edited:
Hi Sam,

OK OK OK... you're very convincing! :) I just have such a issue with focus direction but I'll grow up.. I also bet that the 28-85 could be very interesting with the speedbooster if it works (becoming a 19-60mm f/2.5-3.2.)

You are talking about the28-85/3.5-4.5 AI-s right?
 
Yep that is my lens but I think you should check out the canon FD lens linked in a you tube clip I posted earlier in the thread (or a contax or one of the other on that list) - that will focus in the direction you want..

Wrong way focus will do your nut in - ive been shooting on my nikkors and a canon 70-200 on a recent job - drove me potty

S
 
Almost excited.. :P The Nikon version looks great, but the focus direction would make me insane. The Canon version looks great, but it wouldn't work with the Metabones because it's canon, and the Contax version looks great, except that it's a push-pull lens >.<

The canon would be awesome if it worked with the Metabones canon mount, because then you would have a Canon 19-60mm F/2.8 ! All manual iris/zoom/focus and constant aperture. This would work with a Sony camera though, so theoretically if you have a FS100/F5 you could do this and have a 19-60 2.8. I'll add it to the list!
 
Last edited:
What is your camera?

Metabones naturally go for the popular mounts, SonyE, Canon, MFT.

It is a shame because if I go from my current Fs100 to an F5 I actually end up with less options - no 18-200 (apart from the $11k one), no Booster+28-85

It would be great if someone could make a more professional 'speedbooster' for Red, Sony FZ or whatever - they have space

Duclos???
 
Sony just announced a new E-mount Power Zoom, 18-105mm at a constant f/4. It's also half the cost of the old 18-200, $598 to preorder at B&H. Could be a good lens to keep around for occasional ENG work:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._4_g_lens.html
Click to expand...
Well!
This looks great! This is what I've been asking for for years, something 18-100-ish, APS-C size, F4 constant, image stabilization. Boom, done. Sony is driving me crazy, they are the only people serious about making lightweight/ENG-ish zooms for super35. I love what they are trying to do with glass, but I just don't like their bodies >.< (specifically, their color vs RED is)

Really, this lens, with a manual iris ring and a 3rd party mount attached to a Scarlet, is exactly what I want. Is there any kind of super ghetto Sony-E to Nikon/Canon/PL/etc that I am just not aware of??? :(
 
I've been on the hunt for a decent poor man's cine zoom and I ended up buying a cheap Soligor 45-150mm f/3.5 for my 5D3 in M42 mount. In front of a full-frame sensor, the lens offers a 30-100mm S35-equivalent field of view. I didn't expect to like it as much as I do. Solid build quality, constant aperture, a focus throw of over 200 degrees, and the lens doesn't extend while zooming (though the front does still rotate when focusing). It does not appear to be a parfocal lens, though it's hard to shim most EF-adapters to be able to find out for sure. F/3.5 is soft, but not unusable. In fact, I like the soft rendering of this lens, as well as the crazy flares. Here's some shaky-cam footage from this past weekend: https://vimeo.com/110135618

There's also a 35-140mm f/3.5 from Soligor, but that one is supposed to be a pretty inferior lens.
 
The Soligor sounds interesting but I can't seem to find much about hte lens and if there is a Nikon version. That's the thing I wish I could get for my D750, a lens that has a good zoom range (would love the 28-135mm F4 by sony but its only in Sony E mount) that has a manual aperture ring. The 28-80 by nikon would be great for me if I was shooting on S35, but on full frame I would like to have something that reaches a little closer to 100. The Soligor is not as wide as I would like but I could work around with it and on some shoots that range would actually be great.

I am thinking of maybe the nikon 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5, Decent range and f stop for full frame and while it does extend, it doesn't extend like the 35-135mm where the whole lens including the focus ring moves (at least from my understanding).
 
Last edited:
If you're getting down into Soligor territory, consider the Tamron Adaptall 26A 28-80mm f3.5-4.2. It extends slightly when zoomed however.

Edit (here's a few more details, I was in a rush before): I've tried 20 or so sub-$300 lenses in this general zoom range over the past couple of years, with the goal of pairing to a Panasonic camera via a Nikon-mount Speedbooster when I'm mobile, and a non-speedboosted adapter on a tripod for interviews.

Of those I've tried, including couple of 28-105mm's, my top four would be as follows (all four focus the 'correct', non-Nikon way):

- Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 (sharp, good contrast, close focus, smooth bokeh, AF lens with crappy MF focus action, extends a long way when zoomed out, strong focus breathing);
- Tamron 28-80mm f3.5-4.2 (slightly slower but equally sharp, good color, moderate contrast, reasonable bokeh, silky smooth focus with long throw, extends much less than the 28-75, minimal focus breathing, 1/10th the price on EBay!);
- Tamron 24-135mm f3.5-5.6 (versatile zoom range, slow at tele end, slightly less sharp but good color and contrast, smooth focus but short throw, bokeh rather meh; extends a loooong way)
- PanLeica 14-50mm f2.8-3.5 (good zoom range, best image quality, can't be speedboosted so is the the slowest of the lenses at the wide end, limited to M4/3 cameras, not much extension but has aperture clicks when zoomed, provides AF and stabilization but sucks batteries, not 100% silent, focus-by-wire so attempting MF during a shot is frustrating)

Each has it's own strength. If I can pre-focus on a tripod, the 28-75mm is my preference. But if I want to rack focus during a shot the 28-80 is waaay better, and its also the only one of the four that has a smooth enough zoom to attempt during a shot. In good light, the 24-135 is a workhorse for manual focus with fewer lens changes - for some reason I like it more on my AF100 than on my G7. The PanLeica has a great image and (obviously) is the best for stabilized hand-held and auto-focus on the run.

Two other lenses I owned, and liked, were the Canon FD 35-105mm f3.5 and the Pentax SMC 35-105mm f3.5 - but at the time no speedbooster was available for either, making them too long. They also have poor close focus that requires engaging a separate 'macro' ring; the 4 lenses above all have continuous focus down much closer.
 
Last edited:
Here are the four lenses I referred to in the previous post, in the same order. The 28-75 has a regular Nik-M/3 adapter fitted, the 28-80 has a Speedbooster, the PanLeica has its 4/3-m4/3 adapter. The first two have 67mm filter threads, the second two are 72mm thread, with stepdown rings to make them 67mm as well.
 

Attachments

  • Four.jpg
    Four.jpg
    59.8 KB · Views: 0
SOmething I just thought about today was what about the Canon 28-300 F3.5-5.6 with a speedbooster if one will work on your camera? Main issue I would imaging is the lens extending, but it does have IS if I recall correctly.
 
My combo for 2k cropping is : Arri Zeiss 11-110mm T2.2 and Zeiss Distagon 8mm T2 ( it vignettes a bit but i crop it and gives me equivalent of a wide 26mm lens ). It was cheap , not anymore since more and more people have become aware of this. The zoom is superb, sharp, nice aperture, light and perfect for run and gun. For special purpose i kept the 8mm Distagon on a second camera like BMPCC. Both PL mount.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top