Sony or Nikon lenses?

A

alaskacameradude

Veteran
I was just wondering if anyone had any insights to add. I want to start purchasing some lenses for my FS100 as I have been shooting with the kit lens so far. I am thinking
about getting a 17-50 F2.8 and a 50-150 F2.8. But I'm going back and forth as to if I should get the lenses with a Nikon mount and buy the Novoflex adapter, or buy the
lenses with the Sony A mount and buy the upcoming Sony LA-E2 adapter. Anyone have any thoughts or insights?
 
nikon lenses will be cheaper, sony lenses might produce the same image but be easier to use with the adapter. when it comes to glass, its all about budget and what you need the lens to do. I don't care much about AF or electronic control so i stuck with manual nikon lenses and a couple new nikon lenses (tamron 17-50 and tokina 11-16) since would only use those on manual anyways. But, i also have the kit lens for situations i want AF.
 
I have the A mount Zeiss 16-35 & 24-70 T2.8 combo, also looking forward to the LA-E2 adaptor big time... great glass, really great... would be great to have the option of auto focus at times tho

i have an OM 70-210 T3.5 that cover's the long end, it's not really a match for the Zeiss tho, i can massage it in post but i wish i had the long end of the 50-150...

I was just pokeing about the interwebnet and found a ton of poor reviews for the Sigma 50-150 T2.8.. Sounds like it won't auto focus reliably on anything? Is that the lens you're talking about?

d
 
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Dermot said:
I have the A mount Zeiss 16-35 & 24-70 T2.8 combo, also looking forward to the LA-E2 adaptor big time... great glass, really great... would be great to have the option of auto focus at times tho

i have an OM 70-210 T3.5 that cover's the long end, it's not really a match for the Zeiss tho, i can massage it in post but i wish i had the long end of the 50-150...

I was just pokeing about the interwebnet and found a ton of poor reviews for the Sigma 50-150 T2.8.. is that the lens you're talking about?

Sounds like it won't auto focus reliably on anything?

d
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Well, I WAS thinking about the Sigma 50-150, now you are making me think again......
 
I dont think now is the time to spend a lot of money on glass

We dont know how the E-A mount will perform
Canon AF lenses for the FS100 are on the horizon

If the Birger comes out .. and works .. and fits the FS100 .. Id become an advocate of Canon AF glass

If Scarlet ever comes .. and if it has swappable lenses .. that may become the next camera you own so youd want to get glass tht would move to that

Would you ever get a DSLR as a B cam?

Will anyone develop a controller for Nikkor G lenses?

What will come out on Nov 3rd?

bla bla too many unknowns

At the moment Id be complimenting the kit lens with a few beat up $100 MF primes from the 80s and keeping my larger $ safely tucked up for the next few months

S
 
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If you ever need to do manual focus, it's either all Nikon or no Nikon at all. They focus the other way around and once your body memory settles in, it'll drive you nuts!
 
nomad-3 said:
If you ever need to do manual focus, it's either all Nikon or no Nikon at all. They focus the other way around and once your body memory settles in, it'll drive you nuts!
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I enjoy the thrill of racking focus the wrong way!!!

But seriously, I would say go snag some old nikon primes. I love the look of older glass personally, so thats probably a heavy influence on me, but they are cheap. You can pick up a set of primes for under 500 easily.
I dont know what it is about the Sony's, but they give a little more of a digital look to me. Its not a huge difference but I do notice it. It was easy to fix with color grading though. Obviously that digital look can be handy in some situations.
 
DOSMedia said:
I enjoy the thrill of racking focus the wrong way!!!

But seriously, I would say go snag some old nikon primes. I love the look of older glass personally, so thats probably a heavy influence on me, but they are cheap. You can pick up a set of primes for under 500 easily.
I dont know what it is about the Sony's, but they give a little more of a digital look to me. Its not a huge difference but I do notice it. It was easy to fix with color grading though. Obviously that digital look can be handy in some situations.
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Any recommendations of where to find them?
 
eBay, there are old lenses all over the place, I am searching through 58 pages of FD lenses on eBay, im only on page 31....
 
LiamR said:
eBay, there are old lenses all over the place, I am searching through 58 pages of FD lenses on eBay, im only on page 31....
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Forgive me if I am wrong, I thought FD lenses were Canon? I'm not looking at Canon lenses as there is no adapter I am aware of that can give you iris
control. However, I don't know that much about still lenses......
 
No, I was merely using Canon FD lenses as an example as Nikon lenses are just as popular (the older models), ALL canon FD lenses are manual lenses so you don't need a special adapter, just any old one...
 
LiamR said:
No, I was merely using Canon FD lenses as an example as Nikon lenses are just as popular (the older models), ALL canon FD lenses are manual lenses so you don't need a special adapter, just any old one...
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Wow, thanks, I didn't know that. I just didn't want to deal with workaround like taking the lens off the FS 100 and setting iris on a still camera and putting it back
onto the FS-100. So a Canon FD lens could use a 'dumb' adapter and you could just adjust the iris on the lens itself?
 
Liam,

Are you sure? There's GOT to be some kind of catch. I just looked and I can find Canon FD lenses like a 50mm F1.8 on ebay for SIXTY BUCKS!
There is no way this could actually work with a cheap dumb adapter......is there???
 
There is no catch with FD lenses - for the indy videographer not shooting DSLR

Basically they dont work on digital canon cameras (including the 7d/5d2) , or even canon film cameras made since about 1989

They are totally valueless if you are a still photographer

In still photography world they are as fashionable as purple bell bottoms

So its a buyers market

But when the stills people catch on to using them with cameras like the new little Sony the value could rise..

"Buy it Now"

S
 
Yep, morgan said it, they are a real steal and deliever a great image on the FS100, I would definitely recommend... I am using a $15 adapter off eBay and I can change the iris fine.
 
LiamR said:
Yep, morgan said it, they are a real steal and deliever a great image on the FS100, I would definitely recommend... I am using a $15 adapter off eBay and I can change the iris fine.
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Wow. At that price, I'll learn to shoot with some primes. I can get two or three AND the adapter and still be less than $150. That's just crazy. It looks like the
50mm is the most popular focal length on ebay.
 
Canon FD all the way!! I have four now, all fast primes, 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.2 L series, and a 135mm f2, all for about $1600 with maybe a 100mm and a 28mm to go...thats a cheap way to get primes, all on E Bay from all over the world. I use the Kipon adaptor which you can get for about 60 to 80 bucks. I did some research and found that was worth a try, there are more expensive ones like the mtf at $350, but the Kipon works really well. I wanted the fastest lenses I could afford but you could get 50mm f1.8 much cheaper...The good thing is they focus the right way if you're used to following focus unlike the Nikons. I wil post some vision soon!
 
nomad-3 said:
If you ever need to do manual focus, it's either all Nikon or no Nikon at all. They focus the other way around and once your body memory settles in, it'll drive you nuts!
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If you're doing it properly you probably have a follow focus. If its a reversable FF simply moving the gear from one side to the other will change the direction you turn the FF knob. Not much of an issue.

However, if you do have all Nikon they'll probably be somewhat color matched unless you get the really old ones. Mixing different brands of lenses doesn't work as well IMHO. Tokinas seem to match pretty well. Possibly because that company was formed by former Nikon engineers.

Try to get your main lenses the same speed if you can. The 35, 50 and 85mm at F1.4. A 24 and 105 at F1.8. Otherwise you spend too much time adjusting everything with each lens change and you may not get it right. The amount of light can be jarring.

Whether Nikon or Canon FD, ask lots of questions about the condition of the lens (fungus, haze, oil, skratches, smooth operation, etc) before bidding on ebay. Half of them are defective in some way. If the seller lies about it you can get your money back.
 
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robear51 said:
Canon FD all the way!! I have four now, all fast primes, 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.2 L series, and a 135mm f2, all for about $1600 with maybe a 100mm and a 28mm to go...thats a cheap way to get primes, all on E Bay from all over the world. I use the Kipon adaptor which you can get for about 60 to 80 bucks. I did some research and found that was worth a try, there are more expensive ones like the mtf at $350, but the Kipon works really well. I wanted the fastest lenses I could afford but you could get 50mm f1.8 much cheaper...The good thing is they focus the right way if you're used to following focus unlike the Nikons. I wil post some vision soon!
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Definitely, I am watching some tasty L series lenses on eBay at the moment, but I am still waiting to see that 85mm stuff you shot :), I would definitely try and get a 50mm f1.4 over the 1.8 though, the 1.8 is the most popular one on eBay, try and get the f1.4, much sharper...
 
Duke M. said:
..ask lots of questions about the condition of the lens
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I find the condition and smoothness of old manual lenses to be absolutely critical

For example Ive got 2 85/2 nikkors, one is a little stiff, the other has a bit of backlash, honestly I use neither of them

I would say 80% of this stuff is no good for filming when it actually comes to really enjoying using them

I would suggest going to a dealer and getting hands on, or buying from a dealer who will allow an easy exchange

S
 
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