Top 5 must have lens for a GH1?

Martti Ekstrand said:
How about the FD 24mm f/2.0? Got one and like it a lot. Can be had for quite a bit less than the huge 1.4 version.
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Great lens. Very sharp. 24mm f1.4 L (or, even better older Aspherical) is great, too - not so sharp, but faster... I have both.
More great FD primes I recommend are (and I have almost every Canon FD lens ever released up to 200mm):
35mm f2.0 (compact, quite sharp, useful focal length for 4/3 but beware of the radioactive version - it's sharper and better for b&w stills, but your footage will have orange cast)
50mm f1.4 (cheap and great), but I love my 55mm f1.2 Aspherical, too (heavy piece of glass, though)
85mm f1.2L or (cheaper and lighter) 1.8
135 f2.0 is amazing, too, but you won't use it on 4/3 too much.

I'm yet to find wideangle lens to match my FDs set well. My 20mm f2.8 becomes ~40, which is not as wide as I'd like to go sometimes :(
 
trez said:
I'm yet to find wideangle lens to match my FDs set well. My 20mm f2.8 becomes ~40, which is not as wide as I'd like to go sometimes :(
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The Canon FD fisheye 15 f 2.8 should match well your lens set. Or (for a cheaper alternative) the Zenitar FD fisheye 16 f 2.8.
 
thats like $700 lens. why not get tokina 11-16mm? samyang 14mm? those exhibit barrel distortion though. i plan to use the kit zoom to get 28mm equivalent for scenic landscape. of course no panning due to the distortion.
 
The Zenitar is in the $180 range (may have slight barrel distortion though).
The Tokina is fantastic, but it's in the $600 range and it may not match well the image of other FD lenses of the set (sharper, different color).
 
Kostas - very good point. I'm just about to pull the trigger on this 15mm lens. Haven't seen any pictures (anyone using it on GH?), but hope it will do its job just fine. 14mm would be really nice as well, but it's so expensive...
Didn't consider Zenitar - will definitely have a look at this lens! Thanks for your suggestion
 
trez said:
Kostas - very good point. I'm just about to pull the trigger on this 15mm lens. Haven't seen any pictures (anyone using it on GH?), but hope it will do its job just fine. 14mm would be really nice as well, but it's so expensive...
Didn't consider Zenitar - will definitely have a look at this lens! Thanks for your suggestion
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Trez which 15mm are you talking about?
 
panny 20mm pancake - compact. a must have.
panny 14-140mm zoom - nicknamed 爆速のAF in japan. detonating fast AF.
nikkor 50mm 1.4 ais - if i must carry 2 lenses, i carry pancake and this nifty fifty.
nikkor 85mm 1.4 ais - the longest focal length prime at 1.4. beautiful bokeh. but expensive 72mm filters!!!
vivitar 28mm 2.0 fd - cheap. better MF control than the pancake. well match to nikkor lenses.
 
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I have an olympus adaptor that I haven't found any use for so far.

Any olympus fans out there? What would be your must have primes? Are old olympus lenses good value similar to FD's? (Not sure if the mount is obsolete in the same way.)

Also... noob prime question here. In video mode.... since you are setting aperture manually... does the light metering assist work as usual in creative movie mode? i.e. can you still use those little bars at the bottom of the screen to get correct exposure (shutter speed being set at 1/50 PAL.)
 
I have been using the canon 50mm, 1.4 almost exclusively. And lately, I have been shooting using the Dynamic Black and White setting in the GH1. This really gets some great results. Here's a recent video with this combination:

http://www.vimeo.com/15530835
 
Are you shooting 60p on purpose? I like the tonal quality of the FD50/1.5 and the B&W but the footage has a marked video feel to it with very little motion blur, which is ironic given that the subject matter is film. I also find the lack of motion blur works against the look of black and white, which evokes classic cinema. My 2 cents. But I am curious if you shoot 60p purposefully for that effect.

larrys said:
I have been using the canon 50mm, 1.4 almost exclusively. And lately, I have been shooting using the Dynamic Black and White setting in the GH1. This really gets some great results. Here's a recent video with this combination:

http://www.vimeo.com/15530835
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the doc said:
Also... noob prime question here. In video mode.... since you are setting aperture manually... does the light metering assist work as usual in creative movie mode? i.e. can you still use those little bars at the bottom of the screen to get correct exposure (shutter speed being set at 1/50 PAL.)
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i forget what "creative" movie mode is, but in manual movie mode (we may be talking about the same thing) the light meter does work seemingly with any lens.
 
Shaveblog. Very simply, I like the way this looks for interviews which is all I really use the camera for. By the way, audio is with the H4n, Sennheiser mic and pluraleyes. It all works very nicely.
 
trez said:
Great lens. Very sharp. 24mm f1.4 L (or, even better older Aspherical) is great, too - not so sharp, but faster... I have both.
More great FD primes I recommend are (and I have almost every Canon FD lens ever released up to 200mm):
35mm f2.0 (compact, quite sharp, useful focal length for 4/3 but beware of the radioactive version - it's sharper and better for b&w stills, but your footage will have orange cast)
50mm f1.4 (cheap and great), but I love my 55mm f1.2 Aspherical, too (heavy piece of glass, though)
85mm f1.2L or (cheaper and lighter) 1.8
135 f2.0 is amazing, too, but you won't use it on 4/3 too much.

I'm yet to find wideangle lens to match my FDs set well. My 20mm f2.8 becomes ~40, which is not as wide as I'd like to go sometimes :(
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Funny you mention it, the 135 f2 is probably one of my favorite lenses. Mine is stunningly sharp and cleaner CA correction than my 85mm f1.8 FD.

I've also had pretty good results with the Olympus Zuiko 11-22mm 4/3 lens on my GH1. I think it is an often overlooked wide angle option. Exceptionally sturdy build quality, much better than the newer 9-18mm and unlike the Panasonic 7-14mm you can actually mount ND filters on it ( or even a matte box).
 
So many choices...

Panny 20mm pancake - Compact. AE/AF button and lock make it easy to do one-time pre autofocus and ready to MF quickly.
Panny 14-140mm zoom - Nicknamed 爆速のAF in japan. Detonating fast AF. "Almost" stepless aperture as some user pointed it out. Great for sunny outdoor.
Nikkor 50mm 1.4 ais - If I must carry 2 lenses, I carry the pancake and this.
Nikkor 85mm 1.4 ais - The longest focal length prime at 1.4. Beautiful bokeh. But expensive 72mm filters!!!
Pentax 25mm 1.4 cctv lens - Just for fun

Wider primes are either slow or expensive. I'm searching for fast Fujiton or Canon tv lens for indoor event shooting.
 
I asked this question on another thread but haven't received a reply.

Just wondering what primes might cut well with the 20mm pancake and the kit lens. Canon FD apparently much softer/less contrasty/more organic looking. What about Nikkor 50 1.4/1.8? Konica Hexanon 40mm? Zeiss Contax ($$$$$s)?

Thanks in advance.
 
xocomil said:
I asked this question on another thread but haven't received a reply.

Just wondering what primes might cut well with the 20mm pancake and the kit lens. Canon FD apparently much softer/less contrasty/more organic looking. What about Nikkor 50 1.4/1.8? Konica Hexanon 40mm? Zeiss Contax ($$$$$s)?

Thanks in advance.
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This clip features the Contax G Zeiss Planar 45 f 2.0 on the hacked GH1: http://vimeo.com/12718346
Hopefully, this can give an idea of this specific lens. I think this has Leica type sharp image from wide open (so it would intercut well with the sharp pancake).
I have not in mind any specific clips with the other lenses you mention to quote here, but maybe a search on vimeo, or some input from other gh1 users...
 
The Konica Hexanon 40mm f1.8 is also meant to be ultra-sharp, so could cut in well with the 20mm pancake. I'm on the lookout for one at the moment, so I'll post up some tests if I can find one! This guy uses the pancake + hexanon 40mm, and it looks good to me in terms of matching:

http://vimeo.com/10743390
 
Barry Green posted this on the AF100 forum and I think it's a great summary of the 14-140, f4-5.8 kit lens:

"The Lumix 14-140 is almost a must-have. It's a great lens, great range, great OIS, video autofocus, excellent feedback to the camera on focus and iris position, it holds focus throughout the zoom range, and the lens/camera combination work together to eliminate barrel distortion and CAC. It's slow at f/4, but then again it's cheap and powerful. Excellent default lens."
 
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