GH4 Vintage lenses for Video and Documentary work?

S

SMSabir

Member
I am in process of getting the GH4 in near future and I already own 8 or 10 vintage lenses mostly with M42 and EF mount.

Can anyone please suggest few really high quality vintage prime lenses that will work awesome with GH4 for documentary and video songs?

Also I was able to purchase Mitakone Focal Reducer (EF to M4/3) and also one another Focal Reducer (M42 to M4/3) so in a way I am going for manual lenses.

To be honest it took me more then a year to save up for a GH4 and few focal reducers so I can not imagine buying Metabone Speed Booster adapter (XL version seems like a dream) so due to financial restrictions I am sticking with vintage lenses which are low in price and hopefully will give good output.

So yeh if anyone can please suggest about the best vintage prime lenses then it would be awesome.

Thanks.
 
Nikkor AI-s primes are really good, but there are now so many people doing just this that the prices have really gone up.

Most of the good focal lengths are going to be at least $300 per lens with many being closer to $500.
2 years ago they were much cheaper.

I have several of these lenses but I probably won't add any more because new Rokinon Cine lenses are about the same price now.

Canon FD lenses can be VERY nice, and they tend to have slightly more of a vintage look than the Nikkors do. I have a couple of them and they were incredible bargains for what I paid on eBay.
 
Olympus and Pentax also made (and still make) some nice lenses. In fact I've read at least one comparison of vintage 24mm lenses that declared the Olympus the winner. Also, Olympus even makes their own adapter for OM vintage lenses to MFT (mechanical only though, no focal reducer).
 
I have a pretty big collection of Olympus OM Zuiko lenses from the 70's and 80's. Sometimes I use them on a speedbooster and some times not. They definitely have the sharpest contrast and the least color cast of the vintage photography lenses that I've tried.

On another note, you will still want to get a really wide angle native m43 lens at some point. Due to the crop factor and especially the crop factor in 4K, all the vintage glass ends up being somewhat telephoto. Even with a speed booster a 24mm vintage lens acts like a normal 50mm on a full frame camera in 4K UHD mode. I would highly recommend a 15mm Panasonic or 12mm Olympus m.zuiko m43 lens for just about any type of indoor work. If you use them wide open at f/1.7 or f/2 they intermix really well with the vintage glass as they aren't so tack sharp as the 25 and 42.5 mm native lenses. YMMV, but just a thought for down the road.

Cheers,
Pete
 
You should grab a Canon FD 50 f/1.4 just because they are cheap as can be at around $40. They let in a fair amount of light and work good for a close up/talking head shots. Add a cheap ($135) ebay focal reducer and you may be able to get a tight mid shot to go with that extra stop of light.
 
+1 to comment about a m43 native wide lens
&
+1 to Canon FD 50mm 1.4... fast, cheap and can look great. Use with or without a speedbooster, but you will need an FD to M43 adapter - lots of cheap ones out there.
&
re: C-mount... I LOVE the idea, but have just never found one that really works. I've not tries to spend for one on eBay, but do scour garage sales, craigslist and local
camera stores where ever I go.
 
DPStewart thanks for the reply

DPStewart thanks for the reply

DPStewart thanks for the reply, the Canon FD Lenses sounds like a very good idea, I have thought about the FD and old Nikor primes, so would definitely opt for that, originally I was thinking to grab a few Rokinon/Samyang Cine lenses (24, 35, 50 and 85) though felt that I should stick with vintage lenses for now and once I am making money (I seriously doubt it :) ) from this stuff then I will buy quality Cine lenses set :)
DPStewart said:
Nikkor AI-s primes are really good, but there are now so many people doing just this that the prices have really gone up. Most of the good focal lengths are going to be at least $300 per lens with many being closer to $500. 2 years ago they were much cheaper. I have several of these lenses but I probably won't add any more because new Rokinon Cine lenses are about the same price now. Canon FD lenses can be VERY nice, and they tend to have slightly more of a vintage look than the Nikkors do. I have a couple of them and they were incredible bargains for what I paid on eBay.
Click to expand...
 
Shenan thanks for the reply

Shenan thanks for the reply

Shenan to be honest the 24mm sounds awesome, it may sounds odd but I have never been a big fan of 50mm and 85mm, even at times 35mm feels a bit too much but 24mm sounds JUST RIGHT. I will definitely look into it and will contact my vintage lenses guy for Olympus 24mm, thanks for the suggestion :)
Shenan said:
Olympus and Pentax also made (and still make) some nice lenses. In fact I've read at least one comparison of vintage 24mm lenses that declared the Olympus the winner. Also, Olympus even makes their own adapter for OM vintage lenses to MFT (mechanical only though, no focal reducer).
Click to expand...
 
c3hammer thanks for the reply

c3hammer thanks for the reply

cehammer honestly I don't know why but with time I am also becoming a lense collector, I always tell myself that I should stick with more logical lenses but every time I am getting more and more (maybe because they are cheap :) ) I am definitely up for razor sharp lenses and because in the end of the day whether its HD or 4K we want the sharp footage. I don't have the speedbooster or better to say right now its not in my budget range so I have opted for two Chinese focal reducer adapters, one is Mitakone EF to M43 and other is unbranded M42 to M43, so I hope I will get the quality results from my existing vintage collection. Also saw an unbranded Chinese Fish Eye lens on ebay for $160 or $180 and honestly tempted to get it.
c3hammer said:
I have a pretty big collection of Olympus OM Zuiko lenses from the 70's and 80's. Sometimes I use them on a speedbooster and some times not. They definitely have the sharpest contrast and the least color cast of the vintage photography lenses that I've tried. On another note, you will still want to get a really wide angle native m43 lens at some point. Due to the crop factor and especially the crop factor in 4K, all the vintage glass ends up being somewhat telephoto. Even with a speed booster a 24mm vintage lens acts like a normal 50mm on a full frame camera in 4K UHD mode. I would highly recommend a 15mm Panasonic or 12mm Olympus m.zuiko m43 lens for just about any type of indoor work. If you use them wide open at f/1.7 or f/2 they intermix really well with the vintage glass as they aren't so tack sharp as the 25 and 42.5 mm native lenses. YMMV, but just a thought for down the road. Cheers, Pete
Click to expand...
 
estarkey7 thanks for the reply

estarkey7 thanks for the reply

estarkey7 I am definitely thinking to get FD primes now, lets see what I can get from my local market. Thanks.
estarkey7 said:
You should grab a Canon FD 50 f/1.4 just because they are cheap as can be at around $40. They let in a fair amount of light and work good for a close up/talking head shots. Add a cheap ($135) ebay focal reducer and you may be able to get a tight mid shot to go with that extra stop of light.
Click to expand...
 
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