GH2 What's your preferred method for comparing lenses?

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peripatew

Well-known member
I've got several lenses that I have the opportunity to try out. Several FD's, Samyang 35/1.4, and a Voigtland 25mm. I'm still pretty new to shooting video (year or so), and plan on getting out and using the lenses a lot this weekend. BUT, what are some things you do when testing out or comparing lenses?

I'll be doing quite a bit of low-light testing. I'm somewhat limited in testing the Samyang outside as I don't have a ND that size.
I'll also be shooting in my mini studio to test the sharpness at different apertures in well lit conditions, trying to notice the level of coma wide open.

There's the artistic perspective of using the lenses, which I've still got a LOT to learn, but in terms of examining the technical aspects of the lenses, what's your process?

THANKS!
 
I would check to see how smooth the focusing is, and how much flare you see when pointing directly at a bright light source. The main reason I bought Zeiss ZF instead of Nikon AI-S, is that the Zeiss has smoother focusing. ( Nikons are also very good, but Zeiss is a bit better )
 
Technical? There are technical aspects to lenses? Oh, yeah, I guess there are.

I dunno... I grab whatever's in the yard sale or second-hand lens display case, check for specks and fungus, operation, then put it on the camera and see if I like what it renders in various conditions, then how easy it is to operate.

I've got sharp lenses and I've got unsharp lenses, lenses that distort and/or zoom, macro, autofocus, and more. Some are good for some things, others aren't so good at certain things. My go-to lenses for one job get left home on other jobs.

How to compare lenses? Shoot with them for a few days each. See which one(s) you feel like keeping afterwards.
 
Be sure to shoot the exact same scene with all the lenses so you can quickly form your conclusions about each lens.
Realizing of course that the differences may not show up in force until you shoot a variety of different scenes.
Be methodical. Compare apples to apples.
 
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