Which lens has the best IQ?

A

Alpha Beta Omega

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I have a bunch of Canon lenses, some Nikon and some Lumix (for the GH1).
The best lens I have used on the Canon 7D is the Canon EF 85/1.8. It has the greatest contrast and best sharpness of all my lenses and it's not very expensive.

Which lens gives you the best IQ on the 7D?
 
My canon 17-55mm EF-S 2.8 is pretty amazing. I've thrown it on the GH1 with an adapter and it's pretty sweet on there too. Of course no choice but to shoot at 2.8 when I do that, but the whole purpose of throwing it on the GH1 is to have a more light coming in.

I've got a weird collection of lenses. I've got a 6X7 SMC Takumar 105mm 2.4 that is insanely amazing.

Zeiss 85mm 1.4 AEG is probably the best of the bunch though. I've never had a single complaint with a photo or piece of video I've shot with that lens.
 
85mm lenses in generell are very sharp and has great contrast. I had a Nikkor 85/1.8 before the Canon 85/1.8 and they both are about equal. Great lenses! Maybe 85mm is a sweet spot for optimal optics?
 
pix2pixels said:
You'll be surprised that a $60 Jupiter 9 (85 f2) might look the same if not better (nicer bokeh, interesting flare...) on the 7D in 'movie mode'.
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I wouldn't be surprised at all; I've been testing brilliant lenses versus mediocre lenses versus awful lenses, and the DSLR's "movie mode" is the great equalizer. Sharp optics help in shooting stills, but sharp optics don't do a thing good for the movie mode, and in fact exaggerate the problems that can occur.

Of course, good optics do have other characteristics (coloration, contrast, uniformity, etc) which all help, and would be vital for stills.

But for video shooting in the movie mode, you just don't need to spend a lot to get something that can deliver everything the 7D (or 5D or GH1 or K-X or 1D Mk IV or D3s)'s movie modes are capable of.
 
As I have a Nikon 85 1.8, I should put them side by side. For now I have a GH1 and hopefully, mid January I could test them on the 1D4 as well.
 
Barry_Green said:
I wouldn't be surprised at all; I've been testing brilliant lenses versus mediocre lenses versus awful lenses, and the DSLR's "movie mode" is the great equalizer. Sharp optics help in shooting stills, but sharp optics don't do a thing good for the movie mode, and in fact exaggerate the problems that can occur.

Of course, good optics do have other characteristics (coloration, contrast, uniformity, etc) which all help, and would be vital for stills.

But for video shooting in the movie mode, you just don't need to spend a lot to get something that can deliver everything the 7D (or 5D or GH1 or K-X or 1D Mk IV or D3s)'s movie modes are capable of.
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Then the reason you are working with Zeiss ZF lenses is more to future proof for things like Scarlet or to use with other cameras you have?
 
I had a shoot yesterday and used a bunch of Canon glass. The sharpest was in fact the 85/1.8 even wide open. But all lenses we used came out really nice.
Using my GH1 and 20/1.7 to make a BTS I liked even this tiny lens at 1.7.

We tend to use lenses wide open to achieve shallow dof and as much light input as possible and the lens that has the greatest IQ wide open of the lenses we use does appear to have the best IQ. The 85/1.8 is tack sharp at 1.8 but i.e the 50/1.2 is softer at 1.2. It does get better at 1.6 which we used during yesterdays shoot. Even 2.2 for some shoots due the difficulty to pull focus.

Many lenses are best around 5.6 but it's just to slow for making video so one tend to use most lenses in lesser setting than what the lens actually can achieve.
 
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saneproductions said:
Then the reason you are working with Zeiss ZF lenses is more to future proof for things like Scarlet or to use with other cameras you have?
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Exactly. I think the crippled DSLR video thing is a temporary phase, whereas great glass is great forever. And, it also matters for still shots; better lenses produce better stills, because the DSLR in still mode is capable of taking advantage of the higher resolving power of the better lenses.

All I'm saying about this is -- for people who can't afford great glass, don't worry -- the DSLR you want to use it on can't even take advantage of probably 10% of what the great glass can do. If money's tight, spend it elsewhere. Get a few cheap CZJ or Takumar or Nikon or Canon lenses off ebay, and don't worry about not having the $900 to $1500 lenses, because they're not going to to a thing for your image.
 
Rory_B said:
My canon 17-55mm EF-S 2.8 is pretty amazing. I've thrown it on the GH1 with an adapter and it's pretty sweet on there too. Of course no choice but to shoot at 2.8 when I do that, but the whole purpose of throwing it on the GH1 is to have a more light coming in.

I've got a weird collection of lenses. I've got a 6X7 SMC Takumar 105mm 2.4 that is insanely amazing.

Zeiss 85mm 1.4 AEG is probably the best of the bunch though. I've never had a single complaint with a photo or piece of video I've shot with that lens.
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I have a Pentax 6x7 with 45mm / 105mm and 200mm Takumar lenses plus a 2x extender. Fantastic medium format lenses. What adapter do you have to mount them on the 7D?
 
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