Which lenses breathe the least?

bmxbud4130

bmxbud4130

Active member
I know some SLR lenses have a tendency to breathe quite a bit when racking focus, has anybody noticed any particular lenses that show less of this?

I'm looking particularly at Canon lenses as the 7D setup I'm hoping to purchase will also be used for photography and I would like auto focus for that.
 
Thanks for posting that link, I hadn't seen that before.
I'd love to see comparison shots between Nikon and Canon glass.

A lens "breathes" when it appears to zoom as you rack focus. Some lenses show it more than others.
 
Nikon 14-24 G. There was a test on REDuser and YouTube Showing a rackfocus that had virtually NO breathing what-so-ever. It was, without a doubt, insane.
 
If we're going to Nikon territory, I would say the 17-35mm F2.8 also have very little breathing. Nikon's really scoring with wide zooms these days, I don't think it was the still photographers who asked for improvements in breathing so I don't know what pushed them to minimize this aspect.

Also the Minolta 28-70mm F2.8 G lens has great mechanical build and no freakin breathing that I can see but you can only use those on Sony DSLRs.

Weird that these zooms are better than many primes in this regard. My 50mm F1.4 nikon ai lens breathes more than these zooms.
 
That's true. I'm not sure why that is, but you're right about the 17-35, as well. How much is that Minolta 28-70/2.8??

Ryan Walters did a test between Zeiss ZF's and Zeiss MKIII Superspeeds earlier last year and found that the Zeiss ZF's breathed a little less or equally (Can't remember which) than their cinema counterparts. How odd?
 
Right, I read Ryan's blog and I think he said it might be due to the Zeiss ZF's covering a larger image area than the MKIIIs. It's true that the edges of a lens breath more than the center - it must be spherical physics or something that the center of the lens is better in all respects. I saw his posted videos and was surprised too!

Minolta 28-70mm's are about $1000 bucks, an older lens before Minolta sold everything to Sony. They can't be used on anything but Sony Alpha DSLRs and GH1s (well, every lens practically can be used on a GH1). The lens doesn't change length, and great focus feel, and virtually no breathing.
 
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