Which prime lens focal lengths to get?

I'm also tryin' to find a "wide" lens for my Panasonic GH1, especially FD lenses since I purchased an FD adapter on ebay.
Do you know Quantary lenses? I found the Quantary 24 mmf/2.5.
Do you think it will be a good lens, because it's cheaper than the Canon FD 24mm f2, or even f2.8!
What's the reputation of this lens manufacturer?

Thanx in advance! And thanx for this thread, it rocks!
 
Quantary FD lenses are inferior to Canon FD lenses in the still camera world. For me, I'd go with the Canon. I have the Canon FD 24mm F/2 and it's a very good lens F/2.8 is also good but not as fast. Also, If you are planning on getting other Canon glass to match your footy. It would be best to stick with Canon. Having said that if you pick up this lens for like $50 then go for it and try it out.
 
Thanx Gmoe! Actually i found a quantary 24mm f/2.5 for 45$! I find it a cool price... I agree with you about the fact to stick to Canon, i'm gonna think twice... Because i already have a canon FD 50 mm 1.4, and I plan to purchase a 24mm, a 35mm and maybe later a 85mm.
 
Nikon DX wides suffer from the problem of being G lenses. In any case there isn't a really fast wide in the Nikon DX lineup. There's just the 10-24/3.5-45 and the 12-24/4. For F/2.8 you'll need the expensive and not very useful 14-24/2.8, which is not a DX lens.

Tokina has the 11-16/2.8, but it's also aperture ring-less. And that's about it for fast wides. Sigma has 10-20/3.5, but it's close enough to f/4 that I'd rather pick the smaller, light and wider Lumix 7-14/4.
 
Kholi said:
The 28/2.8 is an awesome lens. Congrats on the acquisition.

I've just pinned down a full set of Zeiss Zfs. Will have them soon. Although at the moment it only goes up to 100mm I can't wait to give these a full on run in production and play. I'll definitley be doing some light comparisons, especially between the cy zeiss 85/1.4 and zeiss ze 85/1.4.

Will report back with my findings for those interested in primary differences. Actually afraid I may like the ZFs more!

If so I'll probably keep the cy zooms and the telephoto primes until the zf line-up matures on the long end.
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Kholi, did you ever do the comparisons between the CY & ZE Zeiss lenses?

Have a chance to pick up a 85mm F1.4 T* (CY) but the coating has numerous scratches. However I don't think it makes a difference to image quality. Asking price is £200. The temptation...
 
You guys all got me onto the Contax band wagon! Especially Kholi, even though you are moving more towards the ZE or ZF Zeiss lenses.

I've got the 85 1.4 cy and am now looking for a wider lens. Probably the 28 2.8 as the 28 2 is too damned expensive. Man I learned alot about lens buying in the past 2 days. Went to about 20 2nd hand shops here in Hong Kong and looked at hundreds of lenses.

The most important thing:

You need to look at a lens in person.

So many things can be bad. Bad front, bad back, fungus, the mechanics can be bad. A floating element in the lens can be broken. Things which get easily lost in an image of off ebay.

Sold some lenses aswell. That's an adventure over here. You need to estimate the price of your lenses and then haggle alot :D

Always start with a higher price (or lower if you buy something) than go a little lower and wait for his answer. Look really undecided. When the buyer doesn't want to change his price anymore into your direction, try to walk away. When they see you are leaving they normally change their mind. Repeat until you are satisfied.

Talked alot with the owner of one shop selling only better lenses and luxury watches. He showed me some quite expensive c-mount lenses. 25mm f0.95. Those are so tiny lenses. They do make a nice image, even though there is some vignetting on this particular lens.

He told me with the rise of the micro 4/3 system the c mount lenses went up in price already and will go even higher in the future. He said other manufacturers might introduce the m4/3 system as well.
 
Mike@AF said:
Is there any distortion with the Nikon 20 or 24?
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I have the 24/2.8 and used it on the GH1 and Yes it has distortion. All wide angle lenses show distortion to various degree. The Panasonic 20/1.7 is helped by software correction so it does not look that bad. The 24/2.8 also likes to flare so keep light source away from the lens. It is a very sharp and short lens though.
 
I find that the Leica 25mm 1.4 is relatively free of distortion and shows minimal breathing. It also can autofocus (although not during recording) using the DMW-MA1 adapter. And it's a great lens for stills.
 
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