GH2 Why are Nikon/Canon Lens preferred?

J

JChang

Active member
Reading through the forums lately have got me wondering why the old canon fd and nikon lens so popular? Is it because they are both cheap, beautiful and abundant?

How about old FF Pentax lens? Why doesn't there seem to be love for them considering they are also old and good lens?

Then how do all of these compare to things like the voigt and zeiss?

Love to hear what everyone has to say.
 
It comes down to quantity.

Pentax have some great old glass, but there are fewer of them around. As the demand for these lenses has risen in recent years due to DSLR video (where old MF glass is suddenly useful again), it means the already rare lenses become even harder to find and as such the price goes up. Canon and Nikon, on the other hand, are far more abundant so the increased demand has not driven the price up as much - meaning a better price/quality ratio.
 
For the cost of one Zeiss Planar 50mm f1.7 you can get a whole gaggle of Canon FD glass. If you compare that one Zeiss Planar to old Nikkor. you only get half a gaggle, but still a bunch to play with.

I dumped the whole legacy glass thing and have gone almost pure Lumix M4/3 and am far happier.
 
There has been a paradigm shift in the last few years as new lens designs, new micro-coatings, new motors and so on have come online. Basically, even though my old glass is really good, even the lowly Panasonic 20mm just kills the competition in edge sharpness wide open.
 
DrDave said:
There has been a paradigm shift in the last few years as new lens designs, new micro-coatings, new motors and so on have come online. Basically, even though my old glass is really good, even the lowly Panasonic 20mm just kills the competition in edge sharpness wide open.
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Yeah, that's the thing with older lenses, they tend to be soft or hazy wide open. However, stopping them down a click or two usually fixes that, but of course you lose a little light/dof.

If I'm going for a "cinematic look" for video, I'll pick older lenses and stop them down a click. Otherwise, I use native 4/3rd's glass, especially for still photography.
 
Heck, I prefer the look of vintage lenses over the brand new ones. Modern, state-of-the-art lenses have a coldness and sterility that just doesn't appeal to me. I'd much rather give up clinical sharpness and so-called "perfection" in order to use a lens that gives the image character, especially for filmmaking.
 
Well I use legacy Pentax and Rokkor on my GH2, and have only good things to say about them. If you are patient on EBay I wouldn't agree they are more expensive than Canikon - just somewhat scarcer.
 
What do you think of the old Nikon F2 series lens? Hopefully it would work and I could find a converter. My dad has a bunch of these lenses and would love to try them with a GH2. Anyone try the old 35mm F2 series lens?
 
Deer Film said:
What do you think of the old Nikon F2 series lens? Hopefully it would work and I could find a converter. My dad has a bunch of these lenses and would love to try them with a GH2. Anyone try the old 35mm F2 series lens?
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I've used the Wife's 28 f/2 Nikkor for her Nikon F... just ignore the linkage for the meter, and all is well... I believe she bought it new in 1974-5 or so. The adapter cost $60 on ebay... not the 'best in the world' but for me serviceable.

I think with few exceptions, one can use any of the bayonet type Nikkor lenses made for the Nikon SLR's of the last 50 years... so, that could explain at least part of the popularity of Nikon.

My only connection so to speak with Pentax, is 70's vintage 'threaded' mount types that were a hassle to change.
 
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Fd 50mm 1.4 is great but contax zeiss 28mm 2.8 is unbeatable.There is something stable about Glass lenses which compels you to shoot for a reason.its the old classical analog shadow putting a check on snappy digital ways. It's convergence of sort which is an option for many creatives. Though its not for everyone....full digital lenses are tempting out of convenience ,but glass gives us room to think.room to discover magical results from non plastic optics.
 
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