Advice on older Nikon and Canon Lenses for Digital Cinematography

[Curt Schulz]

I have a few old Nikon AIS lenses from my FM2 (I loved that camera but sadly don't shoot any film anymore) Shooting with an adapter on a friend's 7D I love the contrast and look of these lenses verses the super sharp modern canon glass. I would like to put together a set of primes of older glass (from ebay etc) that will make digital look more organic and a little less sharp. I guess the main contenders are Canon, Nikon and Zeiss. Do you have any recommendations from your experience shooting digital? It would be great if any one shooting with older still lenses can list the lenses they like best and what they paid for them if they bought them used. Thanks in advance!

 

[Richard Foster]

I've been using Nikon Glass for 40 years. My favorite AIS lenses are the 35, 50, 85 f1.4. Next are the 24 f2, 55 f2.8, and 105 f1.8. I also have the oddball 16 f2.8 cropped fisheye. All of these are great on my Red MX. I round out my set with three newer zooms, all newer f2.8 ED AFS, the 17-35, 28-70, and 80-200. I like the 17-35 at it's wide point better than the 18, and it's a 2.8. Buy from reputable dealers on ebay lenses in pristine condition and expect to pay from 350.00 to 750.00 on the primes and around 1000.00 for the zooms.

 

[Curt Schulz]

Richard, thank you very much for your experience and thoughts on the matter!

 

[Greg Fiske]

I've got a LEICA 50MM SUMMICRON-R F2 that I think lacks the contrast you are looking for, but has a great softness to it. Paid $450 for it.

 

[Mike P.]

It may just be me (or my glass) but my Nikkor 50 and 85 f2 resolve so much better than my 24 and 35 f2 (which are all AI, except the 50, which is an AIS). It could be the focal lengths, but the difference is enough to be noticeable on even low-res Canon footage (although it could be noticeable BECAUSE of Canon's low-res footage).

That said, I love the 50 and 85... It's almost difficult to make them look bad.

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

I will have to disagree with Richard on the 35. I think it's a terrible lens, or, at least, our version was. It was WAY soft wide open. What I DO strongly recommend is the Sigma 30mm f1.4 for Nikon. But you'll need a Nikon mount that allows for iris control in order to use it. With that 30mm Sigma, and the 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.4 I could shoot an entire feature film. In fact, I have.



Stephen

 

[Richard Foster]

Here is a lens test at 100% from the 35mm f1.4 Nikon. There is variation in individual still lenses sometimes, even with the best. This a is a crop at 100% magnification.

I have added the full frame for reference too.

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

I will have to disagree with Richard on the 35. I think it's a terrible lens, or, at least, our version was. It was WAY soft wide open. What I DO strongly recommend is the Sigma 30mm f1.4 for Nikon. But you'll need a Nikon mount that allows for iris control in order to use it. With that 30mm Sigma, and the 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.4 I could shoot an entire feature film. In fact, I have.



Stephen

Have you had your lens looked at? I mean by a repair shop(no snarkiness please)
Most of the time the service and maintenance is completely ignored with still lenses as they were maintenance- free- which they are not I assure you...

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

We did not. We have encountered a lot of other folks who don't like the 35mm, either. As it happens, we sold all of our Nikons when we went with the Canon/Birger/Impero system. And I LOVE that 35mm Canon f1.4!

Stephen

 

[Chris Sattlberger]

Interestingly, on the RED (both M and MX) the older Nikon lenses look a lot better than new ones in my experience.

 

[Dave Blackham]

We use mainly AI lenses for timelapse but also have some Cinevised Zooms. Primes are mainly 20,, 28mm, 35mm f2.8 and 50mm 1.8mm we dont need very fast primes for TL for the most part.

We have not used the primes yet for cinematography work. Ive always been under the impression that the AI's were near same as the AIS lenses but had a longer focus throw which is the reason for the preference.

Is there a Nikon resource that is available for lens comparison (Ive done the usual scouring of the internet and found quite a bit of info) ? and what do you guys feel is the most suitable series of lenses to use for motion picture work and why. I realise the drawbacks of the lenses for non cinewise rotation etc.

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

See Richard's post above.

 

[David Kellermann]

Here's a great database for Nikon lenses

http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/lenses.html

I have nearly finished my set of cheap Nikon AI-s lenses. You could spend much more to get the hightspeed versions, but f2,8 is normaly ok for me and they are way cheeper.

20mm f2.8
24mm f2.8
28mm f2.8
35mm f2
50mm f1.4
55mm f2.8 (Macro)
85mm f2
105mm f2.5
135mm f2.8
180mm f2.8

I'll probably declick and check them at Nikon Germany in Cologne. Also I added these filter rings:

http://www.cordvision.com/52mm-cine-ring-80mm-o-d/

You get them for $15 from Michael Althaus on this forum:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?67100-Lens-Upgrade-(For-Still-Image-Lenses)

As gear rings I'll maybe use the ones from JBK Cinequipt

http://www.jbkcinequipt.com/product21.htm

Only problem might be that some of the lenses extend when pulling focus, so I'll probably have to get custom delrin rings made to compensate for the extension of the lens barrel.