Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Best Nikon Lens?

Kennan Ward said:
Steve,

Thank you THANK YOU! You have given so much great information on lenses through the years!!!!! As an avid Nikon shooter I love my OLDER Nikon Lenses. I too am a ND, Polarizer fan.

This summer I used the Nikon 200-400 F4 with Douglas Underdahl"s Iris Adjustable for non aperture lenses see:

http://www.longvalleyequip.com/gdxmount.php

I am extremely happy with the final sequences!

I am still keeping it simple ..... (KISS).... and use the 17-35 F2.8 and the 60mm f2.8 micro Nikon for the mid zone. I love that minimal glass!!!!!! Also, 50-300 F4 my second love, 400 F2.8 and or 200-400 F4!!!!

Steve,

What's next, can we use these lenses on EPIC, Sorry I have been out of the loop!

Best,

Kennan
Click to expand...

Welcome back from Alaska Kennan! Can't wait to check out your new footage. Thank you for the kind words...much appreciated.

For nature, sports, and wildlife shooting that Nikon 200-400 is one of the lenses on my "definitely buy" list for sure. As a mobile wildlife cinematographer you definitely know that keeping rig weight down is critical to mobility - thus no matte box, you use screw on ND and Pola filters, and rarely a follow focus. Your camera setups are very well thought out - you have it totally dialed in

Of all my Nikon (and Nikon mount) zooms, the ones I use most often are the 11-16 (Tokina), 14-24, 17-35, AF 80-200 (not AF-D), and 50-300 AIS. Of all my Nikon primes, the ones I use most are my 14mm f/2.8, 28mm f/2.8, 85mm f/1.4 AIS, 180mm f/2.8 AIS, and 400mm f/3.5 AIS.

RED's 12/3 announcement for Epic and Scarlet included quickly (1 minute) changeable mounts in PL, RED, Nikon, and Canon. Naturally that is subject to change, but IMO the final specifications will include those four mounts being available. I won't speculate on what the Nikon mount for Epic/Scarlet will or won't feature - whether it will be a dumb mount or have some electronic capability. That will remain to be seen. If it is a dumb mount, I would foresee 3rd party developers making electronics capable Nikon (and Canon) mounts for those cameras. Until the specifications for Epic and Scarlet are finalized by RED, nothing is for certain on that - we'll see!
 
Steve Gibby said:
For nature, sports, and wildlife shooting that Nikon 200-400 is one of the lenses on my "definitely buy" list for sure.
Click to expand...
The older manual focus 200-400mm is harder to find, but goes for 2-3k on ebay. Maybe this would be a better choice for the Red? It has an aperture ring, and probably better focus throw and feel. The new version has IS, but I suppose that doesn't work on Red.

Bjørn Rørslett likes it: "This zoom lens, only available for a short period in the mid 1980's, probably has the best build and workmanship of any Nikkor seen and used by me."
http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_zoom_03.html#MF200-400ED
 
Nils,

Thanks for that additional info on the 200-400 zoom :thumbsup:

I'm definitely going to look for a 200-400.

The cool thing is that with 35mm stills lenses on RED we have so many interesting options. I love the look of RED footage shot using Nikon AIS and Canon FD lenses. Good glass and coatings don't change - they stay good - and now with RED One (and shortly Epic and Scarlet), those older lenses are affordable and can generate some incredible images.
 
So true Steve,

I now use Zeiss ZF lenses/Nikon zooms that i like a lot.

BUT!!!!!

I have also a full set of superb Canon FD lenses that i kept just in case i can use them with the EPIC.

I've made superb images with the RED/Canon FD combo, VERY different from the Zeiss ZF look.

These lenses have something special.

Cheers!

Antoine
 
Antoine Fabi said:
I have also a full set of superb Canon FD lenses that i kept just in case i can use them with the EPIC.

I've made superb images with the RED/Canon FD combo, VERY different from the Zeiss ZF look.

These lenses have something special.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you Antoine...there are some exceptional Canon FD lenses. Depending on the mount situation with Epic and Scarlet, I plan to collect some more FD lenses for my camera kits.

The two Canon FD lenses I own and use regularly are the FD 800mm f/5.6L and the FD 150-600 f/5.6L zoom. I love the warm filmic look of those long focal length FD lenses for my sports and wildlife shooting.

Now I need to collect some of the good FD wide angle and mid focal length lenses. Nikon AIS and Canon FD both can generate exceptional footage on RED One, and IMO on Epic and Scarlet to come.
 
Hi Steve,

Yep! RED One loves Canon FD lenses.

Here are the ones that i kept after testing a great number of models.

20mm f2.8 super sharp, rich looking.
28mm f2 supersharp but not rich looking.
35mm f2 super sharp and rich looking.
50mm f1.2 super sharp from f2 and rich looking
55mm f1.2 super sharp from f2 and rich looking
85mm f1.2 super sharp from f1.8 and rich looking.

35-105 f3.5 Very nice for exteriors.
80-200 f4 L, looks like an old bazooka, but man the images are gorgeous.

Antoine
 
To jump in this FD arena here I do have and also frequently use on my RED1 the following FD lenses:

Canon 24mm FD L f/1.4 excellent lens
Canon 50mm FD L f/1.2 excellent lens
Canon 85mm FD L f/1.2 excellent lens
Canon 35-105mm FD f/3.5 pretty good lens

Angenieux 35-70mm FD f/2.5-3.3 excellent lens
Angenieux 70-210mm FD f/3.5 excellent lens
 
Marc Berger said:
The 24-70mm have a incredible sharpness, but image shift (strong) and doesn´t hold focus. The best results I get with the 17-55mm 2,8 (DX) which have minimal breathing, no image shift and holds focus. Incredible lens for the price and covers 4,5K.
Marc
Click to expand...

I have tested the Nikon 17-55mm 2,8 (DX) with a Nikon DSLR and I felt it was perfect for video use.
I want to buy a good zoom for my future Canon 7D, maybe with this adaptor http://www.16-9.net/nikon_g/ should work OK?

What about a wide zoom 17-55 from canon with no breathing, and with hold focus through the zoom? Any experiences?

Waiting for Scarlet 2/3 impatiently!

Thanks.
 
Is anyone using a screw on pro-mist filter on the nikon lenses? I would love to see a untreated frame grab?
 
shot this on a D3s as a quick test so its kinda all over the place, all shots come from either the 14-24/2.8 or the 24-70/2.8...

http://www.vimeo.com/7943765

I use the nikon zooms on my red all the time... also love the zeiss zf... the 100 mil is really nice.. as many have said the focus throw on the zf are really smooth; since the zeiss are manual focus from birth they are design with focus in mind.
 
anyone using the nikon 14mm. If so i'd like to see some frame grabs if you find the time.
 
Two of the best Nikon has ever made are the 17-35 2.8 f/2.8 AF-S and 28-70 f/2.8 AF-S. Supposedly the new 14-24 and 24-70 replacements are even better but neither have aperture rings.

Thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top