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  • 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 :)

more questions picking a lens set

Peter Osinski

Peter Osinski

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Hey Guys,

So far I have asked about zeiss zf and nikon ais on these forums as I continue to find the right glass. The ais glass looks like it is a good trade off between price and performance but really suffers wide open. The zeiss glass looks good but is expensive of course and I have to take into account their good 50mm f/2 and 25mm f/2 are not the speed I am looking for.

Samyang is not going to do it for me based on IQ wide open or build quality.

After all my research it seems like the following would be an ideal nikon set:

nikon 24mm 1.4 G - The 24mm has no competitor in nikon mount that I saw and matched IQ with the zeiss 25mm f/2 when stopped down to f/2
sigma 35mm 1.4 - The sigma 35mm 1.4 is by all accounts the best full frame 35mm 1.4 wide open that there is, the samyang was a close second then zeiss and nikon tied.
sigma 50mm 1.4 - The sigma beat out the nikon 50mm 1.4G and zeiss 50mm 1.4 in sharpness, closely matched the zeiss 50 f/2 when stopped down to f2, and and samyang has nothing to offer
sigma 85mm 1.4 - The 85mm 1.4 by sigma beat out the zeiss in sharpness wide open and then surprisingly destroyed the nikon at 1.4 which suffers from bad CA / purple fringing



Now that you know my results here is my problem. Nan at Gl optics is not interested in rehousing these lenses and they are all short focus throw AF models with no aperture rings. Not exactly ideal for digi cine work but still seem to be the best that the stills world has to offer right now. Racking exposure mid shot is really not my style and I usually focus manually by hand rather than with a follow focus. Do you guys think I will be ok with these? I plan on using a combo of red with nikon mount, and then a combo of dslr / fs700 type cameras with adapters.

Does anyone use these types of lenses in the field? What are your opinions?
 
My opinion is that mechanics can sometimes trump IQ, especially if the IQ limitation is only in the most wide open aperture. A lot of DPs I work with shoot between F2.8 and 5.6. But they also light their scenes to achieve the desired stop. So, if the short focus throw leads to missing focus a lot, then the IQ benefits start to lose out. If you shoot wide open all of the time, I can understand the desire to find lenses that excell at that. I just feel that when you need both good mechanics and good wide open, you are into the high end cine glass, which is a whole other level of expense.
 
Peter Osinski said:
the 18-35mm looks nice but at this point I don't see a reason to by anything that won't cover full frame
Click to expand...

It will be very difficult to find a lens as wide and fast as this sigma that covers full frame. Remember, the larger the image circle, the more challenging it becomes create fast wides. Wide angle designs require lots of glass, and presumably suffer from efficiency, (even Zeiss's new "elite" FF wide-angle, the 15mm distagon, is only a 2.8). A smaller image circle is easier to cover, and presumably makes faster designs more feasible.

So you'll have a choice.

A FAST wide angle with non Full Frame coverage.

Or a SLOWER wide angle with Full Frame coverage.

It will be very difficult (at a reasonable cost) to marry the two.
 
Nick Morrison said:
It will be very difficult to find a lens as wide and fast as this sigma that covers full frame. Remember, the larger the image circle, the more challenging it becomes create fast wides. Wide angle designs require lots of glass, and presumably suffer from efficiency, (even Zeiss's new "elite" FF wide-angle, the 15mm distagon, is only a 2.8). A smaller image circle is easier to cover, and presumably makes faster designs more feasible.

So you'll have a choice.

A FAST wide angle with non Full Frame coverage.

Or a SLOWER wide angle with Full Frame coverage.

It will be very difficult (at a reasonable cost) to marry the two.
Click to expand...

Trust me I understand that but I still want all full frame glass. I just want 24, 35, 50, and 85 in 1.4. I can deal with ultrawides and 100mm + focal lengths at f.2
 
The rumor sites are suggesting that Sigma is getting ready to release an "Art" series 24mm f/1.4 soon that will probably intercut with the other sigmas better than the Nikon 24mm. If it's not urgent, it might be worth holding off on the 24mm purchase for the time being.
 
Alan Peterson said:
The rumor sites are suggesting that Sigma is getting ready to release an "Art" series 24mm f/1.4 soon that will probably intercut with the other sigmas better than the Nikon 24mm. If it's not urgent, it might be worth holding off on the 24mm purchase for the time being.
Click to expand...

Can you post a link to this rumor? I believe you, I just am curious to read more.
 
What camera will you be using it on Peter (the Sigma I mean ) If you'r sooting 4k and 5k you're good to go. If you upgrade to Dragon you can still shoot 5k with the extra dynamic range and all other benefits. And I think it will only suffer at the most extreme wide end. OThers might be more informed upon thios matter. If you are buying a cine version and want full frame I would think twice but if you are getting the photo version for 800 dollars its an absolute steal. Just my opnion.
 
Come on man, you're not going to be shooting wide open on all those are you? Any lens is going to suffer wide open, lenses like an 85mm f1.4 wide open tracking focus would be a nightmare. Let your story control your DOF, don't just look to shoot wide open all the time. And f2 is plenty fast enough these days, don't let that be a limitation. Samyang lenses have much better mechanics in my experience, really hate the focusing rings on the sigma lenses, you gotta factor that in
 
is leasing cine lenses an option? rather then deal with bad mechanics and short focus throws, maybe you can jump on the canon or sony glass lease deals at abelcine?

yes its a lot more money, but your paying for good mechanics and no image issues like with cheaper prosumer modded glass...
 
1. I don't want to rent. These are going to be for personal projects, messing around etc. If I have some spare time I want to just be able to go out and shoot.

2. They won't be wide open all the time but considering the sigma 35 is better wide open than the zeiss 35 and is half the cost I'm wondering if the mechanics is worth an extra $1000. Another option is the 35mm 1.4 ais from nikon but the problem with that is that its more expensive and still much worse quality wide open.

3. I sold my cameras when I started working in post full time so I don't know yet what I am going to pick up. I'll rent red for projects when I need to, but in that case I can rent glass too if I need to. Seeing as how this will be mainly for just messing around I will either pick up a 5d III and use magic lantern raw or maybe I'll get a bmc 4k. Not totally sure yet.


thanks for all the input so far guys
 
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