…if you are only using your DSLR for video, there is really no point buying Canon EF. The Canon lens is great for photographers, but does not offer such a great value for money for videographers. All 3 lenses really benefit from being stepped down to at least f/2.0. For me Olympus is probably the best wide open, so really a great choice for them low light. My Olympus is not even is such a great shape, there is some dust and spots of fungus inside,… Continue Reading
…primary lens that spent the most time on the production’s A-camera was the Canon 8-64mm T2.4. Canon made a few versions of this lens over the years all sharing similar focal ranges and T-stops, and they are all excellent lenses worth discussing, but we will focus on the 8-64mm T2.4 for this article. This lens was designed to cover the Super 16mm format. If you are shooting on a camera with a super-35mm or APS-C sensor like a Canon C300 MKII, Sony… Continue Reading
…onic Canon lenses, Speed Booster is an obvious choice, but as a big fan of Canon FD (and other vintage lenses) I find the Lens Turbo to be a perfect choice for me. If you look at the total savings of using LT2/FD vs SB/EF (adapter/lens combination), the savings are even bigger. For example the total cost of Canon EF 50mm F1.4 + Metabones Speed Booster is just over $1000, while the Canon FD 50mm F1.4 + Lens Turbo II combination will cost no more th… Continue Reading
…surprise the image quality and the sharpness on this lens is very close to Canon. Considering that the lens can be bought about 4/5 times cheaper than Canon, it is certainly an impressive performance. The one thing that is a bit annoying is constant aperture of f/5.6. I can live with it at 400mm, but I wouldn’t use this lens for 200mm shots. There are plenty of vintage 200mm f/3.5 lenses (some which I tested earlier) costing as little as £15, so t… Continue Reading
…party lenses with these mounts will be super cheap (unless you get lucky). Canon FD, Minolta MD and Konica AR mount lenses can often present best value for money. They work great with the “mirrorless” style cameras, but keep in mind that they have a poor compatibility with SLR style cameras, so don’t buy these if you have a 5D/etc. If you are still lost, here are a few 3x lens sets that are great as a starting point for anyone getting into vintage… Continue Reading
…ng NX mount. This is the only lens (mount system) that can be used on both Canon FD and Canon EF cameras. One day I can use it with my FD Lens Turbo II focal reducer on my Sony camera and next day I can swap the mount and use it with a Canon EF camera. There is no other mount that allows such flexibility and this is one of the big reasons why I like these lenses so much. All of that is great, but what about the optical performance and character? T… Continue Reading
…focus). Also the prices for Nikon primes gone up due to their popularity. Canon FDs can’t be used on Canon DSLRs, so they were out for time being too. I decided to just buy something cheap to try it out on my 5D and see if I want to invest any more money into such lenses. I went to a carboot sale and picked up 2 cheap lenses: Pentacon 29mm f/2.8 and Helios 58mm f/2. Each cost me around £3-£5, which is absolutely amazing price for any lens really…. Continue Reading
…ere is absolutely no reason not to try it! Click to find this lens on Ebay Canon FD 50mm F1.4 – The Value-For-Money Lens. It might not be as “magical” as Helios, but it’s my real workhouse, that I use on most of my paid work (my review). The nFD (new FD) version of this lens might not look like the most solid lens in the world, but it reality it handles any abuse I throw on it and it’s actually more solid than the other 2 lenses featured in this p… Continue Reading
…record the full tonal range of the image, while a slightly lower contrast Canon FD 50mm F1.2 does a much better job, not clipping the highlights and also leaving a bit more room to play with in shadows. It’s almost like shooting with a flatter picture profile and seems to help with limitations of a digital camera sensor. Of course if high contrast was a negative characteristic, no one would use modern lenses, so again it all comes down to what yo… Continue Reading
…uick tests against the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 which is a great lens and while Canon produced better results in my test, it wasn’t 10 times better, but it’s 20 times more expensive than Helios, so in my opinion, Helios offers much better value for money than Canon. Helios 44M is one of the first lenses that started my interest in vintage manual photo lenses for video use. It is a very interesting lens, not only it is one of the cheapest lenses you can… Continue Reading
