Did anyone rank the AFC quality on the 14mm 2.5 and 20mm 1.7? I would think that qualifies as a fast lens for low light shooting.

Ok fine. I asked about brightness as in many respects it determines whether a lens is friendly or not for video.

Anyway, here is another lens that along with the Canon FD 35-105mm, has also been referred to as a "stack of primes": SMC Pentax-A 35-105mm f/3.5 constant aperture"stack of primes" lens.

On the downside though, it physically extends when zooming. (info provided to me by someone else):

First ring, closest to camera is aperture ring. The next ring allows zooming from 35-105mm. The final ring controls the focus from 1.5m to infinity and also in macro mode. Apart from lens extending issue, great for video as suffers from minimal focus breathing

Length of lens at 35mm and infinity = 98mm (from mount flange) Length of lens at 105mm and infinity = 107mm Length of lens at 105mm and closest macro = 120mm

@all

Check LPowell notes.

This topic is for making good list of video friendly lenses and with very tight discussion restrictions. Do not turn it in all-in-one.

@Qadri I use a metabones speedbooster, so the 35-105mm becomes a 24-75mm f2.5, so that extra stop of light and that extra width in FOV really helps for indoors.

The Panny 35-100mm would be longer focal length and slightly darker (when compared to the FD with Speedbooster), plus the focus ring on the Panny is focus-by-wire, which you may or may not want.

Personally, I like the character of older glass, and I like using my Speedbooster on all my FD lenses, but that's entirely a personal decision. To each their own!

@xenogears, @HillTop1 Unfortunately the calibration process is not as easy as setting back focus on ENG lenses (which usually just entails turning a screw) - you'll probably need rails and a lens support bracket, or at least SOME way to keep your lens supported horizontally when you do this.

Rather than write up the process myself (I'm super busy today) I'm going to copy and paste a post by @Balazer made on the mflenses forum that describes the process pretty well (thanks Balazer!), and is where I learned to do it:

"To make the Canon FD 35-105 mm f/3.5 lens be parfocal, more than likely you need to adjust the back focus (lens-to-flange distance), and nothing else.

Just in front of the aperture ring is a black plastic ring with "35-105mm" in green letters, an orange line, and a serial number in white. It has three Phillips head screws with the heads painted black. Remove the three screws. The black plastic ring can now slide forward, revealing four more Phillips head screws. With the lens pointed downwards, loosen those four screws. They'll be tight, so push in with a lot of force so that you don't strip the heads while removing them. With those four screws loosened, the lens's mount and aperture ring are free to slide up and down. If you didn't have the lens pointed downward, the mount could slide off completely, leaving you to figure out how to slide it back on. So don't remove it. You just want to be able to slide it up and down a bit, and then re-tighten the screws when you have it in the right position.

Mount the lens to your camera. Set the aperture to the widest setting and the zoom to the maximum. Focus on a distant object. Set the zoom to the minimum, and adjust the lens-to-flange distance until the picture has sharp focus. Note that with the four screws loosened, the mount can tilt, so be careful to keep the mount's axis aligned with the lens's axis while you're making your adjustments. If in doubt, check for equal focus at the four corners of the image. Repeat these steps until no further adjustment of the lens-to-flange distance is required to have sharp focus across the zoom range with the focus ring in the same position. Re-tighten the four screws that hold the mount in place. You'll want them to be quite tight, as they are supporting the lens's entire weight."

@Quadri check out Metabones Speedbooster (google it), saving you the technical details, basically it's voodoo magic for your lenses - it makes them wider and brighter. It's not cheap, though there are some cheaper variations coming out of China (Mitakon is one), but it's an investment worth considering if you're serious about using older manual lenses on a M4/3 camera.

@JuMo also interested in reading how to calibrate the FD 35-105mm for parfocal please.

@Qadri I use this lens a lot with both my GH2 and my BMPCC, especially with my Speed Booster. With some careful calibration, the 35-105 is parforcal (it takes about 30 minutes to an hour to calibrate it properly if it's not set right). With the regular speed booster it has the light transmission qualities of an f2.5 lens and an FOV range of 24mm equivalent to 75mm equivalent. Pretty awesome for interviews.

Thought I would see a bit more said here on the Canon FD 35-105mm f3.5 constant aperture.

I can think of another zoom suitable for the M43 at a longer length even quite similar to this?

I'll be using it for videoing conferences so need something a bit long that is flexible (where I cannot dictate where the tripod will go), so trying to avoid having 3 primes instead. Don't think it has to go as high as 105mm.

A bit concerned about how f3.5 will be indoors in conference hall but hoping it will be sufficient.

May use for casual photography too.

Any views on this lens and on alternatives?

@dreinz: I’m surprised nobody ever answered that here (unless I overlooked it) and I hope I’m not too late if you wanted to make a buying decision:

Canon FD 50mm f/1.4

• Manual aperture ring: Yes
• Direct-coupled focus ring: Yes
• Proper focus ring rotation: No
• Non-rotating outer barrel: Yes
• Non-extending outer barrel: No
• Constant field of view: Yes

I have a question about Sigma 30mm f/1.4 D EX DC HSM:

I know this lens works great with Kipon EOS to m4/3 adapter, but if the lens is with Nikon mount, then how to get manual focus and manual aperture with GH2?

Anyone using Sigma 30mm f1.4 for Nikon with GH2?

Konica Hexanon AR 35-100mm f2.8

Manual aperture ring: Yes

Direct-coupled focus ring: Yes

Proper focus ring rotation: Yes

Non-rotating outer barrel: Yes

Non-extending outer barrel: Yes

Constant field of view: ?

(also) Parafocal: No

I have the Konica AR 40mm f1.8 which I love, so I am wondering about this zoom. Does anyone have one? The only unknown (often not paid heed to with these photo lenses) is if it breathes when focusing or not. It is not parafocal, but I would just use a zoom as a "multi-prime" anyway. Thinking it might play nice with my Kowa anamorphic as it is an old lens with simpler optics (none of that aspherical mumbo-jumbo or nano-coating wizardry).

Could you please help me? I like the old mechanical lenses, the metallic bodies and the smooth focus ring. I would like a zoom lens for handheld use with a follow focus. I like very much my minolta 35-70mm, but the body extends at different mm. So no use for FF. I also like my Vivitar Series 1 28-105mm, but it is an one touch focus and zoom, so not ideal. I have the Lumix 14-45mm but the focus ring is a disaster. I have some Canon FD primes, but I can't change lenses all the time in the middle of an event. I have also tried the Olympus 12-60mm f/2.8-4, it seems the ideal lens for the job, but too expensive (it belongs to my brother). So my question, is there a lens with usuable length, constant aperture, for use with follow focus, old and used enough so to be cheap (don't care about autofocus)? I usually cover social events like, weddings & narrative stuff.