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Cohesive Lens Sets - Color, contrast, IQ, etc.
  • artiswarartiswar

    Just wanted to get a consensus from the community here on the importance of having a matching lens set. I've been looking into getting some new glass and have been considering trying to consolidate into a single brand. Is it worth it? Looking into Leica R, Samyang, and Zeiss. Would love to get some feedback.

  • 20 Replies sorted by
  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    If a "mismatched" set of lenses is possibly taking away from your final product by yielding shots that dont match and not achieving the feel of "one world", maybe try renting a complete set of one brand for a few days...and put together a 3 minute short. If that produces a better feel of "one world" then the "mismatched" set, then you know it was the lenses. If you still don't have the feeling of "one world" that all matches...you'll know it wasnt the lenses.

  • nomadnomad

    Minolta Rokkors and (separately!) Zeiss Contax match pretty well.

  • mrbillmrbill

    I have 28mm, 50mm, 85mm and 135mm contax zeiss lenses, all f2.8 except the f1.7 50mm. They match beautifully, but they also cut great with my tokina 11-17 and my Vivitar 55mm macro. Go figure.

  • FlaaandeeersFlaaandeeers

    I'm into the same situation, selling my FD and OM glass (that doesn't match quite well together) and considering getting Samyang 35 and 85 and a Tokina 12-24 to add to my Tokina 28-70. With these 4 lenses and SMB I think I will be covered for most situations. Rokkor and Zeiss are the other two -vintage- alternatives that I'm also considering (going wide maybe the problem with this route) So, any advice to @artiswar will be also very much appreciated.

  • artiswarartiswar

    Any thoughts on the Takumar lenses from Pentax?

  • stoneystoney

    Focal lengths, bokeh, sharpness, perspective distortion, rack focusing, etc. There are so many factors that you gotta decide first. Then choose lenses.

  • artiswarartiswar

    @stonebat - Go on! I wanna hear more.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    To be honest, I can't tell the difference really when I shoot with my Tokina and Rokinon Lenses. I mix my Tokina 11-16 and 28-70 2.6-2.8 with my Rokinon Cine ones all the time and can't see the difference but I'm not a pixel peeper. I can however tell a difference with any Pany glass of course and my SLR 12mm. I did use an old Nikon 105mm AI 2.8 lens one time and I could tell the difference with the IQ on that one. I could really tell it was softer and really couldn't get it to match the vivid colors of the Rokinon and Tokina I used in the same seen.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    Yeah, you're not rack focusing on the Rokinon 35mm, that's for sure.

  • stoneystoney

    @artiswar Do you need rack focusing?

  • stoneystoney

    I got SLR 12mm for wide angle close up shot. It's fast enough to blur background, too. SLR 25mm seems quite versatile. Clickless aperture, built-in lens gears, minimal breathing, and crazy bokeh are good traits for different shots.

    I have 14-140 and just ordered EF 24-105 f4. Hopefully the EF zoom has acceptable parfocal performance for fast zooming and lens breathing for rack focusing. Currently just a dumb EF-M43 adapter. I'm waiting for Speed Booster.

    I need tele primes for isolating a subject. No rack focusing. Samyang 85mm or 50mm CINE or Olympus 45mm 1.8 would do it for me. Samyang can add more value with Speed Booster.

    About color matching... I think the overall stylish color tone might overpower the subtle color differences among the lenses. If not, just tweak here and there.

    Of course YMMV. There's no right or wrong answer.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @stonebat

    Get http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-FD-80-200mm-F-4-L-Lens-/321062250107?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item4ac0cd267b as companion to your 14-140mm :-)

  • stoneystoney

    Thanks for the link.

    My friends have good set of EF zooms... I'm so ready to leech off them :)

  • inqb8trinqb8tr

    In my experience Nikkor Ai-s lenses (I have 28mm 2.8 Ai-s, 35mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8 Ai-s MK3) besides matching perfectly between them also cut fine with pany glass (20mm and 14-45).

    I have Vivitar Series 1 70-210 f/3.5 (great sharp zoom) that has very different color rendition and I always have to match it in post. Same goes for my Tokina 11-16 but I got it recently and still have not used it enough.

  • kellar42kellar42

    I've had less trouble mixing cameras and lenses than I would have expected when I first started reading forums. Right now I mix Lumix, Nikon AIS and Rokinon (Nikon Mount) fairly interchangeably. For instance, I just shot an interview on a hacked GH2 with Nikon 35mm F2 and a 5DMKII with Rokinon 85mm Nikon Mount F1.4. They'll match before the end.

  • artiswarartiswar

    Pulled the trigger on some Contax Zeiss glass. 28, 35, 50, and 85. We shall see.

  • nomadnomad

    You're gonna love it!

  • RRRRRRRR

    Having acquired and used a set of C/Y Zeiss (28f:2, 35f:2.8, 50f:1.7, 60f:2.8 S macro, 85f:1.4, 135f:2.8) for a while; here are my few cents:

    For those out for a matching set of lenses, the C/Y zeiss are great. Not only are they similar in color and all handle great, in general with little breathing but they also all have more or less of the same sweet spot in terms of contrast.. If you want to save money, get: 28f:2.8, 50f:1.7, 85f:2.8 but perhaps the greatest gem of all (imo) is the 60mm macro. Fantastic lens for the money that has basically no optical issues (CA a.s.o.) wide open. (stay away from the compact version)

    I do prefer how they look on a slightly bigger sensor than m43, but on the other hand I´m eagerly awaiting the c/y speedbooster.

  • inqb8trinqb8tr

    Refreshing this topic with this picture of my beloved set :) All declicked and gears and all shit.

    What have you guys been up to?

    _1090566m.jpg
    800 x 533 - 105K
  • cantsincantsin

    A practical solution is to color grade/color correct in Resolve 11 and use an X-rite Color Checker (or similar color card) for color matching. Resolve 11 can automatically adjust its color correction if a standard color card is in the picture. You can then save these corrections as LUTs and individually reuse them for each lens that you shoot with.

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