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Best lens to add to GH2 kit
  • mjwhitakermjwhitaker

    Hi guys! I'm a newbie to the GH2 having just upgraded from my hacked GH1 and I'm just now grasping the importance of high quality lenses. The lenses I use mostly right now are the Panny 20mm pancake and Canon FD 50mm 1.4. I've also got a 24mm and a 28mm f2.8, both FD, but I'm realizing they're far too slow for my purposes. I'm ready to upgrade my quality as well as fill in some gaps in my collection. I've been so impressed with the results of the Voigtlander 17mm and 25mm but my questions are:

    Are the Voigtlanders too close to my 20mm or are they worth just replacing the 20mm all together?

    Or should I spend my money to fill in the gaps with maybe a 35mm or even the 12mm SLR Magic? (which I think I would like despite the mixed reviews I've read)

    I have about $1000 and having not a lot of experience with lenses is making it hard for me to decide. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

  • 6 Replies sorted by
  • apefosapefos

    My decision would be to fill the gap with the 12mm and 35mm. In my tests i found f2.0 is good enough to get a shallow dof from waist/belt to head/hair, and also good enough to low light. i did shoot a test called how to improve image quality from soft lenses on vimeo. 12 + 20 + 30 or 35 + 50mm is a great combo for low light and shallow dof in any situations. Remember almost all lenses get great sharpnees stoping down one stop. so if you buy the sigma 30mm 1.4 or the old nikon 35mm 1.4 you can stop down to f2.0 and get great image. The voigtlander are dream lenses but think about everything else you can buy with that money. also 17 and 25 are to close to the 20 you already own.

  • ipcmlripcmlr

    @mjwhitaker I'd have to agree with apefos. Also If you take a lot of pictures the voigtlander will not be as easy to use as the pancake. So 12mm + 35mm and you should be set. Add a Rokinon/samyang 85mm 1.4 and you have everything covered.

    Having said that though. I have an extra bnew 25mm nokton :p sending you a PM.

  • mjwhitakermjwhitaker

    Thanks for your responses guys! That makes good fiscal sense. I think I'll go for a pair of lenses first but I'll be back for the Voigtlander REAL SOON....

  • maddx1930maddx1930

    I also am looking for lenses to build my arsenal I am curious as to what kind of lens you think was used to shoot this

    SSM - Look Mom! No Fisheye - Volume 1 from Brian Shima on Vimeo.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    +Rokinon 85mm and 35mm. Just can't go wrong.

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    @mjwhitaker I like the Lomo lenses myself. You can buy a 50mm f 2.0 for fairly low price. Then all you need is adapter. (Search on this site for others discussions of details re: adapters and Lomo lenses). $250 will get you the 50mm and adapter, and that's a small amount of money to try out what many, including myself, consider a great lens when paired with a GH2.

    @maddx1930 Very cool video. I have no idea what lens you used. What was it? Using a hacked GH2 with a particular setting? Using ND filter perhaps? Good music choice as well.

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