@onionbrain @chief @lumina trying to move the discussion from

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/2616/driftwood-quantum-x-settings-series-3-vy-canis-majoris-mysteron-sedna-orion-cluster.../p19

to the correct thread. But about the Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AI-S or the Nikkor 28mm f2 AI which is better.

The still of the f2 AI that @chief had does look pretty good. Any body else used any of the lens?

Add both the new Panasonic X lenses with their video friendly Power Zoom which brings camcorder style (W)ide - (T)ele silent zoom features. Both good for daylight shooting but not so fast for night. I bought both to try out and theyre not too bad at all.

Two flavours; HD X Lens 45-175mm and the HD X Lens 14-42.

Info:

14-42

• Lens Construction 9 elements in 8 groups (4 aspherical lenses , 2 ED lens)
• Mount Micro Four Thirds mount
• Nano Surface Coating yes
• Optical Image Stabilizer YES (POWER OIS)
• Focal Length f=14-42mm (35mm camera equivalent 28-84mm)
• Aperture Type 7 diaphragm blades / Circular aperture diaphragm
• Aperture Range F3.5(Wide) - F5.6(TELE)
• Minimum Aperture F22
• Closest Focusing Distance 0.2m / 0.66ft
• Maximum magnification Approx. 0.17x / 0.34x (35mm camera equivalent)

Link: http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/Digital+Camera/Lumix+G+Lenses/H-PS14042E/Overview/8022468/index.html

45-175

• Lens Construction 14 elements in 10 groups (2 aspherical lenses , 2 ED lens)
• Mount Micro Four Thirds mount
• Nano Surface Coating yes
• Optical Image Stabilizer YES (POWER OIS)
• Focal Length f=45-175mm (35mm camera equivalent 90-350mm)
• Aperture Type 7 diaphragm blades / Circular aperture diaphragm
• Aperture Range F4.0(Wide) - F5.6(TELE)
• Minimum Aperture F22
• Closest Focusing Distance 0.9m / 3.0ft
• Maximum magnification Approx. 0.2x / 0.4x (35mm camera equivalent)

Link: http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/Digital+Camera/Lumix+G+Lenses/H-PS45175E/Overview/8022598/index.html

@HillTop1 @lumina - you are both missing out. Nikkor 28mm AI f2 is THE WHOLE STOP faster (ISO800 or ISO1600?) and the drawing of it wide open is magical. Handling/construction/feel is the same as 28mm f2.8 AI-S - superb.

f/2.8 AI-S vs f/2 AI:

1. Slower
2. More CA
3. Border quality is much worse when focused on a distant object (near focus is OK) EDIT: This is irrelevant with x2 crop.

Both are very sharp, peak performance is at f/4 for AI and f/5.6 for AI-S.

@Hilltop1 @chief

The lens criteria I'm focusing on in this thread emphasize video-friendly functionality rather than optical image quality. (Check out my initial post for more details.) Like most vintage primes, Nikkor AI and AIS lenses produce fine image quality, but their compact size and extending outer lens barrels tend to make them awkward to use with 15mm rail-mounted matte box and follow focus units. Here's how they rate:

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

Maybe this is a pipe dream, but can anyone recommend a reasonably priced fixed, fast (~f/2.8) aperture parafocal zoom lens using either a native m43 mount or a Canon FD mount?

@wiggins Check out the list of zoom lenses in the second post of this thread. For an inexpensive lens, I'd recommend the Tokina AT-X 35-70mm f2.8 in FD mount. It's a bit uncommon, however, so you may need to search a bit for it.

just got the Nokton 17.5mm F0.95. Ok wide but too fast to focus without any help. Rigged with shoulder mount - perfect. Hand held with naked body in low light - funky to focus. I miss OIS, but not F3.5-5.6!

@Oundersteer, I was just cruising this thread with the same question. I spent some time today at the camera shop mounting different Zuiko demos onto my GH2, and this was the lens that I found the most interesting. I am no expert on what makes a good lens though. All I can say is that this seemed like a very versatile and smooth functioning lens. What I could see on my lcd looked nice, and the touch focus worked well on the gh2. I really liked that it has Macro too. I really would like to hear what others think about this lens, because the price versatility and weather proofing makes it a very tempting lens.

@itimjim, thanks for the reply. I did a bit more research on it, but you mentioned some valuable things about FF and matteboxes. For now I put off getting this lens. It really wasn't in the budget anyways for the time being, but I did order an adapter for FD/FL lenses, so that should keep me busy hunting down cheap lenses and getting better at manual focus. If something similar but better than the 12-50 comes out by the time I have the funds SWEEEEET... if not I think it will be my regular lens for day trippin. Shortfalls aside it is just too dang useful. My 14-42 is getting dust in it so often I am ready to see if I can't exchange it anyways.

@weyker @rajamalik Your references to other types of lenses are off-topic. This thread is about lens attributes that make them video-friendly, i.e. well-suited for use with follow-focus and/or matte box. See the first post in the thread for details on the criteria that are used to evaluate lenses for this purpose:

http://www.personal-view.com./talks/discussion/859/video-friendly-lenses-for-lumix-dslrs/p1

@spike08 As far as I'm aware, It's not internal focusing/zooming, so the barrel moves in and out.

@weyker the thread is about well-suited lenses for cine purposes. I don't think your EF mount lens will have an aperture ring, and there's no way on this planet you're going to get AF. There are other threads that discuss mFT to G/F/FD/EF/etc mounts.