Picked up my new camera today....a GF1

[NorthernNikon]

There were some doubts about this, but it appears that it could be real.

http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2010/02/27/noktor-50-0-95-m43-lens-news/

I'm on for one of those if price is sensible!

Well the good news is that it "will be priced MUCH lower than the Noctilux". The bad news is that the RRP of the Noctilus is £6290 so even if it's half the price it will still be stupidly expensive!

I'll be keeping an eye on the internet on Monday that's for sure.

 

[bl0at3r]

Well the good news is that it "will be priced MUCH lower than the Noctilux". The bad news is that the RRP of the Noctilus is £6290 so even if it's half the price it will still be stupidly expensive!

I'll be keeping an eye on the internet on Monday that's for sure.

Not another lens to tempt me :bang:

 

[BrianT]

As I said earlier I think this is a Sony TV lens

But if you want something nice.

Take your pick, yes adaptors are available. 14-85mm primes all at a uniform F1/.7. And no silly 2x crop factor to take into account

P.S. Not illustrated but they start at 6mm, 9.5 and 12mm also produced?

 

[NorthernNikon]

As I said earlier I think this is a Sony TV lens

But if you want something nice.

Take your pick, yes adaptors are available. 14-85mm primes all at a uniform F1/.7. And no silly 2x crop factor to take into account

P.S. Not illustrated but they start at 6mm, 9.5 and 12mm also produced?

Hmmm, and how many thousands would any one of those set you back Brian?

 

[BrianT]

If you take the very useful 8mm for example it's around a Mini Cooper S convertable, 0r 8,000 pints. But the point

I would make is that there are a lot of 16mm cine format and APC TV lenses around, particularly the former which are often to be found for very little money. It might be worth a dabble.

But these prices might give an indication of the costs involved for those of us wishing for fast wide angle lenses.

Brian.

P..S that's £18,000 ish for the f1.9 version as illustrated, The f1.7? a bargain, £540..............................................a day to hire!

 

[bl0at3r]

But these prices might give an indication of the costs involved for those of us wishing for fast wide angle lenses.

Brian.

Thanks Brian
I really wonder if Panasonic will ever bring out a fast UWA, I know the M43 system is very new, but can;t see anything on the roadmap - certainly not that betters the Sigma 10-20mm on my 7D - I refer to cost vs quality/wideness

 

[phinix]

Guys, I watched many movie test videos and what really concerns me is auto focus in movie mode. Is it slow? I noticed in few movies that auto focus looks a bit slow, isn't?
Did you experience it with your GF-1?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TstMhuRgvQU&feature=related

 

[grum]

Phinix - it's definitely slow with the 20mm - though apparently better with the latest firmware. Seems fine to me with the 14-45 but I don't know how it compares to a dedicated video camera.

I'll try and post a test video later.

 

[bl0at3r]

Guys, I watched many movie test videos and what really concerns me is auto focus in movie mode. Is it slow? I noticed in few movies that auto focus looks a bit slow, isn't?
Did you experience it with your GF-1?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TstMhuRgvQU&feature=related

Hi Phinix
I haven't bought my GF1 for video, I also don't use the full HD capabilites of my 7D either.

What I will say is that video on DSLR's (and the GF1) is still very new and I don't think that any currently available cameras have autofocus systems that are anywhere near dedicated video cameras.

Now I'm not saying that they can't be used for video - a quick YouTube search for 5DMK2, 7D, GH1 and others will show truly amazing video, it's just that mst of it will be produced using manual or pre-focusing techniques for each scene.

If you want to use the video occasionally for the odd snipett or as mentioned above to edit together into a film then go for it.

 

[BrianT]

I'm not sure which way to go. For a wide angle lens it seems we have three options.

A) The 7-14mm Panasonic..............Too wide for me and very expensive and slower thean B or C..

B) The Sigma 10-20mm. Usable with both my GF1 with an adaptor and my D300, bear in mind I already have a 12-24mm Nikkor and a Novaflex GF1 to Nikon adaptor. Big snag, no aperture ring with either lens for the GF1. Obviously no A/F but doesn't really matter that much. And the 12-24mm Nikkor is a trifle silly mounted on the GF1.

C) The Olympus 9-18mm Same sort of price as B, half the weight. Fully dedicated to the GF1 apart from IS ( doesn't matter)

DPreview give B a Recommended and C a Highly recommended ( Just)

Looks like C to me.............any other observations? Please bear in mind I have the 20mm and the 14-45mm Panasonic lenses at present, I don't mind waiting a couple of months should anything be on the horizon but would prefer not to.

Thinking about it my favourite combination over the years was always a 21 mm F3.4 Super Angulon mounted on An M Leica/ Leica R3 with 19mm F2.8 Elmarit. with FP4 film so B or C would fit the bill.

My feelings are I have a 18-50mm Sigma lens which if it is representative of the Marque is superb whereas I have no experience of Olympus lenses other then the man in Mathers putting them down as shoddy. Please this isn't my comment, I'm merely reporting something so don't shoot the messenger.

I know it would be B but as an aperture priority user .........................

Brian.

 

[py6km]

www.noktor.com

Lens announced, and available for preorder at $750 (~£500) inc shipping to UK. Said to ship on or around April 15.

Looking at some of the samples, I'm not sure about it - it could just be that the dof is so thin that I can't see the in focus plane on any of the samples (although on a 2x crop sensor focussing at about 2m for example wide open should give a dof of the order of several centimetres). So, it could be that the lens isn't very sharp - for example, on some of the images, you'd expect that the eye would be sharp, but it's just not. Perhaps the combination of f/0.95 and manual focus (at night) just isn't workable.

 

[BrianT]

And bear in mind the instant you move the aperture ring from F0.95 you are throwing your money down the drain.

Brian

 

[phinix]

Phinix - it's definitely slow with the 20mm - though apparently better with the latest firmware. Seems fine to me with the 14-45 but I don't know how it compares to a dedicated video camera.

I'll try and post a test video later.

Thank you! I think 14-45 would be most time for me for movies. 20mm too, but a bit of zoom is useful when filming kids

Hi Phinix
I haven't bought my GF1 for video, I also don't use the full HD capabilites of my 7D either.

What I will say is that video on DSLR's (and the GF1) is still very new and I don't think that any currently available cameras have autofocus systems that are anywhere near dedicated video cameras.

Now I'm not saying that they can't be used for video - a quick YouTube search for 5DMK2, 7D, GH1 and others will show truly amazing video, it's just that mst of it will be produced using manual or pre-focusing techniques for each scene.

If you want to use the video occasionally for the odd snipett or as mentioned above to edit together into a film then go for it.

Cheers mate. Thing is I want to buy it for movies too. I will probably make few movies in a month, compared to 200-300 photos, but still it is essencial for me (well, for my missus). I don't to buy a video camera, but if for example 14-45 is really not that fast in AF, then I guess there is no way to convice my wife to buy GF-1 for movies, and get some HD movie camera for her

 

[py6km]

If you're going to be shooting video quite a lot, you should look at the GH1 kit (with the 14-140mm HD lens). Better set up for video imo, eg lens is optimised for video (stepless aperture etc), body gives stereo etc. £50 cashback, and 3 year warranty.

 

[py6km]

And bear in mind the instant you move the aperture ring from F0.95 you are throwing your money down the drain.

Brian

I agree. I do really want to try some of these manual focus lenses, but I think it might just be an expensive novelty.

 

[NorthernNikon]

And bear in mind the instant you move the aperture ring from F0.95 you are throwing your money down the drain.

Not necessarily in this case Brian. There simply isn't any other compact fast 50mm option for MFT. I would happily stop it down to f:1.4 to give me the equivalent depth of field to f:2.8. I could of course mount my Nikkor 50mm f:.14 on the Novaflex adaptor to get the same effect, but that combination is going to be significantly bigger than the Noktor.

 

[bl0at3r]

The Olympus 9-18mm Same sort of price as B, half the weight. Fully dedicated to the GF1 apart from IS ( doesn't matter)

DPreview give B a Recommended and C a Highly recommended ( Just)



Brian.

Hi Brian, I have done a quick google and this seems to be a 4/3's lens not a M43's ?? Is this true, if so surely an adaptor will be needed for the GF1?

If not then ignore me

 

[py6km]

Not necessarily in this case Brian. There simply isn't any other compact fast 50mm option for MFT. I would happily stop it down to f:1.4 to give me the equivalent depth of field to f:2.8. I could of course mount my Nikkor 50mm f:.14 on the Novaflex adaptor to get the same effect, but that combination is going to be significantly bigger than the Noktor.

Why does f/1.4 = f/2.8? I thought the 'cropness' of a sensor only 'affected' focal length since f-stop is the ratio of focal length to aperture (i.e. lens parameters).

 

[NorthernNikon]

www.noktor.com

Lens announced, and available for preorder at $750 (~£500) inc shipping to UK. Said to ship on or around April 15.

Looking at some of the samples, I'm not sure about it - it could just be that the dof is so thin that I can't see the in focus plane on any of the samples (although on a 2x crop sensor focussing at about 2m for example wide open should give a dof of the order of several centimetres). So, it could be that the lens isn't very sharp - for example, on some of the images, you'd expect that the eye would be sharp, but it's just not. Perhaps the combination of f/0.95 and manual focus (at night) just isn't workable.

Hmmm, cheap enough to seriously consider, pricey enough to have to give it some thought first. I'm tempted, very tempted.

By the way, manual focusing at f:2.8 is hard enough! At f:0.95 in low light it would near impossible without a static subject and a tripod.

 

[NorthernNikon]

Why does f/1.4 = f/2.8? I thought the 'cropness' of a sensor only 'affected' focal length since f-stop is the ratio of focal length to aperture (i.e. lens parameters).

No, the 'cropping' affects the depth of field as well. This is why compact cameras really struggle for narrow depth of field, their sensors are so small. This is mostly in their favour though as a deep depth of field gives them more chance of achieving focus. The MFT cameras 2x 'cropped' sensors affect the depth of field by 2x too, so to achieve the same depth of field as a 35mm film or FX sensor camera, you have to half the aperture.

 

[BrianT]

Not necessarily in this case Brian. There simply isn't any other compact fast 50mm option for MFT.

I assume when you say for MFT you are including all lenses that are usable with/ or without an adapter, because I dont think this " Nokton " is an Mico 4/3 mount, it might be Macro I don't know, I could be wrong, in fact it might be a nothing at the moment as they are having a poll.

The lens illustrated roughly shows that the length is roughly 90mm long if wee assume a lens diameter of 60/62mm

It doesn't look very " compact" to me, why should you assume this is compact in design? Then possibly add on an adapter, still if you want it I guarantee like most of us you can justify it But I repeat, in my opinion it is a waste of money if you move the aperture ring off 0.95 and I reckon at £500 it's too cheap.

Sorry Barney There is a compact lens, the Canon 0.95 is only 42mm long and weighs 600 gms, hardly large for a lens of this speed.

We also have the Voigtlander F1.1 at a very manageable 420 grms

There are also C mount cine lenses which would suit

And the Nokton lettering is awful.........no class whatsoever. Go for it, Should be fun in Whitelocks.

 

[Munchkinn]

I dont think this " Nokton " is an Mico 4/3 mount, it might be Macro I don't know, I could be wrong, in fact it might be a nothing at the moment as they are having a poll.

From DPReview:
"After a brief online campaign, US-based company Noktor has announced its first product: the HyperPrime 50mm f/0.95 lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras."

 

[NorthernNikon]

It doesn't look very " compact" to me, why should you assume this is compact in design? Then possibly add on an adapter, still if you want it I guarantee like most of us you can justify it But I repeat, in my opinion it is a waste of money if you move the aperture ring off 0.95 and I reckon at £500 it's too cheap.

Sorry Barney There is a compact lens, the Canon 0.95 is only 42mm long and weighs 600 gms, hardly large for a lens of this speed.

We also have the Voigtlander F1.1 at a very manageable 420 grms

There are also C mount cine lenses which would suit

And the Nokton lettering is awful.........no class whatsoever. Go for it, Should be fun in Whitelocks.

Ooh Brian you pesky so-and-so, you've edited that since I last read it!

The Nokton is an MFT lens (the poll is for future products) and I say compact becasue you don't have to stick a lump of an adaptor behind it. Like I say, I could use my Nikkor 50mm f:1.4 with the Novaflex but it turns the whole unit into a bit of an unwieldy beast.

My one concern is the reprts that the image circle for this lens isn;t wide enough for a four:thirds sensor. I've emailed Nokton querying this and will update if and when I get a reply.

In the mean time I've finally managed to get around to trying out my Nikkor 45mm f:2.8P as a portrait lens. I think it will tide me over until I get a response back from Nokton.

 

[BrianT]

In fact Barney I wouldn't touch it with yours.

In low-light photography and cinematography, the lens exceeds the perception of the human eye

Any company coming out with such blattant tosh IMO should be treated with great caution

Brian.

 

[AndyElliott]

No, the 'cropping' affects the depth of field as well. This is why compact cameras really struggle for narrow depth of field, their sensors are so small. This is mostly in their favour though as a deep depth of field gives them more chance of achieving focus. The MFT cameras 2x 'cropped' sensors affect the depth of field by 2x too, so to achieve the same depth of field as a 35mm film or FX sensor camera, you have to half the aperture.

That's a slight misconception when you look at how the DOF is calculated. This is based also on how you crop and then print the image. All of the 'full frame' and APS-C cameras have an aspect ratio of 3:2, and are quite often cropped to trim the long ends and end up to an aspect ratio to print which is squarer and less elongated. The DOF calculations (and, indeed, the 'effective focal length') get around the difference in aspect ratio difference between 'full frame' and fourthirds (typically, unless you have a GH1, 4:3 rather than 3:2) by using the difference in diagonal distance across the frame.

Given the likely truncation of a full-frame image, whereas this is less likely with fourthirds image, for printing, a better difference in aspect ratio between fourthirds and fullframe might be the ratio of their vertical heights - i.e. about 1.8 - not 2.

It's not cut and dried either way and there are arguments for saying it should be 1.8 and 2.0. So you could argue the an f1.4 is like f2.8 or f2.5 - not much in it, in practice.

I thought it worth pointing out that small wrinkle...

Andy

 

[NorthernNikon]

OLike I say, I could use my Nikkor 50mm f:1.4 with the Novaflex but it turns the whole unit into a bit of an unwieldy beast.

I'm going to have to take that back, I've just tried it and the 50mm AF-D sits really nicely in the left palm and my fingers naturally fall on the focusing ring. Hmmm, food for thought.

 

[NorthernNikon]

I thought it worth pointing out that small wrinkle...

Maybe, but I much prefer to KISS.

 

[BrianT]

I'm going to have to take that back, I've just tried it and the 50mm AF-D sits really nicely in the left palm and my fingers naturally fall on the focusing ring. Hmmm, food for thought.

Thank heavens for that, now I shan't have to buy all the beer.

I couldn't understand why you thought the f1.4/ Novaflex was a beast. I reckon it works well and the Nikkor 50mm F1.4 is one of the sharpest of it's kind with lovely Bokah ( What an awful word)

Brian.

 

[grum]

Well I got two new toys for my GF1 today.

Raynox DCR 250 and the Clearviewer - very pleased with both of them (though slightly less pleased with the customs 'handling fee')

The Clearviewer is still a really neat little cheap solution to the reflective screen/no viewfinder issue though.

 

[woof woof]

I used my GF1 at the weekend to take a couple of snaps of a new baby. At f1.7 and set on auto ISO I got some usable shots, nothing special and not too sharp as the baby was awake and wriggling and I didn't want to use the flash but the shots were much better than what was possible with a compact.

My sister was quite impressed with how quick and responsive the GF1 was and she's taken a note of the make and model and may be joining the club. She currently uses a Samsung SLR but she finds it a pain to carry it around so she's looking for something smaller but better than her compact. That'll be a GF1 then.

 

[BrianT]

So it would appear that the Nokton is in fact a modified CCTV lens made by Senco.

 

[braddersmd]

Brian, have you any more info on Senco? I've been in the CCTV industry for 13years (import/distribution) and not come across the name before.

 

[BrianT]

I found the link on DPreview Brad.

Pictured is the Senko 50mm f/0.95. Similar (or same) lens are available as Navitron, Sophradir, and others.

Regards,

Jonathan
[/QUOTE]

Seems it might just be a branded label. I have also read that it might be a Rebadged Sony.

Brian.

 

[NorthernNikon]

Seems it might just be a branded label. I have also read that it might be a Rebadged Sony.

It's not just a rebranding, there will have had to be some re-engineering just to give it an MFT mount. How much re-engineering has taken place though is the question.

 

[AndyElliott]

They had some links on their website to some flickr samples - unfortunately, with no EXIF info. I have to say, the bokeh wasn't too impressive, nor was the sharpness. The ZD 50mm f2 macro is super-sharp wide open, I would guess easily the outdo for the Noktor stopped down. Shame Panasonic didn't do a 50/1.4 like the 25/1.4. I had the 25/1.4, but traded that together with the ZD 12-60 for the ZD 14-35f2 - a quite delicious piece of glass, and more practical. That said, the Panny 25/1.4 was an amazing piece of glass, so sharp, even wide open, easily outdid anything I'd seen from Canon or Nikon @50mm f1.4 on full frame for sharpness.

Personally, I'd prefer a lens that I could use wide open and a bit slower, not one that was forever stopped down. From what I've seen, a bit of a thumbs down for the Nokton.

Andy

 

[AndyElliott]

Duplicate post - ignore - stupid broadband problems and timeouts...

 

[BrianT]

It's not just a rebranding, there will have had to be some re-engineering just to give it an MFT mount.

Don't be so pedantic Barney. O.K. It seems that it might be a re-engineered version of a " Branded " lens.

How much re-engineering has taken place though is the question.

Not for me, I suspect it would only be of interest to an optical designer/ engineer and I don't reckon there are many of those around here.

But here we go.

bears an uncanny resemblance to the Senko 50mm f/0.95 C-mount CCTV lens and shares almost all of its vital specifications.

And even I can understand that.

It is a fact that most Leica Nocti lenses are bought by American dentists, used once then bragged about ad nauseum, I reckon this is the poor man's version. Glad I got over the " behind the bike shed thing a long long time ago.

As we all know bigger is best so what about a 90mm F1, full frame, made by Leica? Now isn't that what we really need for our family snaps? * And yes it does exist.

Brian.

* bet that get's em looking at Jacob's/ Jessops website..

Hot off the press from DPreviw.

After a brief online campaign, US-based company Noktor has announced its first product: the HyperPrime 50mm f/0.95 lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras. This ultra-fast manual focus lens with manual aperture control bears an uncanny resemblance to the Senko 50mm f/0.95 C-mount CCTV lens and shares almost all of its vital specifications. The company, that appears to be registered to a residential property in Canton, Georgia will start shipping the lens from April 15, 2010 at a retail price of $750.

Seems at least I got the source and origin right.

 

[NorthernNikon]

Don't be so pedantic Barney. O.K. It seems that it might be a re-engineered version of a " Branded " lens.

Brian, this is an internet forum, you're supposed to be pedantic.

It is a fact that most Leica Nocti lenses are bought by American dentists, used once then bragged about ad nauseum, I reckon this is the poor man's version. Glad I got over the " behind the bike shed thing a long long time ago.

As we all know bigger is best so what about a 90mm F1, full frame, made by Leica? Now isn't that what we really need for our family snaps? * And yes it does exist.
* bet that get's em looking at Jacob's/ Jessops website..

Not me Brian. I only want a c50mm lens to compliment the 20mm f:1.7 and I'm not going to be spending more than around £500 on it and I know that any Leica lens, never mind a 90mm f:1, would be a four figured expense.

There are plenty options for me, and I already have two the 45mm f:2.8 P and the 50mm AF-D f:1.4. Since trying the 50mm f:1.4 on, the Noktor has become a less attractive propsition. I'll be happy using the Nikkor wide open, afterall you're only using the cnetre of the image, so I'd be paying £500 simply for a more compact design. Ideally though, I want auto-focus and for that it's either the 14-45mm kit lens or the MFT Leica 45mm f2.8, neither of which are fast enough. I'm not a depth of field whore, but I would like somthing as fast as f:2 or faster.

 

[AndyElliott]

I'm not a depth of field whore, but I would like somthing as fast as f:2 or faster.

If you want AF and a 50/2 or faster, the ZD 50/2 with the mFT/FT adapter would seem to be the way to go. The 50/2 can be had for 300 ish pounds second-hand. It's one of the sharpest lenses around bar none - check out the DPReview review of it. It is extremely sharp wide open. Plus you get a great macro lens.

Andy

 

[BrianT]

Brian, this is an internet forum, you're supposed to be pedantic

But I find it very tiresome.

never mind a 90mm f:1, would be a four figured expense.

Rather like six figures Barney! Very, very rare. Three examples known, highly unlikely any of which will ever come to the open market.

Since trying the 50mm f:1.4 on, the Noktor has become a less attractive propsition.

Which was a point I implied some posts ago.

Enough Brian, now who is being pedantic

I think Andy has provided a good option with the A/F F2 . If the Olly 14?-35 f2 was cheaper that's how I should go. But when I have settled down to accepting the GF1 my Nikon stuff might be dumped, it's a case of commitment .

Brian.