Comments on: The Great 50mm Shootout http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/01/the-great-50mm-shootout Photo/video thoughts from the largest rental house Mon, 20 May 2013 17:12:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: ADI ILIYA http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/01/the-great-50mm-shootout/comment-page-1#comment-31055 ADI ILIYA Sat, 02 Mar 2013 23:04:20 +0000 http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/?p=4811#comment-31055 i need to know if the lens of 50mm/40mm are good for landscape pictures if not what lenses are ? and i have a very tight budget since im a student. but do tell me tho please thanks i need to know if the lens of 50mm/40mm are good for landscape pictures if not what lenses are ? and i have a very tight budget since im a student. but do tell me tho please thanks

]]> By: Bob http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/01/the-great-50mm-shootout/comment-page-1#comment-24593 Bob Sun, 11 Nov 2012 20:32:12 +0000 http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/?p=4811#comment-24593 I guess you couldn't find a Pentax SMC A 50mm 1:1.2? I guess you couldn’t find a Pentax SMC A 50mm 1:1.2?

]]> By: Canon Rebel T3i http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/01/the-great-50mm-shootout/comment-page-1#comment-3992 Canon Rebel T3i Fri, 23 Mar 2012 08:54:15 +0000 http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/?p=4811#comment-3992 I'm now not certain where you are getting your info, however good topic. I must spend some time learning more or figuring out more. Thanks for wonderful info I used to be on the lookout for this info for my mission. I’m now not certain where you are getting your info, however good topic. I must spend some time learning more or figuring out more. Thanks for wonderful info I used to be on the lookout for this info for my mission.

]]> By: Adam http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/01/the-great-50mm-shootout/comment-page-1#comment-3636 Adam Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:53:08 +0000 http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/?p=4811#comment-3636 I can speak from experience on the HD depth of field issue, as I have extensive television studio experience. Roger has it on the money that it is purely a sensor size issue, tilt shift lenses are not in use and I have never even heard of one for HD, though that does not mean that someone, somewhere hasn't got one mounted to their HD rig right now. To give you an idea of how small we're talking, a "wide" lens in HD is generally in the 6-8mm range. Studios, especially news studios or anywhere things are recorded live or "live to tape" simply move too fast for the use of HD prime lenses (which definitely exist) much lens tilt/shift lenses. As an example, a lens I see in common use is a 9-540. You’ve read it correctly, a 60x zoom. (Oh and it has a built in 2x extender too!) Obviously, most studios are willing to sacrifice sharpness for flexibility. (Keep in mind though that an HD image is roughly equivalent to two megapixels, so critical sharpness is less apparent, and also that this lens weighs close to fifty pounds and has a front element that’s 8”-10” in diameter, so they’re not sacrificing as much as a still photographer would be with a 60x SLR lens) Now the lens goes to 540 and very occasionally there will be a need to grab a very tight shot of something at 540 (or even 1080mm with the extender) and there needs to be enough light to have decent depth of field at that extreme. Even if it is decided that being as open as f4 or 5.6 will do the trick, that means the wide shot will ALSO have to be at f4 or 5.6 because the talent will be under the exact same lights, and you can’t change shutter speeds on the fly in live TV they way you can in still photography. 5.6 at 8mm buys a LOT of depth of field. Reality TV is still pretty fast paced, though they may occasionally use primes, if for no other reason than to have more options for low light because they don’t have time or resources to light every space they’ll be shooting. Shows like Planet Earth almost certainly use primes when possible, and it’s why they look GORGEOUS! I can speak from experience on the HD depth of field issue, as I have extensive television studio experience.
Roger has it on the money that it is purely a sensor size issue, tilt shift lenses are not in use and I have never even heard of one for HD, though that does not mean that someone, somewhere hasn’t got one mounted to their HD rig right now.
To give you an idea of how small we’re talking, a “wide” lens in HD is generally in the 6-8mm range.
Studios, especially news studios or anywhere things are recorded live or “live to tape” simply move too fast for the use of HD prime lenses (which definitely exist) much lens tilt/shift lenses.
As an example, a lens I see in common use is a 9-540. You’ve read it correctly, a 60x zoom. (Oh and it has a built in 2x extender too!) Obviously, most studios are willing to sacrifice sharpness for flexibility. (Keep in mind though that an HD image is roughly equivalent to two megapixels, so critical sharpness is less apparent, and also that this lens weighs close to fifty pounds and has a front element that’s 8”-10” in diameter, so they’re not sacrificing as much as a still photographer would be with a 60x SLR lens)
Now the lens goes to 540 and very occasionally there will be a need to grab a very tight shot of something at 540 (or even 1080mm with the extender) and there needs to be enough light to have decent depth of field at that extreme. Even if it is decided that being as open as f4 or 5.6 will do the trick, that means the wide shot will ALSO have to be at f4 or 5.6 because the talent will be under the exact same lights, and you can’t change shutter speeds on the fly in live TV they way you can in still photography. 5.6 at 8mm buys a LOT of depth of field.
Reality TV is still pretty fast paced, though they may occasionally use primes, if for no other reason than to have more options for low light because they don’t have time or resources to light every space they’ll be shooting.
Shows like Planet Earth almost certainly use primes when possible, and it’s why they look GORGEOUS!

]]> By: ben http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/01/the-great-50mm-shootout/comment-page-1#comment-3029 ben Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:09:07 +0000 http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/?p=4811#comment-3029 really cool article Roger...thanks for the hard work. really cool article Roger…thanks for the hard work.

]]> By: Heru Anggono http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/01/the-great-50mm-shootout/comment-page-1#comment-3012 Heru Anggono Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:30:49 +0000 http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/?p=4811#comment-3012 I am hoping Roger would bring the "sharpness" thing a bit further. How about describing (in a measurable standard) elusive stuffs such as "looks" from certain a lens, contrast quality (micro contrast, edge sharpness, etc), and colour rendition. I am hoping Roger would bring the “sharpness” thing a bit further. How about describing (in a measurable standard) elusive stuffs such as “looks” from certain a lens, contrast quality (micro contrast, edge sharpness, etc), and colour rendition.

]]> By: Carl http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/01/the-great-50mm-shootout/comment-page-1#comment-2952 Carl Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:46:17 +0000 http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/?p=4811#comment-2952 Roger, Thanks very much for the info. I had thought of the smaller sensors too, but I just don't know. Some of it is like news achors on a set where sometimes the background is in razor sharp focus, and yet you can tell the camera is relatively close to them, the background 6 feet or more behind. Of course other times on a news set the background is intentionally diffuse. Also, a lot of the "reality" shows do seem to have a lot of deep focus...and even Discovery channel material at times. "Planet Earth" and similar of course are spectacular, and certainly the telephoto work in that is shallow depth of field, so at least that looks more familiar to me. Well, I was only voicing my wishlist. No time constraints, and I know how you feel! I dread doing photo editing because it means sitting at the computer for many hours, and even if I take breaks and switch pillows, it still hurts! I need to get faster at it! It's much more fun to just shoot the pics, as you know all too well! I can't wait to see your take on the D4 vs the 1Dx. Some of the sample shots online from the D4, actually look like they might be MORE noisy than the D3s, especially at ISO 25.6k. Wow wouldn't that be a disappointment! I'm sure it's not actually true, though. Either would be a dream to use, but I think I would still prefer the slightly lower price and increased pixel density of the 1D4. I guess those will be fewer and farther between, and the price might just go up for the few remaining new units, might it not? I wish I could afford to buy one now! Roger,

Thanks very much for the info. I had thought of the smaller sensors too, but I just don’t know. Some of it is like news achors on a set where sometimes the background is in razor sharp focus, and yet you can tell the camera is relatively close to them, the background 6 feet or more behind. Of course other times on a news set the background is intentionally diffuse.

Also, a lot of the “reality” shows do seem to have a lot of deep focus…and even Discovery channel material at times. “Planet Earth” and similar of course are spectacular, and certainly the telephoto work in that is shallow depth of field, so at least that looks more familiar to me.

Well, I was only voicing my wishlist. No time constraints, and I know how you feel! I dread doing photo editing because it means sitting at the computer for many hours, and even if I take breaks and switch pillows, it still hurts! I need to get faster at it! It’s much more fun to just shoot the pics, as you know all too well!

I can’t wait to see your take on the D4 vs the 1Dx. Some of the sample shots online from the D4, actually look like they might be MORE noisy than the D3s, especially at ISO 25.6k. Wow wouldn’t that be a disappointment! I’m sure it’s not actually true, though. Either would be a dream to use, but I think I would still prefer the slightly lower price and increased pixel density of the 1D4. I guess those will be fewer and farther between, and the price might just go up for the few remaining new units, might it not? I wish I could afford to buy one now!

]]> By: Roger Cicala http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/01/the-great-50mm-shootout/comment-page-1#comment-2951 Roger Cicala Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:30:08 +0000 http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/?p=4811#comment-2951 Carl, I don't know about the TV lenses. Some of it, I'm sure, has to do with smaller sensors in even HDTV cams. Otherwise I can't say, but don't have any tilt function that I'm aware of. As to further testing, I'd love to do it like that. Unfortunately, the primary use of the testing equipment (and me) is for checking all of the lenses that come back every day. December is slow and I was able to spend a full day doing these tests, but the chance of doing more than that is slim, at least in one setting. Roger Carl,

I don’t know about the TV lenses. Some of it, I’m sure, has to do with smaller sensors in even HDTV cams. Otherwise I can’t say, but don’t have any tilt function that I’m aware of.

As to further testing, I’d love to do it like that. Unfortunately, the primary use of the testing equipment (and me) is for checking all of the lenses that come back every day. December is slow and I was able to spend a full day doing these tests, but the chance of doing more than that is slim, at least in one setting.

Roger

]]> By: Carl http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/01/the-great-50mm-shootout/comment-page-1#comment-2950 Carl Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:38:09 +0000 http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/?p=4811#comment-2950 A couple of other interesting things about this blog post: No Nikon fanbois seem to be in an uproar about Roger’s finding that the D3x didn’t out-resolve the Canon 5D2. I guess most of those are “noise fanbois”, and thus all they care about are the 12mp (and soon to be 16.2mp) bodies. The finding that the typical sharpest aperture for a wide aperture lens is at f/4, because few people shoot a wide aperture lens at smaller than f/4. That doesn’t seem right to me, I’m sure most photographers shoot at a wide range of aperture (at least the ones that don’t leave everything in auto mode). If this is referring to most cinematographers, that’s a different story, and I’d understand that more. Nobody ever seems to mention what lenses are used in much of the HD tv programming I see on most every channel, where there is an ever-present, incredibly deep focus, yet it doesn’t have the look of a closed down aperture to me. I have asked Roger several times, but he never replied…Are there “cinema” or other lenses in common use, which employ a design similar to tilt-shift types, where a deep focus can be achieved while leaving the aperture relatively open? Sorry if that is a dumb question or is widely known by everybody…I’m not a cinematographer but have always been curious. And not to beat a dead horse, but there is a 45mm lens included in the test, and that is well within the 8% of finder view difference, of a lens like my 58 (actually ~54mm) Nokton. And Roger, a couple more suggestions. If you do the test again on the Nex 7 or whatever, don’t limit it to 50mm lenses, include more lenses in the “normal” range, so that might include the Leica 75mm f/2 Summicron. And maybe try to get a bit more distance, 20 to 25 feet (I'm sure you have the building space now!). And go up to f/5.6 instead of f/4. A couple of other interesting things about this blog post:

No Nikon fanbois seem to be in an uproar about Roger’s finding that the D3x didn’t out-resolve the Canon 5D2. I guess most of those are “noise fanbois”, and thus all they care about are the 12mp (and soon to be 16.2mp) bodies.

The finding that the typical sharpest aperture for a wide aperture lens is at f/4, because few people shoot a wide aperture lens at smaller than f/4. That doesn’t seem right to me, I’m sure most photographers shoot at a wide range of aperture (at least the ones that don’t leave everything in auto mode). If this is referring to most cinematographers, that’s a different story, and I’d understand that more.

Nobody ever seems to mention what lenses are used in much of the HD tv programming I see on most every channel, where there is an ever-present, incredibly deep focus, yet it doesn’t have the look of a closed down aperture to me. I have asked Roger several times, but he never replied…Are there “cinema” or other lenses in common use, which employ a design similar to tilt-shift types, where a deep focus can be achieved while leaving the aperture relatively open?

Sorry if that is a dumb question or is widely known by everybody…I’m not a cinematographer but have always been curious.

And not to beat a dead horse, but there is a 45mm lens included in the test, and that is well within the 8% of finder view difference, of a lens like my 58 (actually ~54mm) Nokton.

And Roger, a couple more suggestions. If you do the test again on the Nex 7 or whatever, don’t limit it to 50mm lenses, include more lenses in the “normal” range, so that might include the Leica 75mm f/2 Summicron. And maybe try to get a bit more distance, 20 to 25 feet (I’m sure you have the building space now!). And go up to f/5.6 instead of f/4.

]]> By: Carl http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/01/the-great-50mm-shootout/comment-page-1#comment-2949 Carl Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:30:51 +0000 http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/?p=4811#comment-2949 Um, no it wasn't, it won't be announced officially until January 10 or so, likely at CES. An announcement in China doesn't count because I don't read Chinese. If you're too lazy to read what I write, nobody is forcing you to reply to something you are ignorant about. I am free to give my opinion about what lens should have been included in this blog...again I don't live in China...so I have a lot of freedom. I could even father as many daughters here as I want, without them being exterminated by the government! Um, no it wasn’t, it won’t be announced officially until January 10 or so, likely at CES. An announcement in China doesn’t count because I don’t read Chinese.

If you’re too lazy to read what I write, nobody is forcing you to reply to something you are ignorant about.

I am free to give my opinion about what lens should have been included in this blog…again I don’t live in China…so I have a lot of freedom. I could even father as many daughters here as I want, without them being exterminated by the government!

]]>