So far I have managed to add a G9II and some new glass, filters, rig parts for a decent amount.
The S5 kit in particular has done very well coming in at $6000au total for the body and kit lens, three S series primes, two cinema lenses and some legacy adapters. Four of these lenses were bought this week for $2200au total.
First up, some images are from my 50mm test. The 50mm is basically the same except for a slightly lighter focus ring and it is a hair longer. Optically though it is different. The Bokeh is more obvious being a longer lens and more pleasing than the 35 and the colour considerably cooler, closer to neutral.
First sharpness and close focus.
Close focus is not a thing, but even cropped in twice as close as the 35mm, it is sharp. Some of the close focus issue can be tackled by cropping the sensor making the lens a 75mm.
At T4 the 50mm has that nice balance of genuine sharpness and a good sense of “place” which is important for visual cohesion in film making.
The term “stable” comes to mind.
Plenty of detail there and pleasantly coherent Bokeh.
The lens reminds me of the legacy 25mm f2.8 “F” series half frame lens, except the Bokeh is genuinely lovely, almost feathery instead of being more “interesting”.
Wide open sharpness is enough to allow accurate focus and can tell a story and the Bokeh, is sublime. I would rarely use this aperture for videography, just too twitchy, but nice to have the option.
Wide open at the same crop as above. Nuf said and again, focus was sure and quick. Technical perfection is not needed, but getting this close to a decent stills lens is enough for sure. Love the feathery “brush stroke” Bokeh. I think that possibly the bigger sensor mixed with less technically perfect glass is a good combination, but the 12mm on my G9’s will confirm that.
Even off-centre sharpness is plenty reliable at T4 where it matters and surprisingly easy to focus for. Corner sharpness wide open is usually irrelevant for cinema glass because the eye rarely has time to explore there and the subject will often be off centre, but not in the corner, especially wide open.
Finally another comparison of the lens wide open and at the “cinematic” working aperture of T4. In both cases the blur stays well out of the way and allows the sharp area to sit apart from un-distracting transitions. The little cross in the background has a busy mottled pattern that is handled differently by the two apertures. The white jug in the shallower image is gorgeous!
Safe to say, I would use either of the Spectrum lenses for stills work.
Next?
I am tempted with the last of my self-allocated funds, to get either a Sirui anamorphic* 24 or 35 or the 7Art Vision series 12mm. These would all be for M43 mount, because full frame has had enough love.
All focal lengths from here will be referring to full frame equivalents for consistency.
The Sirui’s would then be either a 48mm lens image height/magnification with 32 to 36 width depending on format chosen, or a 70mm lens image height with 42 to 46mm width.
Interesting pair.
The 24mm is a standard+wide, the 35mm a portrait+standard.
The 24mm appeals most because I would prefer a wider “staging” lens with more subtle anamorphic effects and much better close focus. Thinking along the line of a lens that could complete a short project with a single lens, the 24mm is a challenge that excites.
The faster 35mm would in effect be just another 50mm equivalent (making 15 in total!).
The regular 12mm would be equal to a 24mm wide angle with the same dynamic as the above two for M43, fixing the cinema wide angle hole I have**, while also adding M43 cameras to the equation.
It has good reviews in the Vision series, which do not seem to be a strong as the Spectrums across the board and the close focus offers a similar excitement factor to the Sirui 24.
This matches the Spectrum lenses for filter size, heft and feel. I am guessing that even without inbuilt stabilising on the G9 mkII or G9 mkI it would be gimbal-like thanks to the heft and balance with excellent depth of field (12mm on M43 is still a 12mm for dof), so focussing will not be an issue. If it is successful, I would be keen to look at the 35 T1.05 or Nightwalker Sirui T1.2 for M43 as a tele option over the cropped 50 Spectrum. The 35 is apparently the best of the Vision series.
The other advantage is the 12mm on M43 is a better lens than on a full frame sensor cropped to APS-C. First up, it is covering a smaller sensor area for the same resolution, so variances across the frame are better corrected (the sweet spot effect).
Secondly, it is a more versatile focal length at 24mm than the APS-C 18mm. Even 24mm sits on the edge of my ideal cinema lens range, but 18 is a true run-n-gun videographers lens and I have those. It seems to be decently corrected and under a third the price of the 24mm Lumix prime.
I think based on the versatility and consistency of the 12mm option on M43 cameras, plus the bargains around at the moment, it is the way to go and the Sirui’s can be left on the back burner.
Would I be simply adding another 12mm to M43 (I have 4 already)?
No, for all the above reasons.
Using the Spectrum cine lenses which cover 35, 50 and 75 (crop), the 24mm angle rounds out the set, adds another camera option to the mix with top end stabilising and a few features only the G9II has.
*I did just spend half as much as one of the lenses on some Moment cineflare filters (blue and gold and their cinebloom 5%), because I do like the odd streaky effect, but I also like the control, consistency and ability to use them on almost any lens (67mm thread fits all but the big cine lenses).
The anamorphic lenses can be a bit over the top and hard to control or avoid and I could care less about the in-house secret that is oval Bokeh balls. The extra width can be achieved by shooting 4-6k and letterboxing.
**The 7Art cinema lenses from either series seem to miss a full frame 24 equivalent or a 16mm for APS-C crop. The 12 on M43 is the only option. This has the added benefit though of allowing me to use a second camera with similar glass and cropping from 4-6k, I even have options and the wide angle in a M43 camera allows for more run-n-gun, moving rig options.