Old Glass Magic
I have been looking around and pondering video options lately.
After some recent success with the G9’s, I realised the S5 has been neglected, which seems backwards, but in that vein, I decided to give the old Pen 25 f2.8 half frame lens another go, this time in Standard profile, no changes rather than the flatter Natural profile with reduced everything (which I do not actually like that much).
So what is against the above image? A screen shot taken from a video clip, made with a dated G9 stills-hybrid camera in base Standard colour mode, 1080p (10 bit, 422), no other changes, ISO 3200, with a 50 year old lens in manual focus. A lens prone to low contrast veiling flare wide open, with “guesstimated” white balance, hand held, manually focussed using only the camera screen, minimal grading by an editor still learning the basics (a little white balance shift, some added contrast).
The lens is sharp, pleasant to use and almost ideally suited to video, with a smooth (very old) manual aperture ring, perfect focus throw and a natural organic softness, especially wide open. Bokeh is a little busy, but that does tend to add to the “snappiness” of the rendering.
Just to prove it was not a fluke, an image from another clip, this time with slightly warmer white balance (what I guessed before the slight fix). really like the 3d effect this lens adds and focussing, with depth limited to M43 f2.8 is a breeze. Notice the double edge on the gold frame. It is a little like the 17mm, but with Ni-Sen or cross eyed Bokeh as a bonus.
I know most G9 shooters use the Natural profile, often with contrast and sharpness reduced, but I much prefer the cleaner highlights and better white balance rendering of Standard. I found myself time and again putting back in what was taken out and Standard is basically right where I want to get. I just make sure I keep the histogram inside the right hand edge and all is workable.
If I am doing a serious shoot, the primary camera is the S5 in Flat mode, which grades very cleanly, the G9’s in Standard and grade the S5 towards them.
My shift to Super-35 with the S5 for most things and the G9’s coming right for me is making for a useful and powerful kit, a four angle outfit, the with the OSMO included.