Manual focus (and cheap) lens review

“Travis” (one of our long-time 43rumors readers) made a video review for low cost manual focus lenses. These are many of the inexpensive legacy manual focus lenses available for interchangeable lens cameras.

Lens used (click on those links to see the availability and price of the lens on eBay):
– c-mount lensc-mount lensc-mount lensc-mount lensc-mount lensc-mount lensc-mount lensc-mount lensc-mount lensc-mount lens

– Nikon 30mm F1.4Nikon 30mm F1.4Nikon 30mm F1.4Nikon 30mm F1.4Nikon 30mm F1.4Nikon 30mm F1.4Nikon 30mm F1.4Nikon 30mm F1.4Nikon 30mm F1.4Nikon 30mm F1.4Nikon 30mm F1.4

– Canon 35-70mmCanon 35-70mmCanon 35-70mmCanon 35-70mmCanon 35-70mmCanon 35-70mmCanon 35-70mmCanon 35-70mmCanon 35-70mmCanon 35-70mmCanon 35-70mm

– Canon 50mm F1.4Canon 50mm F1.4Canon 50mm F1.4Canon 50mm F1.4Canon 50mm F1.4Canon 50mm F1.4Canon 50mm F1.4Canon 50mm F1.4Canon 50mm F1.4Canon 50mm F1.4Canon 50mm F1.4

– Canon 55mm F1.2Canon 55mm F1.2Canon 55mm F1.2Canon 55mm F1.2Canon 55mm F1.2Canon 55mm F1.2Canon 55mm F1.2Canon 55mm F1.2Canon 55mm F1.2Canon 55mm F1.2Canon 55mm F1.2

– Nikon 50mm F1.8Nikon 50mm F1.8Nikon 50mm F1.8Nikon 50mm F1.8Nikon 50mm F1.8Nikon 50mm F1.8Nikon 50mm F1.8Nikon 50mm F1.8Nikon 50mm F1.8Nikon 50mm F1.8Nikon 50mm F1.8

– Nikon 85mm F1.8Nikon 85mm F1.8Nikon 85mm F1.8Nikon 85mm F1.8Nikon 85mm F1.8Nikon 85mm F1.8Nikon 85mm F1.8Nikon 85mm F1.8Nikon 85mm F1.8Nikon 85mm F1.8Nikon 85mm F1.8

– Olympus 400mm F5.0Olympus 400mm F5.0Olympus 400mm F5.0Olympus 400mm F5.0Olympus 400mm F5.0Olympus 400mm F5.0Olympus 400mm F5.0Olympus 400mm F5.0Olympus 400mm F5.0Olympus 400mm F5.0Olympus 400mm F5.0

Thanks Travis!

Panasonic GF1 + LensBaby photgraphy (by Tyson Robichaud)

Tyson Robichaud has been playing around with a Lensbaby ComposerLensbaby ComposerLensbaby ComposerLensbaby ComposerLensbaby ComposerLensbaby ComposerLensbaby ComposerLensbaby ComposerLensbaby ComposerLensbaby ComposerLensbaby Composer. He used the Canon-mount 50mm f/2 lens (there is no dedicated micro 4/3 mount yet). Read the article: http://tysonrobichaudphotography.wordpress.com

LensBaby lenses are available on their website (http://www.lensbaby.com/) and of course on eBayon eBayon eBayon eBayon eBayon eBayon eBayon eBayon eBayon eBayon eBay

UPDATED: Also the GF1 has been hacked! It can do 1080p -> GF1 video samples (32Mbit)!!!

UPDATE: The GH1 hack also works for the Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1Panasonic GF1!!! The video above has been shot with:
1920x1080p
29,970fps
32Mbit
lens:
Panasonic 20mm f/1.7
Panasonic 45-200mm

[Thanks J.]

—-
And one more Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1Panasonic GH1 video sample has been posted on vimeo:

Tester13’s Firmware Hack test, before – after comparison from Gunther Machu on Vimeo.

Shot with kitlens at f8, 1/160 shutter, iso 100, manual in creative movie mode at 5300K. For MJPEG, the settings of Pappas (see thread MJPEG 70Mbits+ 1080p settings) were used, for AVCHD the “safe” settings indicated at the end were used (from jobless, see thread AVCHD high bitrate tests, mud free footage).

I tried to keep the pans at the same pace, but thats difficult. What is incredible, the MJPEG clearly shows a better resolution (I used just the 1440x1080p settings as my card is only class6), plus the AVCHD shows no mud and increased resolution (before, on low contrast scenes islands of unsharp areas could be seen), as can be clearly seen in the comparison (e.g. look at the shadow area right to the gardenhouse).

Sony fangroup website reviews the Panasonic DMC-LC1


The Panasonic DMC-LC1 is probably one of the nicest digital cameras ever made. The LC1 has been announced in 2004 and I would love to see a successor for such an essential, well designed camera. Curiously the camera has been reviewed by Alphamount world (yes…a Sony fan website). And it is no a short review, Cgarrard wrote a 11 page detailled test! Click here to read it: http://www.alphamountworld.com/reviews/digicam-tribute-panasonic-lc1

43rumors thanks Cgarrard for remembering us how nice the Panasonic DMC-LC1 is! Well done!

 

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New PEN reviews and one new giant PEN commercial!


A very cool giant PEN commercial! Thanks -> F.J. for the link ;)

Neutralday tested the Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2 (Highly Recommended!). Click here to read their review! And click here to get the camera (it automatically redirects you to the closest amazon or eBay store): Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2Olympus E-P2

DPinterface and Infosyncworld just posted their respective Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1 review (found via: noisycamera). Click here to check out the price or to order the Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1

Olympus 14-150mm tested at SLRgear

SLRgear tested the new Olympus 14-150mm lens. They found the image quality to be very good. And like the other Olympus lenses it suffers from “some high chromatic aberration at certain focal lengths, but for the wide range of focal lengths the lens offers, it’s probably a small price to pay for the all-in-one versatility.”

Read their review: http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1320/cat/15

Click here to preorder the lens on amazon.com

Sony NEX tested and compared with the Olympus E-PL1 (at dpreview)

Dpreview (click here) tested the Sony NEX camerasSony NEX camerasSony NEX cameras and compared them with the Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1Olympus E-PL1, Samsung NX-10Samsung NX-10Samsung NX-10Samsung NX-10Samsung NX-10Samsung NX-10Samsung NX-10Samsung NX-10Samsung NX-10Samsung NX-10Samsung NX-10 and the Canon T2i

1) The NEX images do have slightly less noise than the smaller sensored Olympus E-PL1 but the images do not have much more detail
2) Olympus jpeg engine works better than the Sony engine
3) Very bad handling of the NEX

Overall score:
Nex5 64%
E-PL1 69%

Read the review at: Dpreview

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