Maybe Kubota or joren or someone else educated enough could answer this...

I currently have a Canon FD 50mm f1.4, and a 55mm f1.2 lens. A 128mm f2.8 is on the way, as is a 35mm f2. Can anyone recommend any more lenses to round out my arsenal, or is this good enough? Obviously the faster the better, but should I get a WA like 28mm? Danka.

Simply put, get what lenses you'll use. If you're going to be shooting interiors, it certainly can't hurt to have a wide angle lens. If you're shooting nature documentaries, then really long lenses may be required. Sure it'd be great to own every lens made, but one must be realistic and the best way to narrow down is to get what you'll use for the types of shooting you'll be doing. And it's not out of the question to borrow or buy a lens for a specific shoot if you don't have what you need later as long as you've planned it out ahead of time. If you've got the money, go ahead buy lots of lenses, but I'd say that with the addition of a wider lens you'll have most angles (so to speak) covered.

Those are both pretty nice lenses. I'm not 100% sure of the geometry involved with using a 35mm adapter, but it seems like the effective focal length of these lenses when using them on 1/3" or 1/4" chip DV cameras is much longer than the 35mm number.

Maybe get some wider lenses to compensate for that, but they get quite expensive, especially faster ones. Honestly, nothing is wrong with slower lenses - even though a lens may open to f/1.2 the best performance lies generally between f/2.8 and f/5.6.

For my 16mm cameras I have an Angenieux 25mm prime that is f/0.95. Yes, I did use it wide open

Maybe pick up a zoom also, although unless you spend some money for a decent one, it's not really worth getting.

Personally, if I put together a 35mm adapter for my GL2, I would put an M42 mount on it so I could use the Zeiss DDR lenses - great value, fantastic optics.

Out of curiosity, what kind of camera do you use?

And Kubota, the GL2 has an optical image stabilizer, doesn't that screw around with things when lenses are used? Or do you just not use the stabilizer and lenses at the same time?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BrandonGlossop,

I used a micro 35 lens on my GL-2 and I seemed to get the flicker. Perhaps it is the stabilizer. Or the ground glass. I'll post it soon.

I never use image stabilization. I don't see a use for it much-- I've always got it on a tripod or a dolly, and stabilization degrades the image quality anyway.

quote:

and stabilization degrades the image quality anyway.

Not really. It's all optical, and the image passes through the stabilization prism whether the feature is activated or not. It's a good idea to turn it off when on a tripod since it can cause 'sticking' at the start or stop of movement, but the image quality is not going to change.

I don't use 35mm lenses on my camera. all the lenses I mentioned are C mount for 16mm cameras.

Ben, if your stabilizer is digital or electronic, I can see how it might degrade the image a little by cutting the sides for padding and therefore reducing your functional pixel count. Optical on the other hand, like Evan said, shouldn't degrade your image, unless a lens is used.

Oops--my mind read digital. My b.