I am looking at the older manual focus model for a pocket-size ponorama lens. Will it fit the 5D without hitting the mirror? And how is the IQ/flare/color?
The lens looks awfully small. Will it vignette on the 5D?
The Contax Carl Zeiss Tessar 45mm f/2.8 is a good alternative pancake for the 5D. The Tessar is 3mm longer, has 5mm less diameter and is the same weight. The Tessar is probably less expensive, going for $160 to $225 on eBay. I haven't used the Pentax 40/2.8, but I doubt it's better than the Zeiss.
Another good alternative is the Olympus Zuiko 40mm f2.0. The Oly's seem to have few/no adapter issues and the lens is faster and still quite small. It probably will cost a bit more though.
the tiny, sharp and super cheap Industar-50-2 is a fun little (really tiny!) pancake lens... There is no issue with any Canon body (though I really haven't used mine much on a digital, but I shoot the lens' sister (I-22) all the time on RF film...
I've been using the Zeiss 45mm tessar as a 'body cap' on my 1Ds2. It protrudes out just bit farther than the side grip of the camera :-) Image quality is actually not to bad! I don't think the tessar design is very good wide open (though it doesn't seem to be bad from the few times I've used it wide open) it's pretty good when stopped down a few clicks.
The Zeiss will hang the mirror on the 5D without modification - at least it does on my 5D. The Voigtlander is a beautiful lens and will work perfectly on the 5D.
if you get an Industar-50-2, you will have to grease it for smooth focusing, but it is dog simple... I think it is constructed out of 7 or 8 components in all.
Voigtlander 40/2 SLII is awesome, beautiful, has great optics, and can be bought new. Problem is that it's not much smaller or lighter(actually heavier) than some 50mm's (nikon 50/1.8E).
Olympus is scarce, sometimes wildly overpriced, but otherwise totally awesome.
Pentax is a cheap (~$120) and small lens, requiring minimal mods to work on a 5D. Cut the aperture fin.
Contax is also cheap, and i think smaller, but needs mirror mod on most(if not all) 5D's to reach infinity.
Nikon made two 45mm f2.8's over the years- the early "GN" model which is ugly and stupid looking, and the later "AI-P" CPU'd lens which is quite expensive and generally you can only find it in silver (boo-hoo!).
I've come to the conclusion that Pancakes are very frustrating when used in the Alt world... Why use a tiny and (usually) slow manual lens that requires adapting, when you could use a $60 Canon 50mm f1.8 mkII that weighs nothing and does just fine?
I'm soon taking delivery of a Nikon 50mm F2 AI that i'm very excited about, as everything i've read on this lens says it's a real gem. It is also very small, and only cost me $41.
For the APS-C crowd, I'd almost consider the Oly 28 f/3.5 to be a pancake. It's just SO small, and it's a normal lens on APS-C. I can't wait till my OM adapter gets here....just holding the lens to the body has resulted in a very sharp test shot, so I'm excited to try it out, especially given the images in the 'it's a gem' thread.
Thanks for all the advise. That Voigtlander 40/2 looks pretty sharp according to the photozone.de. It's worth a look, even though it's twice as expensive as Pentax. Do you guys with 5D have it in Nikon mount or PK?
Already have the Canon 50/1.8 II and love it. But, I like to stay in the 35 to 40mm range, and keep it pocket sized. Any other good options? I was thinking about Zuiko 35/2.8, but am concerned about flares on the older Zuiko lenses.
jcolwell wrote:
The Contax Carl Zeiss Tessar 45mm f/2.8 is a good alternative pancake for the 5D.
WARNING - DON'T BUY, THIS ISN'T GOOD ADVICE! Typically the 45mm Tessar will foul your mirror if you use it with an adaptor that allows infinity focus.
I would recommend trying the Nikon version which is pretty much indistinguishable, optically, and less likely to foul your mirror. It also has a very clever inverse lens hood which retains it's pancake status.
The Oly 40 f2 is my chosen weapon though because of size, f2, focal length, sharpness, contrast bokeh, you name it. Here's a picture of Andrew with it ;-) http://cyberphotographer.com/1ds3/andylow.jpg
brainiac wrote:
WARNING - DON'T BUY, THIS ISN'T GOOD ADVICE! Typically the 45mm Tessar will foul your mirror if you use it with an adaptor that allows infinity focus.
I think you're over-reacting Richard. I've been using the Tessar on my 5D and other bodies for a few years, and it works just fine. Many other people use this combo as well. Sure, I snipped the corner off its aperture lever so it woulldn't stick on the mirror, but there's nothing "foul" about it.
jcolwell wrote:
I think you're over-reacting Richard. I've been using the Tessar on my 5D and other bodies for a few years, and it works just fine. Many other people use this combo as well. Sure, I snipped the corner off its aperture lever so it woulldn't stick on the mirror, but there's nothing "foul" about it.
I tried 2 copies on 2 5D's. Both fouled both. There have been many other reports of mirror fouling with the Tessar and 5D. I am glad you were lucky with yours, but when someone is about to drop a few hundred dollars on something which may well not work, a warning is in order. Many people read stuff here and then go straight to ebay and bid on something. That's why I was shouting. Most of the CY 28's I have tried worked fine on 5D's, but one didn't. It's always worth mentioning that a lens might not work, or even probably won't work before someone ends up very frustrated.
I wasn't lucky, I modified the lens so that it didn't hit the mirror. Same as with the Pentax K-mount lenses that I use. Some people shave the mirror, I shave the lenses.
Edited by jcolwell on Jul 09, 2008 at 04:26 AM GMT
brainiac wrote:
The Oly 40 f2 is my chosen weapon though because of size, f2, focal length, sharpness, contrast bokeh, you name it. Here's a picture of Andrew with it ;-) http://cyberphotographer.com/1ds3/andylow.jpg
The lighting in your portraits look good. I am curious how you lighted them.
Thanks for the Zeiss warning. I am sure it's a fine lens, but since there is a chance of it failing on my 5D (even if there is only a small chance) I've opted to look for something else. Will skip the Pentax 40/2.8. Most probably will go with the suggested Voigtlander 40/2, from Camera Quest, new with 1 year warranty. Oly 40/2 is ridiculously expensive and hard to find.
I am also getting a cheap M42 Industar 50/3.5 (new condition) from Russia for the fun of photography. It was harder to find a reputable dealer than finding a good deal on the lens!
