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 p.1 #17 · Old AiS Lenses on Z Bodies? | |
grantgoodes wrote:
In the film days, the purpose of fast lenses was at least partly for easier focussing in low-light (though due to the way focusing screens work, lenses faster than about f/1.4 didn't give much advantage).
There were exceptions, though.
For the New F-1, Canon made 32 interchangeable focusing screens available at the time.
Some much brighter than normal screens called "Super Bright Laser Matte J + K".
The "J" version was for lenses up to 200mm focal length and the "K" version was for fast supertele lenses 300mm and longer.
And they came in all three metering patterns; spot, selective, integral, six screens in all.
Both were by far the brightest screens of the system.
The J screen was especially effective with 50mm to 200mm lenses and dark subjects.
The K version was the other Super Bright Laser Matte, an extremely bright screen which offered the same unobstructed, sharp image as the Bright Laser Matte J.
They had no microprism or split screen, but they are so bright and sharp that you really don't need one.
The Super Bright Laser Mat, which I had with selective metering, was not even remotely comparable to the screens that were otherwise available at that time, when used with a lens like the Canon FD 85mm f/1.2 L.
I also had a Canon A-1, and the difference compared to standard micro-prism screens was like night and day.
It was so bright that you didn't need a micro-prism anymore; you just had a blank screen.
I still remember it very well.
Pat Metheny Group concert in 1985, Canon New F-1 + Super Bright Laser Matte J and the Canon FD 85/1.2 L, how superior this combination was even in the dimest possible light.
After replacing the standard screen with micro prims on the New F-1, I never used any screen other than the super bright laser matte screen with the F-1 again.
I still have the camera with that screen to this day, and compared to the standards of the time, it was one, if not two, leagues above in terms of viewfinder brightness, especially when combined with lenses like the FD 50/1.2 L, FD 85/1.2 L, and FD 135/2, FD 200/2.8, 300/2.8...... for which these screens were optimized.
The problem, of course, with today's digital, high-resolution sensors is that the flaws of older lenses become more visible.
Especially in the area of color fringing at wide apertures, this can sometimes be quite painful on the eyes.
Sure, some color aberrations can be corrected digitally, which wasn't possible with analog, but overall, one shouldn't be too sensitive to them.
I can't say how it is with Nikon Ai or Ai-S.
But the fast FD lenses often struggle a lot with LoCA on a modern, high-resolution MILC camera.
My Canon FD 200mm f/2.8 IF lens, which is still very good in many areas, is therefore almost unusable wide open with a Z6/Z8.
This alone significantly limits the use of wide apertures in certain situations.
This wasn't nearly as problematic in the days of analog film.
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