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Lens set for BMPCC


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God, I hate to start a 'help me with lens choice' thread but I've reached a limit. I've been shooting with a BMPCC for about three (four?) years.

Background: I'd started with some vintage 16mm glass which was okay but had some issues. Tried an Angenieux 15-150mm that seems softer on the files than it looks on the screen. Tried some Panny's but my camera doesn't seem to want to autofocus. Everything looked a little soft anyway. I'm mainly a still photographer so I've been traveling with 4x5, BMPCC, Hasselblad and a Pentax K1000 (35mm). I tried using a Pentax 35mm zoom (35-70mm) with the BMPCC and turned off focus peaking and I finally started getting images I liked. The problem is that once I started wanting to shoot more cinematically (less of the same kind of stuff that I shoot with my still cameras) that crop factor became a problem. I started to fish about for a vintage (i.e. cheap) solution but decided to look into something better for the camera. As someone pointed out, with the BMPCC you don't need vintage glass filtering for the overly sharpened digital look.

 

I would characterize my work as documentary in the way that Chris Marker (without the voiceover) is. Landscapes, cityscapes, noirish warehouses and burned out homes. No characters, ambient location sound only.

 

Question: I see that Tokina makes a 11-16mm cine-zoom that would be pretty wide for me and it's appealing because it's currently on sale. The thing is what do I match that with? I want a manual cine lens and not an AF lens. I can't find a longer zoom that fits my budget but thought perhaps perhaps a Veydra prime to go a little longer perhaps the 25mm. That's under 2k for a start. I figure I can get a longer prime down the road if necessary. I prefer zooms because I hate futzing with extra equipment when I'm out and about because of time constraints but 2-3 lenses doesn't seem bad.

 

Does that sound reasonable?

 

Thank you.

 

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I use the Rokinon DS cine primes and Zeiss 12-120 zoom when I need adjustable focal lengths. The DS glass is very good for the price and you can buy the stuff 'returned' on Amazon for pretty cheap if you look carefully.

 

Gotta have manually adjustable glass, no auto nonsense. Parfocal, repeatable focus, gears, declicked stop, etc. It's a cheap camera, so might as well match it with inexpensive glass. I don't see the benefit in spending thousands in glass.

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Thanks! I thought about the Rokinon's but I've read lots of bad things about the 24 and not been excited about what I've seen on the web though I know that mileage may vary on Vimeo or youtube vids. Since the Tokina is half off at BH I liked that since that makes it affordable. I wouldn't buy it at full price. I'm going to rent the Tokina this weekend and see what I think about the lens and that focal length. They also rent Veydra's there so that might be a next rental to see where that goes. No Rokinons other than the Xeen's available locally for rental.

 

Thanks for the info.

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There was a video...somewhere...(of the many I saw) where the 24 looked noticeably softer than the 16mm or the 35mm. Various comments on boards about that one being the weak link. Just enough to make me shy of that. If I could rent it I would. The local camera shop has Veydras and Xeen's for rent. I might try the Veydras next since they're the cheapest thing going.

 

I rented the Tokina and took it out today. I love the focal range on the BMPCC and the general handling. But when I got home I could see that I had problems nailing focus. I was shooting with my Pentax still lenses as well today, and don't seem to have a problem focusing with those. Tried with and without focus peaking while I was out since I was having a hard time dialing it in. Not sure what to make of that. Anything at a distance was more problematic than close. I'm using a Zacuto attached to the screen for viewing. I would think it's me if it weren't for the fact that I don't have that problem with the Pentax's. Also the Tokina is in MFT mount while the Pentax is obviously on an adapter so that rules out adapter issues. Gonna take the Tokina out for another go round tomorrow. See if I can dial it in better.

 

Robin - I see the Optars on ebay but they're more expensive than the Veydras. Are they supposed to be better?

 

Someone told me to check out SLR Magic since they're in the cheaper end of things....

Edited by Chris Leutger
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There was a video...somewhere...(of the many I saw) where the 24 looked noticeably softer than the 16mm or the 35mm.

Huh, I don't have the 16 or the 35, so hard to tell. 24 is kind of the magic number for 16mm imagers, that's the problem. 12 is good for "wide" and 24 is good for mediums to close up. I basically put the 24 on before anything else.

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Laugh if you like but I have a set of Nikon series E lenses from the early 80s which are surprising good, especially on an MFT camera like the pocket with some sort of reducing adaptor.

 

Depends what you're doing, of course, but I didn't see the point in buying the expensive cheap lenses ?

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I also have series E lenses (and still use them on my FA occasionally) as well as several other Nikon mount MF lenses. When I got a Canon T3i, I thought I'd use them until I could afford some "better" lenses and did the same thing when I got into 16mm Bolexes. So far, I haven't had to get any other lenses and haven't been disappointed with the results. Adapters are a lot cheaper than lenses so I can stick the extra $$ into my XTR prod fund. And I already have lenses for it :)

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I just want a wide angle lens which is impossible with 35mm still lenses. If Metabones made a Pentax to BMPCC focal reducer I might try that....but the cheaper ones I've read about have horrible performance and my Pentax 28mm still wouldn't be equivalent. But the Tokina didn't wow me so I figured I may as well try the others.

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You could, if you wanted, stack a Pentax K adapter with the speed booster.

 

I have Pentax K lenses and EF adapters for them, but I've never tried putting them on a booster (my booster is Nikon mount, to suit the Series Es) - it ought to be possible.

 

P

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Even with a booster that's not going to get me that wide and a Metabones ain't that cheap. But perhaps I should look on ebay and see what's what there for a cheaper speed booster. I don't have to commit to anything now. Mainly was wondering what people thought about mixing and matching Tokina with Veydra. But now I'll rent 'em all......let footage sort 'em out....

Edited by Chris Leutger
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  • 1 year later...
Guest Kate Romanelli

I have used the Angenieux 15-150 C-Mount on my BMPCC 4k and there is quiet the vignette on it. Any idea where that could come from? Thanks

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  • 1 year later...

Neither. I ended up buying a set of Contax CY lenses and having them cine-modded by Duclos and put in EF mount. Then I bought the OG Metabones adapter. These lenses look great. I also got the Blackmagic VideoAssist 12G 5" as a monitor and that makes focusing, etc. much easier as well. Since I mostly record ProRes HQ I record direct to monitor. If I want to record cDNG then I record on the Pocket. I can't seem to convince myself to move to the new Pocket cameras with that Sony sensor. I feel the Fairchild sensor in the P2K is something special even with it's flaws.

Edited by Chris Leutger
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Yes, the Fairchild sensor in the OG Pocket has a ton of dynamic range, which I think helps contribute to its specialness.

There are so many options for lenses on the BMPCC, including every single S16 lens ever made.

In terms of primes, the Zeiss S16 primes and the Optar / Illumina primes look great. The Cinema Products (made by Kowa) 16mm primes should also look good.

There are also the Meike MFT primes that should be just as good as the Veydra's but at a fraction of the price. I have the 35mm T2.2 and I am super pleased with it

In terms of zooms, I thought the Angenieux 7-81mm looked fantastic.

A second to me was the Zeiss 10-100mm MKII (MK I should look good as well.) While it doesn't natively cover S16, I added a MFT Olympus 1.4x teleconverter on the end of my PL mount to create a 14-140mm T2.8 that looked awesome, albeit a touch vintage. I was able to shim the PL mount to make the whole setup parfocal as well.

For B4 mount, there is the Abakus 132 B4 to PL, the Century B4 to PL, and IB/E Optics 1.4x to PL. I have a cheap late model Fujinon A15x8 which looks nice and a HAE Fujinon 5-15mm which is super sharp. 

There's a whole bunch of C mount lenses as well.

There's just a ton of options with that sensor. 

Edited by Joshua Cadmium
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I've had varying luck with C mount lenses and coverage. Tried tons of old lenses. I have a set of Meopta lenses, but the barrel jammed up on one of them and that's when I started using my Pentax k mount lenses. I spent a couple years renting this and trying that. Finally decided that I wanted something sharp, but not clinical and I wanted a set to standardize on ND filters, rods/follow-focus, etc. Bought a CY 50 1.4 and then started building the rest of the set. This was ongoing around the time Veydra disappeared from the market and just as Meike started putting out their lenses. I rented Veydra a long time ago and liked them, but I'm happier with the rendition from the CY lenses. Haven't tried Meike but I'm almost done at this point. Want to focus on filming. The big decision now is whether to buy another P2K as backup or hope that the BM 12K sensor tech trickles down into the Pocket line.

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On 12/5/2020 at 12:05 AM, Chris Leutger said:

I ended up buying a set of Contax CY lenses and having them cine-modded by Duclos and put in EF mount. Then I bought the OG Metabones adapter.

Appreciate the update. I have been considering Canon FD as a starter set, but will look into the Zeiss C/Y lenses as an option, as I have been fixated on the Zeiss S16 Super Speeds. Still on the fence about PL for the vintage S16 cine lenses, and more secure mount. Or EF for wider lens selection, and the ability to speed boost.

 

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8 hours ago, Joshua Cadmium said:

In terms of primes, the Zeiss S16 primes and the Optar / Illumina primes look great. The Cinema Products (made by Kowa) 16mm primes should also look good.

I have been researching the Zeiss S16 primes, but hadn't heard of Optar or Cinema Products. Will definitely take a look. Minus the Meike MFT, sounds like you have seen great results from S16 PL mount glass, which is encouraging based on the price range.

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I've got the P4k but the original BMPCC keeps coming up in conversations and I'm considering acquiring one.  I've got a near full set of the Meike primes as well as an assortment of older, manual focus Nikon lenses (using dumb adapters to MFT).  I also have (but don't shoot nearly enough) a Bolex EL with a Kern Vario-Switar 12.5 - 100 zoom.  Would welcome your thoughts on that lens on the BMPCC.

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  • 1 year later...
On 10/26/2017 at 12:34 AM, Tyler Purcell said:

It's a cheap camera, so might as well match it with inexpensive glass. I don't see the benefit in spending thousands in glass.

Years later and I'm still shooting on the BMPCC 2K. Last night I ran across an old external hard drive and found a folder full of tests that I shot for the local film org. They had received a donation of a bunch of C mount lenses and asked me to test them on the BMPCC, which I did. Looking at the tests last night made me kick myself.

@tom lombardWhile there was no Kern zoom, there was a Switar and other similar lenses. The footage looked fine. Sure, a little soft, and not the highest in resolution, blah, blah, blah. But for those of us that have stuck with the BMPCC as opposed to the latest 50K digital whatever, it was solid image making. Nice colors, good looking stuff. And most of all cheap. It made me think of what Tyler said at the beginning of this thread and thought I would add here as educational. You don't need all that stuff that the internet wants to sell you. It seems so sexy when you read about it and see all these videos on youtube, but it's not necessary. Currently, I'm shooting almost everything with the Contax 18mm or the Contax 28mm. I didn't need a "cine set" just something wide enough and something a little longer. I could have bought 2 Rokinons, or SLR Magic's or whatever in the beginning. Until I needed something else.

After seeing the files I'm pulling out the C mount stuff that I have and going to take 'em for a spin.

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I’ll also say for the record, having used a lot of other cameras and lenses since my first posting in 2017, I’m still not much a fan of fancy glass. I see some of the things people don’t like about cheap glass, but it’s easy to shoot around the issues. The original pocket is not as viable today but it still creates a great image. The color science is marvelous in pro res film mode. I just shot my entire youtube series using it and where I had some technical glitches, the image always astounds me for the price. It’s such a great camera and it’s a shame BMD never made a 2k version or even allowed it to record at higher fps, two things that really make it not usable. ? 

 

Edited by Tyler Purcell
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