Panasonic, PLEASE give us a faster wide!! 7mm @ 4.0 isn't going to cut it!!!

[James Palanza]

I have to say, when I first moved to the GH2, I was in love with the low price and great video quality. Boy it really nails a lot of great things. But I have to say, I never thought I would find the crop factor so limiting when it comes to going wide and fast. Having a full sensor, such as the 5d allows you to use a plethora of fast 1.4, 1.6 lenses at 24mm, 14mm, etc. The best you can hope to do with a GH2 is 22mm@2.5, thats a 14mm 2.5 with a wide angle converter attachment mounted. This doesn't seem like a big deal until you need to do some steadicam work in a low light indoors environment where my only hope is to get them in infinite focus.

Just kinda frustrating, and an important point for new soon to be owners of gh2's and gh3's to consider!

[Chris Duczynski]

Try the Olympus F2 12mm - a beautiful piece of glass.

[Jeff Harper]

12mm F/2.0 is my favorite lens. I'm thinking of selling all my lenses, except that one.

[James Palanza]

I can't really justify the .5 of a stop for 800$ when the 14mm and the wide angle converter together is around 270$ and it gets me wider than the 12.

[Bill Bruner]

So...maybe the title of the thread ought to be "Panasonic/Olympus, PLEASE give us a cheaper, faster wide!!" :)

By the way, a Canon 24mm f2.8 EF lens is $699.

Cheers,

Bill

[Chris Duczynski]

You get what you pay for. Yes, it may be faster and cheaper, but do you think, more importantly it will be better. Good glass is king, no matter what camera or setting you use.

[Noa Put]

Is it not possible to attach a 8 or 10mm f2.8 lens from Samyang (rokinon) to a gh2/3 through a adapter?

[James Palanza]

Haha well put everyone. Well I think the 10mm and 7mm's are mostly fish eye lenses are they not?

Like I said, this is mostly a non issue when you have a lot of light, but m4/3 needs some kinda solution for 14 and 24 mm ranges at 1.5-1.6.

[Jeff Harper]

I don't think anyone has a solution at that speed. Look at Canon's offerings. The 12mm F/2.0 beats anything Canon has at any price, unless I missed it. Canon does have a wide zoom that starts at 3.5 but that's about it.

[Kevin McRoberts]

I put a 0.7x wide adapter on my Voigtlander 17.5/0.95 . It gets the job done.

If the Canon EF or Nikon version Speedbooster ever appears and (as they hint) offers full m43 coverage from DX lenses, then the Tokina 11-16/2.8 would convert to a ~8-12/2 which certainly wouldn't suck.

[Bill Bruner]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

Is it not possible to attach a 8 or 10mm f2.8 lens from Samyang (rokinon) to a gh2/3 through a adapter?

Noa - you don't need an adapter. You can get the Rokinon 7.5mm f3.5 in native micro 4/3 mount for $254 at Amazon (as of this post).

But, as James says, it's a fisheye.

Cheers,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[Noa Put]

Yes, but I would think a 10mm would be more usable on a micro 4/3 camera compared to the same lens on a full frame camera? I have used a canon 10-22mm lens on my 550d @ 10mm and that is not fisheye at all, on a full frame yes but due to the cropfactor on my 550d not. it distorts ofcourse but perfectly usable on a steadicam.

[Thomas Smet]

What about the SLR Magic 12mm t1.6? Much faster than f2.5 and a bit wider without having to add an extra layer of glass with a wide angle adapter. This lens is about as wide and fast as you can get together. Really is a great option.

You should really consider the Olympus 12mm as well. If you are serious about film making it is pretty common to buy a lens that costs a heck of a lot more than $270.00. Sure Canon may have options for super wide angle at fast speeds but look at the price of those lenses. Very few good lenses cost less than $300.00 outside of maybe a 50mm. Just the way it is.

[James Palanza]

I'm very curious about the SLR magic but I keep hearing things about it getting fuzzy towards the outside of the frame when its wide open, so that makes me nervous. Yeah its frustrating, the cost of glass, but you are right.

[Luc Spencer]

Originally Posted by Kevin McRoberts

I put a 0.7x wide adapter on my Voigtlander 17.5/0.95 . It gets the job done.

Kevin, does using a 0.7x wide adapter affect image quality at all? My currently widest lens is the 25mm Leica f/1.4, and since my budget was pretty much spent on a GH3, I'd rather get that adapter to attach to the Leica than buy a wider lens (would make it equivalent to your Voigtlander with no adapter).

Can you recommend a brand of adapter or are they all ok?

Thank you!