HD 2/3" Lens Tests

Brian Drysdale · July 14th, 2010, 02:47 AM

One old SD lens that might work pretty well on HD, is a Cooke zoom made for 2/3" video. I used it once on a commercial and it was the sharpest SD lens I've ever used. I can't recall the precise focal lengths - it was something like 7 to 45. Out of interest I tried googling but it I can't find it, at least in the first few pages (hardly surprising).

It was more a drama lens and we rented it from Optex. I suspect they didn't make that many.

Daniel Larson · July 14th, 2010, 12:05 PM

Does anyone have recommendations for companies making the 2/3" to 1/2" lens adapters? I'd like to fit a SD Canon IFXS J16A x 8B4 to a F335. I saw one advertised by Sony and one by Century. The Century was about a third less in cost. I'm assuming that there is enough back focus adjustment in the lens to accodate the adapter.
Dan

Steve Phillipps · July 14th, 2010, 12:45 PM

I'd highly recommend MTF Services B4 2/3" to 1/2" Sony Adaptor
Steve

Paul Cronin · July 20th, 2010, 07:42 AM

Shame we can not view that program in the US.

Abdullah Alnoori · September 28th, 2010, 11:11 AM

Hello all this is my first post ..

I have The Fujinon HA13x4.5BDERD on the sony xdcam pdw700 ..
The camera and lens looks great and very sharp ..
I have a question about the lens which has top of the line glass .. It has some distortion on the widest focal length 4.5mm ..
Does this distortion have a relationship with f-stop .. ie .. If the iris is open wide with nd filter or closed with no filter .. Will this has effect on minimizing the lens distortion ..

I thought the glass on the fujinon HA13 is the same on the HA22..

Any answers

:)

Cees van Kempen · June 25th, 2011, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Phillipps

Further investigations, the Fujinon HA22x7.8 (my standard lens) is actually pretty good. The Canon HJ21x7.5 is very disappointing, less sharp than the Fuji by some way. The SD Fujinon A36x14.5 is also quite a bit softer, especially the wider open the aperture gets, to be expected I suppose. It also has less contrast.
Steve

For HD acquisition: would you consider the HD Fujinon HA22x7.8 (being a HD lens) used with the 2x converter a better choice than the SD Fujinon A36x14.5 (or 10.5) without converter?

Luc De Wandel · June 26th, 2011, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abdullah Alnoori

Hello all this is my first post ..

I have The Fujinon HA13x4.5BDERD on the sony xdcam pdw700 ..
The camera and lens looks great and very sharp ..
I have a question about the lens which has top of the line glass .. It has some distortion on the widest focal length 4.5mm ..
Does this distortion have a relationship with f-stop .. ie .. If the iris is open wide with nd filter or closed with no filter .. Will this has effect on minimizing the lens distortion ..

I thought the glass on the fujinon HA13 is the same on the HA22..

Any answers

:)

Hi Abdullah,

barrel distortion is typical for wide-angle lenses, and is not influenced by aperture or filters. Only very few wide-angles will produces straight lines, and certainly not the zoom-ones. Of course keeping your camera perfectly level will minimise the problem. The more tilt you have, the more distortion will be obvious.

Cees van Kempen · June 28th, 2011, 07:57 AM

I give it a shot with my earlier question again, hope someone can help.

I want to invest in a decent 2/3" lens, but my budget forces me to look for a good second hand. Want to use it on my EX3 with an adapter, but I choose for a 2/3" because I expect to upgrade to a 2/3" camera one day. I do a lot of wildlife shooting and need a long zoom.

My question is what type of lens gives best quality. A HD lens like Fujinon HA22x7.8 with the 2x extender in use (which makes it 343mm max, which is about sufficient for most cases for me) or a good SD lens without extender like Fujinon A36x14.5 or A36x10.5 (max 522mm and 378 max resp.).

Other suggestions are also welcome.

Alister Chapman · July 2nd, 2011, 01:04 AM

Because of the smaller pixels on the half inch sensors in the EX3 compared to a 2/3" camera I have found that SD lenses perform very poorly on the EX3. While you can often get them to work Acceptably on 2/3" it is just not the same with 1/2".

My recommendation would be a 2/3" HD lens or a decent 1/2" lens. I have had good results with some of the better 1/2" SD lenses on my EX3.

Cees van Kempen · July 2nd, 2011, 07:47 AM

Thanks for the valuable respons, Alister. It is not the answer I hoped for, but it certainly brings me further in my decision making.

Abdullah Alnoori · September 3rd, 2011, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luc De Wandel

Hi Abdullah,

barrel distortion is typical for wide-angle lenses, and is not influenced by aperture or filters. Only very few wide-angles will produces straight lines, and certainly not the zoom-ones. Of course keeping your camera perfectly level will minimise the problem. The more tilt you have, the more distortion will be obvious.

Thanks Luc,

After i used Zeiss digiprime 3.9 I was convinced with you answer. This lens is awesome and has zero distortion from middle to corner at all apertures.
you can check the frame grabs from the zeiss.

Abdullah

David Hart · October 21st, 2011, 02:16 AM

In 2008 i purchased an A13 x 4.5 however in 2010 i upgraded to an HJ 14 x 4.3, this is an interesting lens, it uses aspherical glass. the A13 was a good SD lens but after testing on my PMW-350 it just looked soft with very bad CA. The first difference I noticed when using the HJ14 was the absence of vertical barrel distortion, however there is a catch (no free lunch!) the distortion is spread horizontally on the outer edges of the picture. which do I prefer? the HJ14 doesn't look like a wide angle lens to the viewer unless you have a well trained eye, its used on F1 ! The HA13 or A13 distortion looks obvious. The CA is about the same generally we can all get a bit OCD however at the end of the day it works well, Prime lenses will help this but they are not practical to use every day, the HJ14 stays on my camera most of the time as it has generous zoom. I personally love this lens and most importantly it impresses the client ! I have just bought a HJ17 for Sky sports by may change it for an HJ22. please feel free to make any comments on your findings, these are personally mine despite many years of differing opinions.

Vincent Oliver · October 21st, 2011, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abdullah Alnoori

Thanks Luc,

After i used Zeiss digiprime 3.9 I was convinced with you answer. This lens is awesome and has zero distortion from middle to corner at all apertures.
you can check the frame grabs from the zeiss.

Abdullah

Love the auto vignette and Chromatic Aberration effects on this lens. Thanks for posting the pictures, at least we know which lens to avoid

Alastair Traill · October 21st, 2011, 04:21 AM

Steve,

I have no experience with the camera you are using but the EX3 has the provision to store a file on up to 6 lenses. The files for the two standard lenses are installed in the factory and come into play automatically every time one of these two lenses is mounted. Lens characteristic compensation files can be prepared, stored and selected for 4 other lenses by the user (page 143 EX3 manual).

Does this system operate in the camera you are using?

David Hart · October 21st, 2011, 11:36 AM

Not sure if your post was for me however the PMW-350 has a similar menu to the EX3 which i have owned.

July 20th, 2010, 07:42 AM	#34
Paul Cronin Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 4,048	Shame we can not view that program in the US. __________________ Paul Cronin www.paulcroninstudios.com

September 28th, 2010, 11:11 AM	#35
Abdullah Alnoori Tourist Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Kuwait, Kuwait City Posts: 4	Fujinon HA13x4.5BDERD Hello all this is my first post .. I have The Fujinon HA13x4.5BDERD on the sony xdcam pdw700 .. The camera and lens looks great and very sharp .. I have a question about the lens which has top of the line glass .. It has some distortion on the widest focal length 4.5mm .. Does this distortion have a relationship with f-stop .. ie .. If the iris is open wide with nd filter or closed with no filter .. Will this has effect on minimizing the lens distortion .. I thought the glass on the fujinon HA13 is the same on the HA22.. Any answers :)

June 28th, 2011, 07:57 AM	#38
Cees van Kempen Major Player Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Nieuw-Vossemeer, The Netherlands Posts: 455	Re: HD 2/3" Lens Tests I give it a shot with my earlier question again, hope someone can help. I want to invest in a decent 2/3" lens, but my budget forces me to look for a good second hand. Want to use it on my EX3 with an adapter, but I choose for a 2/3" because I expect to upgrade to a 2/3" camera one day. I do a lot of wildlife shooting and need a long zoom. My question is what type of lens gives best quality. A HD lens like Fujinon HA22x7.8 with the 2x extender in use (which makes it 343mm max, which is about sufficient for most cases for me) or a good SD lens without extender like Fujinon A36x14.5 or A36x10.5 (max 522mm and 378 max resp.). Other suggestions are also welcome.

July 2nd, 2011, 01:04 AM	#39
Alister Chapman Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire, UK Posts: 4,957	Re: HD 2/3" Lens Tests Because of the smaller pixels on the half inch sensors in the EX3 compared to a 2/3" camera I have found that SD lenses perform very poorly on the EX3. While you can often get them to work Acceptably on 2/3" it is just not the same with 1/2". My recommendation would be a 2/3" HD lens or a decent 1/2" lens. I have had good results with some of the better 1/2" SD lenses on my EX3. __________________ Alister Chapman, Film-Maker/Stormchaser http://www.xdcam-user.com/alisters-blog/ My XDCAM site and blog. http://www.hurricane-rig.com

July 2nd, 2011, 07:47 AM	#40
Cees van Kempen Major Player Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Nieuw-Vossemeer, The Netherlands Posts: 455	Re: HD 2/3" Lens Tests Thanks for the valuable respons, Alister. It is not the answer I hoped for, but it certainly brings me further in my decision making.

July 14th, 2010, 02:47 AM	#31
Brian Drysdale Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Belfast, UK Posts: 6,152	One old SD lens that might work pretty well on HD, is a Cooke zoom made for 2/3" video. I used it once on a commercial and it was the sharpest SD lens I've ever used. I can't recall the precise focal lengths - it was something like 7 to 45. Out of interest I tried googling but it I can't find it, at least in the first few pages (hardly surprising). It was more a drama lens and we rented it from Optex. I suspect they didn't make that many.

July 14th, 2010, 12:05 PM	#32
Daniel Larson Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: De Pere, WI Posts: 47	Does anyone have recommendations for companies making the 2/3" to 1/2" lens adapters? I'd like to fit a SD Canon IFXS J16A x 8B4 to a F335. I saw one advertised by Sony and one by Century. The Century was about a third less in cost. I'm assuming that there is enough back focus adjustment in the lens to accodate the adapter. Dan

July 14th, 2010, 12:45 PM	#33
Steve Phillipps Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Wales Posts: 2,130	I'd highly recommend MTF Services B4 2/3" to 1/2" Sony Adaptor Steve

October 21st, 2011, 02:16 AM	#42
David Hart Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Bristol UK Posts: 29	Re: HD 2/3" Lens Tests In 2008 i purchased an A13 x 4.5 however in 2010 i upgraded to an HJ 14 x 4.3, this is an interesting lens, it uses aspherical glass. the A13 was a good SD lens but after testing on my PMW-350 it just looked soft with very bad CA. The first difference I noticed when using the HJ14 was the absence of vertical barrel distortion, however there is a catch (no free lunch!) the distortion is spread horizontally on the outer edges of the picture. which do I prefer? the HJ14 doesn't look like a wide angle lens to the viewer unless you have a well trained eye, its used on F1 ! The HA13 or A13 distortion looks obvious. The CA is about the same generally we can all get a bit OCD however at the end of the day it works well, Prime lenses will help this but they are not practical to use every day, the HJ14 stays on my camera most of the time as it has generous zoom. I personally love this lens and most importantly it impresses the client ! I have just bought a HJ17 for Sky sports by may change it for an HJ22. please feel free to make any comments on your findings, these are personally mine despite many years of differing opinions. __________________ www.iceboxvideo.co.uk

October 21st, 2011, 04:21 AM	#44
Alastair Traill Major Player Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Melbourne Australia Posts: 626	Re: HD 2/3" Lens Tests Steve, I have no experience with the camera you are using but the EX3 has the provision to store a file on up to 6 lenses. The files for the two standard lenses are installed in the factory and come into play automatically every time one of these two lenses is mounted. Lens characteristic compensation files can be prepared, stored and selected for 4 other lenses by the user (page 143 EX3 manual). Does this system operate in the camera you are using?

October 21st, 2011, 11:36 AM	#45
David Hart Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Bristol UK Posts: 29	Re: HD 2/3" Lens Tests Not sure if your post was for me however the PMW-350 has a similar menu to the EX3 which i have owned. __________________ www.iceboxvideo.co.uk