Which wide angle lens is best. Olympus 12mm F2.0 , SLR Magic 12mm T1.6 or Rokinin 12mm T2.2

I'm looking to buy a wide angle lens for my Gh4. I shoot mostly video but occasionally photo weddings also. I was originally going to get the SLR Magic but I've seen some tests and it seems a lot less sharper than the Olympus. I currently own the Voigtlander 17.5 0.95 and the Olympus 45mm 1.8. I love the sharpness of the Oly and the photo taking ease with the AF and the camera compatibility. I love my Voigtlander and the video use and I'm a little worried that The Oly 12mm will not be great for video. Is the focus smooth for rack focusing? I've never owned a Rokinon but the price makes me interested.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated as it took me a while to save up for this purchase and I want it to go well. Thanks!

And then you have the Kowa prominar 12mm. And if you strech a bit the new CV 10.5mm . I have the olympus 12/2 wich I choose over the slr based on pictures I found on the net. Since I'm a fan of mf lenses I got my eyes on the Kowa. I'll wait for reviews first . I don't do video so I'm not any help there.

Kjell

Jacob James wrote:

I'm looking to buy a wide angle lens for my Gh4. I shoot mostly video but occasionally photo weddings also. I was originally going to get the SLR Magic but I've seen some tests and it seems a lot less sharper than the Olympus. I currently own the Voigtlander 17.5 0.95 and the Olympus 45mm 1.8. I love the sharpness of the Oly and the photo taking ease with the AF and the camera compatibility. I love my Voigtlander and the video use and I'm a little worried that The Oly 12mm will not be great for video. Is the focus smooth for rack focusing? I've never owned a Rokinon but the price makes me interested.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated as it took me a while to save up for this purchase and I want it to go well. Thanks!

I just have a hard time considering a 24mm FF FOV as wide angle.  What do other's think?  for me it needs to be 18mm or less

It is certainly wide angle, but not ultra wide angle (which is often deemed to be lenses shorter than 24mm equivalent)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_wide_angle_lens

Mark

Consider the original 4/3s lenses as well, such as the 11-22mm. I like it a lot. With adapter, it'll probably work out cheaper.

To answer you question, I can't warm to the SLR magic. By contrast, the Voit 17.5mm is my favourite.

The SLR magic has the focus & aperture round the other way to the Voit, which I don't think I'll ever get used to.  For filters it needs a 77mm, a 72mm shows in the corners.

The aperture drifts, because it's a movie lenses. No click stops.

Wide open its so soft at the edges its gooey. ( No distortion correction is possible with these manual lenses). The work-around is to centre your subject, and crop to square.

Just back on the 11-22mm, being a 4/3s it's telecentric so no in-camera software correction is needed for the edges to be sharp.

Me? I'm waiting for the upcoming Voit 10mm. (or is it 10.5mm?) Then the SLR magic is up for sale.

Regards

Max P

Thanks for the response Max. I'm not familiar at all with original 4/3 lenses, I'll look into it. I just came to micro 4/3 recently. The new Voigt you speak of sounds amazing. But when and how much?

Chad Hardy wrote:

Jacob James wrote:

I'm looking to buy a wide angle lens for my Gh4. I shoot mostly video but occasionally photo weddings also. I was originally going to get the SLR Magic but I've seen some tests and it seems a lot less sharper than the Olympus. I currently own the Voigtlander 17.5 0.95 and the Olympus 45mm 1.8. I love the sharpness of the Oly and the photo taking ease with the AF and the camera compatibility. I love my Voigtlander and the video use and I'm a little worried that The Oly 12mm will not be great for video. Is the focus smooth for rack focusing? I've never owned a Rokinon but the price makes me interested.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated as it took me a while to save up for this purchase and I want it to go well. Thanks!

I just have a hard time considering a 24mm FF FOV as wide angle. What do other's think? for me it needs to be 18mm or less

A 24mm lens is a wide angle lens, however I do understand what you said and agree. Getting 24mm while having 28mm is not an upgrade to spend $. I am thinking of Rokinon 7.5mm.

Leo

So you're saying since I already have a 17.5 mm getting a 12mm wouldn't be much different?

Jacob James wrote:

Thanks for the response Max. I'm not familiar at all with original 4/3 lenses, I'll look into it. I just came to micro 4/3 recently. The new Voigt you speak of sounds amazing. But when and how much

No-one knows yet! Have a search on Four Thirds Rumours,  there's a bit there, e.g. some pics & specs posted on Sept 16.

http://www.43rumors.com

Regards

Max P

Jacob James wrote:

So you're saying since I already have a 17.5 mm getting a 12mm wouldn't be much different?

In my post I said: "Getting 24mm while having 28mm is not an upgrade to spend $."

If one already has 14mm lens with about 76 FOV then 12mm lens of the same class with about 84 FOV in my opinion does not worth to spend money. However, having 14-42mm II R F3.5-5.6 and buying a 12mm F2.0 is a different story. The Mark's reply is related only to FOV for equivalent lenses - that is how I read it.

My post express my opinion without spending your money

Currently, I am looking for a wide lens. However, having a sharp 14-45mm F3.5-5.6 lens it does not make much sense from FOV point to get a 12-32mm F3.5-5.6. - for myself. The 12-32mm is a very small and light lens and I would buy it for its size and weight only.

Leo

Mark Thornton wrote:

It is certainly wide angle, but not ultra wide angle (which is often deemed to be lenses shorter than 24mm equivalent)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_wide_angle_lens

Mark

You got it Mark!  I guess I don't really have a "wide angle" category.  I just skip right to ultra hehe!

I messaged Voigtlander and they said Spring 2015 is their plan. I don't think I have that kind of patience, I need to get something wider.

There's also the Rokinon 10mm f2.8. It's a big heavy lens, but it is very sharp.

Michael

..., according to the reviews I read, is  - strangely - the Olympus 2,8/12-40.
Perhaps it is even the best or all mFT lenses, if you can live with F2,8 and its size and weight.
But then you have the zoom to 40mm, WS and close focus, too.

Can't give you personal experiences though, as I still use my 14-45 for WA or the Rokinon 7,5 for UWA.

Peter.

Jacob James wrote:

So you're saying since I already have a 17.5 mm getting a 12mm wouldn't be much different?

I have the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 and the 17mm f/1.8 Their field-of-view is far enough apart that they complement each other. They both have extremely well built, metal bodies, and are small which makes them great on my E-M10. Both have blazing fast autofocus and are sharp with good IQ; the 12mm is the better of the two. The AF/MF snap back feature will not work on a Panasonic body and if you use manual focus for your work; you will be spinning the focus ring forever.

I don't do video and have no experience with the other two lenses. However if you do use manual focus for your work, either one would probably a better choice.

bs1946 wrote:

Jacob James wrote:

So you're saying since I already have a 17.5 mm getting a 12mm wouldn't be much different?

I have the Olympus 12mm f/2.0 and the 17mm f/1.8 Their field-of-view is far enough apart that they complement each other. They both have extremely well built, metal bodies, and are small which makes them great on my E-M10. Both have blazing fast autofocus and are sharp with good IQ; the 12mm is the better of the two. The AF/MF snap back feature will not work on a Panasonic body and if you use manual focus for your work; you will be spinning the focus ring forever.

I don't do video and have no experience with the other two lenses. However if you do use manual focus for your work, either one would probably a better choice.

These two lenses stand on their own and it is a perfect pair

Leo

bs1946 wrote:

The AF/MF snap back feature will not work on a Panasonic body and if you use manual focus for your work; you will be spinning the focus ring forever.

I don't know what you expected, but it seems to work just fine on my GX1. When engaged you get a brief message saying "switch to manual focus" and can then focus manually as I expected. The AF/MF button is disabled (quite reasonable). What you don't get is the magnified view that you see with regular MF when adjusting focus (though perhaps there is another way to activate this if desired). Push the ring forward and it returns to the previous focus mode.

Tested just now using the 17mm f/1.8.

I didn't find regular MF to be spinning the ring forever either, though it might have been close to the required position when I entered MF mode.

Mark