One of the biggest complaints with cameras that have Micro 4/3-sized sensors and smaller is that the narrower field of view makes it very difficult to compose wide shots without using lenses so wide that they induce cringe-worthy distortion.
In September, SLR Magic introduced their 10mm T2.1 HyperPrime Cine, a lens that largely alleviates this issue. We've already seen that the GH4 pairs extremely well with this lens in a test from filmmaker Seb Farges. Seb wasn't the only filmmaker to get his hands on a pre-release version of the 10mm T2.1, however. Benjamin Lebeau also put this promising wide angle option through its paces on his Blackmagic Cinema Camera, and the results are, well, promising.
Here's Lebeau's piece, which is lovely and extremely well crafted, especially for a lens test.
In his description of the video, Lebeau had this to say about how the lens, and the accompanying SLR Magic 77mm Variable ND, held up under his testing.
The lens is sharp, with a little bit of softness when wide open (of course). If you don’t want any softness, you’ll need to stop down to around T4-5.6, which was used in almost every shot with a bright sky. Night shots were wide open.
I was pleasantly surprised that [lens distortion] was very, very subtle, even in pan and tilt shots. It’s only visible on the corners, and on wide shots it’s practically imperceptible unless you’re defocused. Some people might shrug this off because you're getting 24mm and 20mm in equivalence, but people forget that the true *perspective* doesn't change, only the crop. If you took almost any other lens under $800 this wide and stuck it on your camera, you'd have some ugly fisheye. So props to Noktor for that.
If you plan on doing any shooting during the day, the 77mm SLR Magic Variable ND filter is essential. I've seen some people complain about vignetting or "cross effect" on variable NDs, but I found no such issues. A couple of the sun shots used the maximum setting, just to prove that point.
Although we're still waiting for the SLR Magic 10mm T2.1 HyperPrime Cine to be officially released to the public, the original press release said that it was probably going to begin shipping toward the end of October, so barring any crazy manufacturing delays, it's likely that we'll see it soon.
The SLR Magic 10mm T2.1 will retail at $799 and is currently available for preorder through B&H.
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Your Comment
11 Comments
How would something like this compare to, say...a Tokina 11-16 F2.8 combined with the BMCC Speedbooster? Lets in the same ammount of light, is probably even wider and has added zoom functionality. It's DOF isn't as shallow though...but still. Any thoughts?
October 28, 2014 at 2:00PM
I haven't used the Tokina 11-16 for more than a few minutes, but as a general rule, I try to stray away from wide zoom lenses for cinema. The zoom functionality will hardly add anything to your shot composition, and the likelihood is it'll make your image less sharp.
October 28, 2014 at 5:19PM
I disagree...especially in the wide range. An 11mm is drastically different than a 13mm or 14mm...etc... On the long end, no one makes a 137mm because it wouldn't look any different than a 135mm. The most common wide primes are 15mm and 18mm...you often want more choices than are available....wide enough but without going too far with it. This is a huge reason why zooms are great for movie work. I'd love a Duclos 11-16 PL to accompany my RED 17-50.
October 31, 2014 at 3:49PM
Yeah you're right. Not sure why I wrote that, I think I was momentarily being dumb. I do think that primes are typically significantly sharper, but I can't really speak for the Tokina 11-16 one way or another.
Thanks for the response, mate.
November 9, 2014 at 11:59PM
You are probably better off with the Tokina and a speedbooster, Nikon F to MFT.
I use both the GH2 and BMCC 2.5k with Zeiss glass, and a speedbooster. My images appear sharp and bright, while still encapsulating the venerated Zeiss lustre and luminosity. I noticed a fair bit of grain in the test video, and the images were soft. I am not sure if they will hold up on the big screen
October 29, 2014 at 11:06AM, Edited October 29, 11:06AM
im not sure if it was just the version i had, but my tokina 11-16 was nothing short of horrible on my BMCC, i sent it straight back. could not focus.
October 29, 2014 at 9:12PM, Edited October 29, 9:12PM
I'm curious how the Voigtlander 10.5 mm will perform, but that won't be out til spring.
October 28, 2014 at 3:23PM
I just got the 17.5mm and the 42.5mm Voigtlander lenses for my pocket camera and I love them. I bought the SLR Magic 12mm lens used for $400 and it's just so soft, I never feel like I can get anything in sharp focus and it's just a weak image, but it'll have to do till the 10.5mm comes out. It's going to be great to have a matching set of these lenses. The build quality is amazing and they are nice and heavy, they feel like tools and not toys. My SLR Magic lens feels really nice too, I just don't care for the image after shooting with the Voigtlander lenses.
October 28, 2014 at 8:44PM
I'm also waiting for the 10.5mm Voigtländer. I hope it will make even better images than the SLR Magic.
BTW: Does anybody know a good variable ND-Filter that is a bit cheaper than the one from SLR Magic?
October 29, 2014 at 2:09AM
I don't know if it was the sounds, music and the shots or just that each shot was great, but I enjoyed the piece.
October 28, 2014 at 8:47PM
Mine is for sale! This is some footage i shot last week with this lens. https://vimeo.com/109274955 http://www.ebay.nl/itm/121467944259?ssPageName=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&_trksi...
October 29, 2014 at 8:18AM, Edited October 29, 8:18AM