New C-mount wide angle test by Seb Farges
It’s always interesting to see how C-mount lenses do work on the Panasonic GH2 with 1:1 crop mode. Seb Farges tested three lenses:
“This is a movie shot with three lenses, from 6mm to 3.5mm, which is 15mm to 9mm for micro 4/3 sensor (24X36 : 31mm to 18mm). 1st part with the 6mm (more info: vimeo.com/20766631), some shot with polaroid variable ND filter. Second part, same lens but with a Pixco 0.45X lens converter, found for 16€ on ebay, it’s 40.5mm screw mount filter size lens is perfect for the Pentax. The third part is shot with a new lens I’ve found on Ebay for 46€, a C-mount Rainbow 3.5mm 1.6, perfect for the crop function ! It’s very wide, little fish eye effect, but I have a little focus problem with my copy, so I have to closed the aperture, but not too much because it seems I have problem of intern dirts, that can be viewed in more closed apertures.
I like this 3.5mm Rainbow C-mount lens, it’s fun and very wide. I hope you’ll enjoy the shots.”
Links
C-mount Pentax 6mm 1.2 on eBay (Click here).
C-mount Rainbow 3.5mm 1.6 on eBay (Click here).
Pixco wide angle lens converter 0.45X on eBay (Click here).
Thanks Seb Farges!
Ulli
3 years ago |excellent clip! i wonder if i use those lenses on olympus how much i would need to crop the heavy vignetting area away, and what would be left. the fast f values keep the dof to a reasonable level, i like that. and those ebay prices…i should check them immediately to see if i can get one too for such low bid
sebfarges
3 years ago |Thanks Ulli. If you use the digital 2X function instead of the ETC 1:1, it will vignetting a little, but bad fully the digital zoom is not very good in video.
andrew
3 years ago |like it a lot. great story. very versatile lenses and cool music.
sebfarges
3 years ago |Thanks Andrew
andrew
3 years ago |i watch this movie again and again and wonder how ep2 or epl2 would compare?
i notice lack of detail when panning, but shadow and noise seem controlled in low light.
if you could do a similar test with the same subjects idea and lenses, I think a very interesting comparison.
I do understand video capabilities are different between gh2- ep2/epl2.
what do you think seb?
sebfarges
3 years ago |Thanks Andrew. Yes GH2 is much better than ep2… I was thinking about shotting a repetitive scene with all my lenses. stay tune
Kevin
3 years ago |so if I used it on a PEN w/out cropping, there’d be heaving vignetting yea? otherwise I’d buy them in a heartbeat @@
sebfarges
3 years ago |Yes, you’ll have heavy vignetting on the Rainbow 3.5mm like the Pentax 6mm, you can see the vignetting of the 6mm at the beguinning of this test :
http://vimeo.com/20766631
andrew
3 years ago |also would be good of you could post exif and data about lenses dof fps etc….
Miroslav
3 years ago |Thanks Seb Farges, excellent video, very interesting test. If I’m not mistaken 1:1 crop means something like 6.7x zoom, the camera takes data only from central 1920×1080 pixels of the sensor. What are the focal lengths of those lenses then?
sebfarges
3 years ago |Thanks Miroslav. 1:1 crops means X2.6, then for 24X36 eq. 2X. So 6mm to 3.5mm give 15mm to 9mm for micro 4/3 sensor and 31mm to 18mm for 24X36 eq.
Miroslav
3 years ago |Thanks for the explanation, keep up the good work!
sebfarges
3 years ago |here are the links where I found all these :
C-mount Pentax 6mm 1.2 modified http://tinyurl.com/3muqwbe
C-mount Rainbow 3.5mm 1.6 http://tinyurl.com/65v4tjc
Picko wide angle lens converter 0.45X http://tinyurl.com/3fdvw48
mode 24P
No CC
cinema mode
Bu
3 years ago |A little long but nicely done, thanks for sharing!
sebfarges
3 years ago |Thanks Bu, yes you’ll have to watch to see the 3.5mm shots
duncan
3 years ago |Video is shaking a lot. Difficult to watch.
sebfarges
3 years ago |“Video is shaking a lot. Difficult to watch.”, it’s a little hard comment
I hope you did not watch my movies with 25mm and 35mm lenses ! Well it’s not so easy to film my crazy daughter on a scooter from one hand the GH2, the other hand my bicycle ! 
Zaph
3 years ago |Have you seen these Seb? http://camcaddie.com/ There was a GH2 video on here or mirrorlessrumors.com of skaters done using one, looks stellar for this type of work.
Joey
3 years ago |nice shots, very well edited, like it a lot
where was this filmed?
btw andrew the music is Justice – genesis
sebfarges
3 years ago |Thanks Joe
Most of the shots were taken in Bordeaux (french west coast) and in Maubuisson (near the atlantic ocean coast).
thean chye
3 years ago |such a lovely city !!!
Ahem
3 years ago |I can’t believe I just watched 3 minutes of someone’s family footage. That’s pretty damn cool home video. Very nice music, and cute kid
sebfarges
3 years ago |Thanks Ahem
Family movies is my speciality, I like filming the people I love , and try to interest the audience, and my daughter is such a phenomenon ! 
Luke
3 years ago |You have a lovely family. Without meaning to sound too creepy….more of your wife, please
Impressive video….Great work!
sebfarges
3 years ago |Thanks Luke, I will tell her !
Fish
3 years ago |That was an excellent video. I wish my home movies looked so professional!
(and +1 on Luke’s comment)
rampart
3 years ago |Nope, sounds creepy no matter how politely you say it.
pmt
3 years ago |Thanks for the video. Am I missing something? The field of view on the shots looked very normal–as in it felt like a 28-50mm lense. I didn’t get the same wide feel I would get with the nikon 14-24mm on my full frame Nikon.
What is the crop factor with c-mount lense on a 43 sensor?
I so much want to like the GH2 since Nikon video just isn’t there yet, but the lack of true wide angle lenses for 43 sensors make me hesitant.
sebfarges
3 years ago |Thanks pmt. The field of view of the shot are, in 24X36 eq. 31mm for the Pentax, maybe aroud 25mm for the Pentax + Wide converter, and 18mm for the Rainbow. To obtain this, for example for the Rainbow 3.5mm you have to calculate : 3.5mm X 2.6 (for the GH2 crop 1:1 function) X 2 micro 4/3 crop factor (for the 24X36 eq.). So for 40€ you can have a fast 18mm F1.6. If you want an equivalence of your 14mm, you’ll have to take the Panasonic 7-14, that will give to you a 14-28mm eq, for 800€ and and F4 aperture.
pmt
3 years ago |Thanks for the info sebfarges.
Riki Rocket
3 years ago |Hello! Very cool video! and awesome music!
Stupid-amateur question, with the rainbow lens, which adaptor you use?
Thanks!
sebfarges
3 years ago |Thanks Riki
The Pentax and the Rainbow are C-mount lenses, so you’ll need a C-mount to micro 4/3 adapter to use them on the GH2. You can find on Ebay for 20$
Tulio
2 years ago |If you have very deep pockets, this one probably cover almost the whole sensor:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Century-Extreme-Wide-angle-3-5mm-T1-8-C-mount-nice-/270760944439?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item3f0a9c2337#ht_500wt_1156