I'd love a little adivce...

[ed24]

Hello CR crew,

I'm in the market for a nice 35mm prime, pref some thing old with a little character. I purchasea Carl Zeiss 2.4 Prakticar PB mount and unfortunately it striked the mirror on my Canon 5D Mark III. Anyone know of any nice 35mm lenses that work well on this body? Full manual is fine as I'm mostly shooting video over stills.

Cheers,

Ed

[Drizzt321]

Well, if you're shooting mostly video, you can always pull off the lens slightly, hit Live View, and re-mount the lens fully. You'll just need to remember to do the same thing in reverse when powering it off or turning off Live View.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Older Zeiss Hasselblad lenses adapt very well a 50 or 60mm f/4 might be just the thing.  They miss the mirror by a inch or more.  They are not cheap in the USA, but not super expensive either.  If you cane use 80mm, they are the standard lens and are cheap.
 

 
 

[Spooky]

80mm is 'standard' only on a MF body, and will be a short tele on the 5d. Ed will need a 35mm lens, no matter what make, as long as it can fit and have an imaging circle large enough.

[dswatson83]

I love the Sigma 35mm f/1.4. It is one of the best lenses. I also own the Canon 35mm f/1.4 and the Sigma is sharper, cheaper, feels better, and looks way better.

I've got a full review of the Sigma up on the site: http://learningcameras.com/reviews/7-lenses/86-sigma-35mm-f14-review

As well as a comparison with the Canon 35mm f/1.4: http://learningcameras.com/reviews/7-lenses/87-sigma-35mm-f14-vs-canon-35mm-f14

I also tried out the new Canon 35mm f/2 IS which might be good for you since you are shooting video and it has IS. I can't say I loved the lens and it is way overpriced, but if you need IS, it may not be a bad option. I personally a fine using the Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC when I need IS and going to the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 when I want more light or less DOF. But feel free to take a look at the Canon 35mm f/2 IS review: http://learningcameras.com/reviews/7-lenses/89-canon-35mm-f2-is-review
and comparing that with the Sigma: http://learningcameras.com/reviews/7-lenses/90-canon-35mm-f2-is-vs-sigma-35mm-f14

[Mt Spokane Photography]

80mm is 'standard' only on a MF body, and will be a short tele on the 5d. Ed will need a 35mm lens, no matter what make, as long as it can fit and have an imaging circle large enough.

80mm is 80mm, it doesn't matter what the body is, I missed the part about a 35mm lens, I thought he said 50mm.
 
Something old with character might be a old M42 Pentax or a Nikon MF lens. 
 
A 35mm f/3.5 Auto Takumar, for example, Zeiss, Voigtlander, and Practica all made M42 as well as others.

[RLPhoto]

I'd just buy a sigma 35mm. It's got everything going for it and it's not too expensive either.

[Albi86]

Something new but with a retro feeling: samyang 35mm. Very good lens, almost on par with sigma. You can get the cine version t/1.5 with declicked stops at a very good price. Look up some reviews and you'll be convinced

[lilmsmaggie]

Maybe a Zeiss Distagon T* 35/2, or Voigtlander 40 f2 Ultron. 


If you're interested in Leica glass, you can also pickup an adapter for Leica R lenses. 

Here is a compatibility Canon/Leica R database:  http://www.pebbleplace.com/Personal/Leica_db.html

[BruinBear]

+1 for the sigma 35mm. Just got mine and its just amazing.  The only thing to note is that the focus ring rotation is pretty small, I think someone said 70 degrees end to end, and trying to nail focus manually is a bit tough.

Samyang is great for the price but it has some really funky pinwheel bokeh. Scroll down to the bokeh comparison.
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Sigma-35mm-f-1.4-EX-DG-HSM-Lens-Review.aspx

[atvinyard]

I really enjoy the olympus lenses adapted to canon EOS.  They have no issues with mirror clearance on the 5D line.  The 35mm focal length is kind of a week one for the system though.  If money's not an issue though, and you want something nice, I would buy something new and modern.   I play with the olympus lenses because they are pretty good and relatively affordable.  If I sold all of my olympus primes I might be able to afford an L prime.  Nothing's nicer than the new 35mm primes, if you're willing to pay for it.

[samhodde]

I have a Nikon 35mm f/2.8, all manual, that I picked up to use for video work and its awesome. Tons of character and looks great. Picked up a Fotodiox adapter off of Amazon and have had no problems with it on my 7D

[Eli]

80mm is 'standard' only on a MF body, and will be a short tele on the 5d.

80mm is 80mm, it doesn't matter what the body is..

I think he meant equivalent fov? 80mm on medium format is about the equivalent fov to 48mm on 35mm format, which is considered a 'standard' focal length, but on 35mm format 80mm is a short tele.

[SwissBear]

not long ago i read on the phoblographer:

http://www.thephoblographer.com/2013/02/27/duclos-lenses-wants-to-modify-your-rokinon-lenses-for-a-unique-cinema-look/

So you can get your rokino/walimes/samyang/bower modified to get "that" look...

[johnf3f]

This site has some useful compatibility data on lenses:http://www.pebbleplace.com/Personal/Contax_db.html