20X Lens for PMW-EX3?

basspig

basspig

Veteran
We ordered an EX3 last week. In the coming months, I want to find a good 20X lens to use in our concert shoots. 20X is the MINIMUM magnification we need for good closeups of performers from balconies. 24X would be even better. At any rate, the only other lens I found on the B&H site is a 4mm 8X wide angle lens (on my wish list for next year).
Of course there are a lot of Fujinon lenses that may or may not fit the bill, but will they work with the EX3?
I wish to keep the cost under $4K for the lens, if possible. Suggestions?
 
Why not get a Nikon adapter and slap a zoom lens on there? The magnification factor would be considerable and it'll be a lot cheaper.
 
Mark and Mary, we make the Adaptimax and it will fit your requirements perfectly. You get approximately 5 times magnification and edge to edge sharpness, for a very small outlay. ( providing you own Nikon lenses)

A 105mm Nikon will become a 550mm telephoto with the Adaptimax. An 80-200 will give a very nice telephoto range.

And of course the Adaptimax will save you a fortune on the price of a new lens for the EX3.

Best regards
Steve
 
Adapters are great, but remember you will not have servo zooming capability. All will be manual. Which may stand out during a performance. You can prob find a SD 20x 2/3 lens on e-bay for that price. It's SD, but your budget will not get HD.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-YJ20x8-5-...nses?hash=item41487a9039&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fujinon-S20x6-4...in_0?hash=item3ef67f9596&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

You will need the ACM-21 adapter to mount a 2/3 lens, and you will have a increase in magnification as well. But it will power your zoom.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Acm-21 Adapter&N=0

The EX will take 1/2 pro lens (adapter provided with camera) and 2/3 pro lens(ACM-21) and still lens with a adapter like Adaptimax. A lot of options!
 
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For that price definitely a stills lens with adapter. Long end of a 2/3" standard def lens, possibly with the 2x in, and through an optical adapter like the ACM-21? Good luck with that!
Steve
 
Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
I don't have any Nikon lenses. I do have Olympus 4/3 system lenses.
However, I am looking at the 'companion' lens, which is a 4mm 8X Fujinon for $3700 as a wide angle choice. Now I just need to find out if Fujinon makes a compatible lens for the EX3 that extends the tele range to 20X or better.
I hope to find lenses made specifically for the EX3, but I'll entertain alternatives temporarily, if it will let me get the closeup shots I need without chromatic aberrations that I get with the EX lenses.
Theoretically, if there's a wide lens already available for the EX3, then there probably will be a longer lens available. I'm looking for that lens.
 
No long lens for the EX3. As for 1/2" choices that will go on via adapter there is the Canon do an HJ21x5.7 at £12,000. Plenty of choice in 2/3" from Fujinon ZA22x7.8 at £8,000 to Canon HJ40x14.5 at about £35,000.
You won't get anything in HD for the sort of money you're talking about, even second hand.
Steve
 
Canon HDgc are the amongst the best of the cheaper lenses out there. http://www.canon.com/bctv/faq/hdgc.html

You may be able to find a camera with a 2x extender. Less than $4K just isn't gonna cut it I'm afraid for a lens that long, HD and 1/2".

I found this one at 17x: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/430112-REG/Fujinon_XS17X55BRMM_XS17x55BRM_M_17x_1_2_XDCAM.html but it cost as much as the camera. Your best bet would be to read reviews on older SD lenses to see how good they look in HD. But like a reviewer said of the EX1, "This Funinon lens has no business being on a sub-$7K camera." Meaning how the heck did they shove a quality lens like that plus the camera body and keep the cost that low?
 
i agree with the 2/3" lens + adapter. i have used an ex3 with 2/3" digiprimes and it was pretty seamless. you will keep the ability to zoom and since 2/3" lenses have longer focal lengths than 1/2" your overall reach will be longer. a 20x 2/3" lens with a wide end at 9mm will give you a tele end of 180mm. this would be an extreme tele lens on a 1/2" camera. you'll need some pretty solid sticks to keep a steady shot at 180mm...
 
I'm a bit baffled as to why these other lenses cost so much, when the
Fujinon XS8X4AS-XB8 8x for Sony PMW-EX3 goes for $3700 and looks to clean. I'm planning to buy that lens next year, but for the concert work, I need a long lens, so I am wondering why Fujinon hasn't got a companion lens to this one, only with a 150mm or so reach.

Based on all that I am seeing, it DOES seem that the stock Fujinon lens is an anomaly. I've looked at tests of other lenses on the EX3 and didn't like the chromatic aberration in the SD lenses. Some were even soft. Soft looks bad to my eye.

One can wait and hope that Fujinon will come out with a comparably-priced tele lens for the EX3. The wide angle lens they got is totally "killer," based on the frame grabs I saw on a Sony dealer web site, which compared the stock and the wide angle. All we need is a long tele and we're in business!

UPS has my EX3 in the state now. Its expected arrival is later today. This ought to be exciting. Time to order a 32GB SxS card.. I love these cameras. I've gotten more gigs BECAUSE of the cameras, than I did when I was running DV and HDV cams.
 
Seriously Mark, for a very small outlay of an Adaptimax and a good second hand 105mm 2.8 ( or 80-200mm 2.8 zoom) Nikon from Ebay, your problem will be over and the results are really excellent for a fraction of the cost.

Hundreds of dollars rather than thousands.
 
I'd like to see some full res still grabs with the Nikon lenses, to see if they look clean. Many of the alternative lenses I've seen tested have objectionable CA, and some are even soft.

That said, the ability to experiment with inexpensive lenses is an attractive feature of the EX3. I'll need adjustable zoom on whatever lens I end up with, but as long as it can go from 45-125mm, that should cover balcony duty at the GBSO. And it could be a viable holdover until Fujinon releases a longer lens to compliment the wide lens they currently offer.

My EX3 arrived earlier this evening, and I am familiarizing myself with differences between it and my EX1's. It's quite a piece of gear and has some significant improvements in convenience and is also geared toward more professional interfacing of electronic signals.
 
A teleconverter adds more glass in front of the lens and makes matters worse in terms of distortions and light loss. I used to use WA converters back in the DV days and they degraded the image slightly. I want to maintain the image as good as the native lens, which is why I went with the EX3. Now the question is will Fujinon release a good tele lens made specifically for the EX3? :)
 
I do agree, I own the Fujinon XS8X4AS-XB8 wide angle and it looks and performs great! Still would love have 1/2 HD for 12k, but maybe later.
 
There is a lens that I really like, but it's manual focus only and carries a $17K price tag. But it goes real wide and can go real long, too, and it's in the f 1.5 range, so it's pretty darned fast. But that costs money. One lens, solves all problems, except bankruptcy! :)

Just finished manually inputting all my picture profile recipes from my other two cameras. EX3 does not read EX1 camera data.

Controls are grouped more logically now, and the new peaking options are nice. No rebates this time! My next SxS purchase will come out of my pocket. But at least I'm all set for concert season, even without the long lens.

BTW, glad to hear a real owner confirm that the optional WA lens for the EX3 is great. I want one!
 
basspig said:
I'd like to see some full res still grabs with the Nikon lenses, to see if they look clean. Many of the alternative lenses I've seen tested have objectionable CA, and some are even soft.
Click to expand...

Worst CA I've seen has been on HD lenses! SD one tend to have less CA (though as you say are generally softer). Stills lenses, especially telephoto primes tend to be much more free of CA, partly due to being primes, and partly due to the amount of low dispersion of Apochromatic glass they use.
Steve
 
'Could be coincidence, but if not, what factors make an HD lens more prone to splitting the spectrum near the corners?

Looks like I got a lens adapter in the box with the EX3 that allows one to fit Sony 1/2" bayonet lenses, in addition to the "exclusive" two lenses currently available.

I wonder how many third party companies will release lens adapaters for various SLR lenses, in addition to Nikon?

I was looking at some Fujinon lenses and, ironically, some of the 2/3" lenses cost less than a lot of the 1/2" lenses. Confusing!
 
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