FS7: 28-135?

traviswears

traviswears

Well-known member
How are you all liking this combo?

I bought the kit lens but find myself using the 24-70 w/Speedbooster for my primary lens and the 24-105 or 70-200 for longer purposes.

Kind of bulky, slow zoom. Anybody a big fan who can help me understand some of it's potential before I sell it?
 
I guess it depends what you're filming.
I like all the e-mount power zooms; 18-105, 28-135 and even the 18-200 for filming live stage performances with. On the FS700/EA50/A7S they work great with face detection. But I seem to remember the FS7 don't have face detection?
 
I've had my 28-135 for a couple of weeks now and I have to say, I'm enjoying it.

I find it a great run 'n' gun lens for some of the corporate stuff I shoot (If I need wider i'll throw on the 18-105). I never use the servo (or AF) but I find that I can pull off some nice natural zooms manually with the ring. For convenience it beats all of the stills zoom lenses i've used including the Canon 24-105.

If I have more time or need to eek out all the quality, i'll put on my primes but for everything else, i'm really digging the 28-135.

PS. Yes, it is big, bulky and a little heavy, but i'm ok with that.
 
Last edited:
Both me and a friend were on the fence about it... Liked everything about it, big enough to grab but not massive (lighter than it looks) decent AF (better than my only other Sony lens 50 1.8) IS is great, control from the grip, manual focus feel is astounding vs other sony lenses..... but in the end it wasn't wide enough for me (events and crowded shooting spaces) My friend bought it from me and really likes it, he does more scripted stuff but not enough time to be swapping set ups and lenses... walk and talks, some action and scripted little pieces

With a Speedbooster it would have been perfect or if the sensor in the FS7/fs5 was the size of the A7 cameras but as it is the angle of view isn't right for events... and even if it went to 18mm then f4 wouldn't be fast enough to render backgrounds a little soft. I would suggest running around with a lens at 28mm and see what you think, everything else is really nice.... pretty much (kinda) like using a real cine zoom without taking out a second mortgage on your home :)
 
Last edited:
Not wide enough - dumb move on Sony's part. I made the same decision on lenses 24-70 Tamron is great with IS by the way, and for real run & gun the Sony 18-200 can be very useful for doc & industrials
 
I like it but wish it was wider. For the money its a good lens to have in your kit and for a lot of jobs it works well, quality is great and being able to do a slow zoom in during a shoot is a big plus over stills lenses as it's par focal. If it had of been 18-100 it would have been a geniune all purpose lens. If you were travelling light and shooting a doco however this lens probably wouldn't work due to its wide angle limitations.
 
Features I like about the lens-- True manual iris; good manual focus; despite not having a gear, my follow-focus works well with it; versatile on the kind of shoots that either I have done or others have shot using my lens. Wish it were wider. Wish it were faster. But it would then be heavier and cost more than $2500. The servo zoom and servo feel to focus are issues. The pro's outweigh the cons for my use, so I'm keeping the lens. And I'm making money with it.

Ned Soltz
 
I like the lens for my handheld work shooting boat to boat. It is perfect focal length for those shots and the steady shot helps. I keep it on manual and it is easy to nail the shots that I only get one chance at.

When I need to go wide I switch to my PL glass and have great results.

Would I like the Sony to be wider, sure but it is not so I keep it for specific shots and it works well, just like when you choose any lens.
 
I think it fully depends on the type of shooting you mostly do.
I actually pre-ordered that lens when I bought the camera - a year ago now. Thankfully, none were available from my dealer at the time. I'm not saying it's a horrible lens - just saying that I've only had use for it on two occasions over the course of a full year. And then rental was easy and convenient. (both shoots were exterior situations where I knew I wouldn't need wide and did not want to change lens in dusty environment)
I already owned the Canon 24-105 f/4 and 70-200 f2.8 that covered that focal range as well as other Canon lenses before buying my FS7. So obviously my shoots differ from Paul's & Ned's above...
 
My experience using this for shooting a dance performance is similar-- I was pretty close to the action, and I really needed a wider angle for when performers came to within 8 feet of my position.

That said, I later filmed another performance with the 18-200, and I found myself cringing when reviewing clips-- to me, the jagged zooms and the drop in image quality were very apparent. I've liked the 18-200 in the past, but I personally feel that the 28-135 is stronger optically (especially in terms of handling highlights), and it is certainly far superior in terms of the operation during live performance. In fact, I was surprised by how much I liked the look of the lens, which I felt was (forgive the nonsense lens terms) modern but without sacrificing some of that creamy feeling I like from older lenses. I'd own it if I did more work of that type, as there isn't anything comparable out there. Haven't tried the 18-105 but, even if optically strong, it just doesn't have the mechanics.

Imagine if the 18-135 lens had had its own drop-in speedbooster, a sort of reverse version of the 2x extenders that used to be common on B4 lenses? It would be a 28-135 f4 on your A7S and something like a 20-90 f2.8 (ff equivalent f.o.v.) on your FS7!
 
Last edited:
I wish they would make it for FZ mount to go with my F3 :( Wish any of the E mount zooms could work on fz moutn since the only other option is the expensive SCL-Z18x140. Anyways the biggest complaint I have heard about the 28-135 is people wishing it was wider (Which I under stand on crop sensor). Though a 18mm or 21mm prime and the sony 28-135mm could make for a great run and gun kit
 
The 28135 seems like it has been designed for a full frame FS level camera or to be paired with a wide-normal zoom which haven't arrived yet. On it's own the 28135 is a very odd choice and way to expensive for what it offers.

If Sony had released a 20120 (f4 to keep the cost down) truly parfocal zoom for the same money I would have been interested but they went with some strange compromised to fit FF and S35 and rogered it for S35 cameras.

I want my workhorse lens to cover wide to short tele (20-50) and then to change lenses for long tele situations and not change a lens for the wide stuff. I've done some last minute jobs recently where there hasn't been enough time to fart let alone lens changes and my 2470+SBU has covered everything.
 
ReelFilmGeek said:
I wish they would make it for FZ mount to go with my F3 :( Wish any of the E mount zooms could work on fz moutn since the only other option is the expensive SCL-Z18x140. Anyways the biggest complaint I have heard about the 28-135 is people wishing it was wider (Which I under stand on crop sensor). Though a 18mm or 21mm prime and the sony 28-135mm could make for a great run and gun kit
Click to expand...

SCL-Z18x140 is indeed insanely expensive! But as I very rarely wish for it (only for the kind of occasional rare event work which otherwise would get covered by the likes of a Sony EX1R), I'm pretty happy with just using my manual focus Nikon mount lenses instead
 
Nirv said:
I want my workhorse lens to cover wide to short tele (20-50) and then to change lenses for long tele situations and not change a lens for the wide stuff. I've done some last minute jobs recently where there hasn't been enough time to fart let alone lens changes and my 2470+SBU has covered everything.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I've been finding. I've been using the 24-70 + SBU for everything and swapping the 24-105 or 70-200 f4 for longer stuff or when I absolutely need IS.

17-50 at f2 is an incredible walk-around lens for what I do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top