A bit of life given to the Af100

dustylense

dustylense

Veteran
I just got the 12-35 2.8 lumix lens this morning. Just a bit of playing with it and I like it. Nice feel, well built, small, and optically looks really good. Auto focus pretty darn well so far and the IS is good. It's a real treat to have a lens that works with the af100 natively with a constant 2.8. I was using my 24-70 with the redrock adapter, but this lens will easily replace that. It will be great for fast moving shoots having this lens at the ready.
I thought about selling my af100, but decided to keep it. It just has too many features that can come in handy for all sorts of work. For what I can get for it on the used market, I think I would kick myself in the butt if I sold it and ran into a job where I thought, "I wish I kept my Af100". I've paid my Af100 off after 2 jobs. THe 12-35 just reinforces that its a nice little camera to keep around. Now lets see the 35-100 2.8. One thing I do like about the Lumix lenses is that it keeps the system compact and light. I can fill all the lenses into a shoulder lens bag and have a equivalent lens range of 14-600mm in full frame terms (7-14, 14-140, 100-300, and 12-35).

If you have the cash and are keeping your AF100, so far I highly recommend the 12-35. Works a treat on my Gh2 as well. Go M4/3's!
 
Great, that's good to hear. I've been thinking about this lens. Can you use the AF during shooting? Is it fast enough for that? I've only used manual lenses on my AF100 and it would be handy in a lot of situations if that actually worked. I have a GH2 too so it's going on the list. Thanks for the heads up.

It's a little costly but I could offset it by selling my Oly 11-22 and the adapter which is nice but heavy and "clicks" on zoom.
 
Great to hear you like it. I'm still waiting for my pre-order from B&H. Where did you order yours from? I know its expensive but we all want a high quality MFT lens so bring it Panasonic!

I hear you about a new life. Working with native lenses for so many reason is nice. Size and field of view is my two big ones. Just can't get the same shallow depth of field with a 25mm Nikon mount on a MFT camera. the last two days I shot a bunch of walking dialog and would have loved to have OIS.
 
Erik Naso said:
Great to hear you like it. I'm still waiting for my pre-order from B&H. Where did you order yours from? I know its expensive but we all want a high quality MFT lens so bring it Panasonic!

I hear you about a new life. Working with native lenses for so many reason is nice. Size and field of view is my two big ones. Just can't get the same shallow depth of field with a 25mm Nikon mount on a MFT camera. the last two days I shot a bunch of walking dialog and would have loved to have OIS.
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I ordered it from Digitalrev.com 2 days ago and it was in my hands this morning. Free shipping too.

The Auto focus works quite well actually. THe IS is very good. It's a nice optic.
 
The Lumix-X 45-175mm f4-5.6 motorized zoom is also a great boon to the AF100. The smooth zoom and silent auto-focus behavior of this lens makes the AF100 well-suited for long-reach daylight documentary work. The lens also has a fixed length, making it easy to use with a hood or matte box.
 
dustylense said:
I ordered it from Digitalrev.com 2 days ago and it was in my hands this morning. Free shipping too.

The Auto focus works quite well actually. THe IS is very good. It's a nice optic.
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Canceled my B&H and ordered from Digitalrev.com. Straight from Hong Kong!
 
Erik Naso said:
Canceled my B&H and ordered from Digitalrev.com. Straight from Hong Kong!
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DigitalREV is like the B&H of the Orient. They just so happen to have stuff in stock sooner. It's where I have bought my Canon Mk2, MK3, 70-200VII, and the 12-35. Never had any problems with them at all.
 
How is the quality compared to other panasonic lenses, like the 14-45, 7-14 ?
I dont use auto focus, but should be interesting in AF100

Tks
 
ulisses said:
How is the quality compared to other panasonic lenses, like the 14-45, 7-14 ?
I dont use auto focus, but should be interesting in AF100

Tks
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It's better than the 7-14 so far without any scientific digging. Basically, it just feels good to have a fixed 2.8 with IS and a decent focal range. It's lighter than the 14-140 and smaller than the 14-140. Just tried it out on the hacked gh2. Quite a little package now with this lens.
As stated, the auto focus works. It's smooth and quicker than the 14-140. I don't regret buying this lens AT ALL. Just need the 35-100 now and one would have quite the focal range with a very small footprint in the bag.
So far so good. If they had made a 2.0 version, I would have bought that for $1800. But 2.8 is fast enough for me. If I need crazy lowlight shooting, I'll use my Canon MK3. I like the Canon colors better, but this lens brought me back to my M4/3 pannys (AF100 and Gh2).
 
Thanks,

I like the Pana colors, today I was directing a corporate video and the crew was using a HPX-500, nice colors and texture. I just thought how the AF100 looks near a HPX-500
 
Auto focus is a great tool with the AF-100. I used it all day today with the 20mm pancake lens. Frame up the shoot, push the AF button and start rolling. Thats the way to use it. It did work because the subject was the majority of the frame making the auto focus not have to hunt that much.
 
Erik Naso said:
Auto focus is a great tool with the AF-100. I used it all day today with the 20mm pancake lens. Frame up the shoot, push the AF button and start rolling. Thats the way to use it. It did work because the subject was the majority of the frame making the auto focus not have to hunt that much.
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Well then you will be very happy with the 12-35. The AF is smooth.
 
ulisses said:
But that Push AF in AF100 works with all Panasonic lenses, right ?
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All Lumix panny lenses, yes. But the 12-35 is just smooth and does not hunt like the 20 1.7. I will use PUSH to set initial focus with other lumix lenses. This 12-35 focus like it were on a 1/3's sensor (maybe not quite as fast, but darn close enough). Using PUSH focus can still lead to the popping into focus while recording. I'll play with it some more and provide feedback as I find it. SO far so good though.
 
Yep, AF with the 12-35 is like AF on an HVX. Very fast and smooth. It will make you hate AF on the 20/1.7.

It's a fantastic working lens.
 
mcbob said:
Yep, AF with the 12-35 is like AF on an HVX. Very fast and smooth. It will make you hate AF on the 20/1.7.

It's a fantastic working lens.
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Thats how I feel about it. While not exactly as fast as the HVX, it just somehow feels and reminds me of the auto focus of it. Now the AF100 seems like an HVX with a big sensor and cleaner image.
 
Oh Smack! This is getting soooooo good! The AF on the 5D worked so well like this. Tap auto focus, then roll. This is going to be fun! Like you said. Bring that 35-100 and I’m done! Sure I’ve said that before but I mean it this time. :beer:
Just to be clear I set the AF-100 in manual Focus and use the PUSH to focus button. Once it locks the focus is set. I wouldn’t shoot with AF on during a shot.
 
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dustylense said:
Thats how I feel about it. While not exactly as fast as the HVX, it just somehow feels and reminds me of the auto focus of it. Now the AF100 seems like an HVX with a big sensor and cleaner image.
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could you check if the aperture steps on auto iris like the 14-140?
 
The aperture is smoothed; if you look reeeeeeal close, you can see the ap changes, but there's a delay as it ramps from position 1 to position 2. This is somewhat of a drawback as it can't change apertures quickly, but a positive otherwise.

Erik: manual with push auto (also works mid-shot), or works ok in full auto (albeit haven't used that often).
 
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