a good zoom lens with matte box

alignment1

alignment1

Well-known member
Hey all,

Can anyone suggest some good zooms maybe $1000 or under that I can use w/ matte box.

I used the kit lens (14-140), with matte box this weekend in a bit of a run-n-gun situation, and found that I used the zoom more than I expected, and didn't have the luxury to swap out fixed glass so much. B/C th kit lens 'extends' or 'telescopes', (could be wrong terminology), I was not able to use 4x4 ND filters like I'd like.

QUESTION:

Looking for decent zoom lens, maybe 70-200mm (under $1000) that zooms internally, within the body of the lens. that I can throw on my GH-13, and still use mattebox+4x4 filters. I don't want to use circular filters as I am covering sporting events, and need to be quick.

Thanks in advance:beer:

Z
 
Any old zoom.
Soligor C/D 80-200mm F3.5 for example. Focal MC that I have is extremely cheap also.
But beware that on open it have quite present abberations (as all such zooms).
If you ok with push zooms - Tokina AT-X. Either 100-300 F4 or 80-200 F2.8.
 
great thanks Vitaliy!

now that I think of it, is there anything comparable to the kit lens as well, meaning at its widest starting around 14 to 20mm and zooming to 100-200mm??
 
All ultrazooms change their length, as I am aware.
Tamron 18-250mm (or modern 18-270mm) is the best concerning image quality, as I am aware. But same problem with big length change.
Best old ultrazoom that I know is Vivitar 28-200 2.5-5.3. But it is push zoom with changing length.

Even with same length you need to adjust french and side flags on matte box, generally.
 
I have both the soligor and the Tokina.. thay are cheap and i find the tokina very good and mixes well with stock lens.. a bit less sharp but with similar contrast and colour rendition... but... they are both VERY heavy... they both have their own tripod mount.. you get tired quickly handheld..
i do motorsports filiming.. and i need to be quick and move fast.. i have several lenses with me, but at thee end the stock lens is the one i use 95% of the time... on certain circuits i keep the tokina on a tripod and just leave it there on location where i need more zoom.. so i get there and quickly change lens..
as i use a mini atv to move around the track, i have the panny hanging from my neck ( but not with default straps.. i made my own support "rig" mixing a pistol grip with a gorillapod) .. and a mattebox would just be in my way.. i hardly ever use nd as well because if you need to go quickly in pit garage where it's pitch dark compared to outside i need to quickly be able to adapt... for sunny shots i just up the shutter.. i don't mind it, i'm filming 720p50 all the time anyhow and fast shutter suits my style ..
i think two touch zoom lense would be best, but the only one i have is the stock lens.. and actually rubber on zoom ring is becoming loose... i think there should be a canon 80-200 lens in a two touch form, don't know if the lens protudes ..
 
Vitaliy Kiselev said:
Even with same length you need to adjust french and side flags on matte box, generally.
Click to expand...

I know this- my main concern is not being able to use 4X4 filters as there is very little room from back of mattebox- (where I have to use foam rings to seal out light) to where the 4x4 filter holders are. I guess wht I'm looking for is maybe an ENG style lens??
 
henryciullo said:
I have both the soligor and the Tokina.. thay are cheap and i find the tokina very good and mixes well with stock lens.. a bit less sharp but with similar contrast and colour rendition... but... they are both VERY heavy... they both have their own tripod mount.. you get tired quickly handheld..
i do motorsports filiming.. and i need to be quick and move fast.. i have several lenses with me, but at thee end the stock lens is the one i use 95% of the time... on certain circuits i keep the tokina on a tripod and just leave it there on location where i need more zoom.. so i get there and quickly change lens..
as i use a mini atv to move around the track, i have the panny hanging from my neck ( but not with default straps.. i made my own support "rig" mixing a pistol grip with a gorillapod) .. and a mattebox would just be in my way.. i hardly ever use nd as well because if you need to go quickly in pit garage where it's pitch dark compared to outside i need to quickly be able to adapt... for sunny shots i just up the shutter.. i don't mind it, i'm filming 720p50 all the time anyhow and fast shutter suits my style ..
i think two touch zoom lense would be best, but the only one i have is the stock lens.. and actually rubber on zoom ring is becoming loose... i think there should be a canon 80-200 lens in a two touch form, don't know if the lens protudes ..
Click to expand...

Thanks Henry- I'm shooting the same here in the states, motorsports- same conditions, out on the track or into pit area and garage-

I don't mind the high shutter either as I'm shooting 720p60 mosly, but don't like to go above 1/250 max. - I try to keep lower shutter for shallower DoF, so thats where the ND helps. I've got a nice shoulder rig/rails setup that is fairly light right now- even with the mattebox- the french flag has helped a bunch, and doesn't feel in the way too much--

but in the case of run-n-gunning into the garage- it would be even nicer if I could use the 4X4's out in the sun and when running into dark garage - just slide them out and hand off to PA, as opposed to stopping and unscrewing circulars, getting sweaty fingerprints all over lenses, etc.

Z
 
yes, i do believe that for our situations an eng style lens would be very usefull.. i really do miss the "feel" of a eng lens.. been using them for over 10 years....
there is an italian company making a b4 to 4/3 adapter and price isn't too high, but i have sent them 2 emails asking if there was some kind of tripod support in the adapter and had no reply... so now i think i'll just wait for gh2 and see if with tele conversion built in it's possible to use much cheaper c mount tv lenses... but you do loose wide angles... for range, stock lens is unbeatable...
do you have any problem with OIS jumping on fast pans with stock lens ?... i have to keep mine off if i need to pan... don't know if my lens is going nuts or they all act like that...
 
..hmm.. just picked up my soligor... have used it rarely... didn't remember it is actually a two touch and doesn't change length when zooming.. only slightly (maybe 1 cm) when focusing...
i'm talking about the 90-230 4.5 in fd mount ... just weighed it at 0.93kg
 
henryciullo said:
do you have any problem with OIS jumping on fast pans with stock lens ?... i have to keep mine off if i need to pan... don't know if my lens is going nuts or they all act like that...
Click to expand...

Actually, no, but I do have the occasional breakdown in codec when doing "dutch angle zooms", too fast.

I was actually quite surprised how well the camera handled pans (hand held no-less) the first time I was out on track with it, standing right at pit exit during qualifying--I was able to pace car all the way down the front stretch, and whip into turn 1...I thought to myself, "there's no way this is going to hold up in post"....but I was quite surprised at the results! I am using "lpowell's 40Mbps reliability patch", and it's been great to me!!

Of course great thanks go to Vitaliy and all the crew here who put so much time into this thing!!

Cheers--

Z
 
.. hmm then my lens must be losing it's head... sometime ois won't turn on or off... need to turn the camera off...
haven't had the guts yet to apply hack... as soon as gh2 is available i'll get one and then hack the gh1 ... tomorrow it's off to local service center for loose strap rivets.. before internal nut goes wandering around..... hope they won't touch firmware...
 
good to know about soligor- can't beat the price on ebay!!

OIS not shutting off?? hmmm?

If the shop is going to do any diagnostic test to fix OIS, it is very posible that they will update FW. You must vocalize NOT TO UPDATE FW!!

There has been enough data on this - that it is a pretty solid procedure ( GH-13 ). What I'm able to achieve wit this hack is astonishing- very happy with the results and it's stability!

I was shooting the other night at the "Bank of America 500" in Charlotte, and when the sun went down - I was getting crowd shots from the start/finish line during intro ceremonies. When zoomed all the way in had to crank to ISO's up to 1000 and CAN NOT BELIEVE the results. No banding/ No FPN, I'm simply amazed at the amount of detail and clarity I was able to retain.

Good luck with the repair!
 
alignment1 said:
good to know about soligor- can't beat the price on ebay!!
Click to expand...

In fact you can.
I own Focal MC 80-200mm F3.5 in perfect condition.
Sometimes price can be from $5 to $15 on ebay.
As I know supplier to Soligor and to Focal had been the same.
But Focal is closer to old Minolta or Konica zooms.
 
good to know Vit. that same glass comes with different names... hunting lenses on ebay is becoming a hobby of it's own now :-)

i phoned the service center today and explained my problme.. loose lugs, but i have only till thursday evening then i absolutley need the camera... so i don't need anything else... just open the damn thing and tighten the bolts.. i don't have the courage to do it myself.. i think they propably haven't seen one in real life.. it's a small city, and gh1 sales are not very high over here...

another interesting lens i have bought is a 24-70 2.8 sigma ... interesting because it is in pentax mount and has iris control with no hard stops... and even focuses in the right direction... but my specimen has axial play , probably was dropped .. bought it as non fully functional...
 
Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF D....I am pretty sure it doesn't move as you zoom. I've only used an earlier version of the lens that DID but I think this one will work fine. It's under $1,000 (though not much) and nice and fast. I was really happy with the earlier version I used. I'd do some more research to confirm it doesn't move (maybe a little when focusing, probably ok for mattebox) but it's supposed to be a fabulous lens and a real steal.

CORRECTION:
The earlier version I used doesn't move when you zoom, you slide the focus ring up to zoom but the lens stays the same length...totally slipped my mind till I looked at a picture again. You can get it for even cheaper than the newer version, great lens:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/800731250-USE/Nikon_1985_Zoom_Telephoto_80_200mm_f_2_8.html
 
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