Any updates on the Sony 28-135 FE Cine lens?

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Just wondering if this lens has been delivered to anyone yet - there's a real lack of reviews out there for it.

I have one on order - apparently it should be arriving in ~2 weeks.

I'm anxious to see how repeatable the focus is - I read it's fly by wire, so that could be a deal breaker.
 
Are these out in buyers hands yet? Seems like the release date keeps getting pushed back. I'd like to see more from this too. Hopefully soon...
 
I'd like to see how it performs with a FF sensor in terms of distortion, sharpness across the frame at wide apertures throughout the range. The FS7 isn't really pushing that with a S35 sensor. Some say its focus by wire, but when it was rolled out last year Sony talked about cinema focusing with hard stops. How does it handle flare? Any focus breathing? What's the slowest zoom you can do with the rocker? How fast is the AF? Just general usability stuff.

I've gone back and forth with this lens, preordering and then cancelling after constant delays. I may shift my lens lineup a bit (swapping the 16-35 and 70-200 for this), but not before I see some images. Thanks for any insight.
 
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I've done the same thing, had it ordered, then cancelled as well due to delay. I've found a bit of info on Sony's user forums, the feedback has not been inspiring me to purchase it. One thing that really turned me off was not having the ability to disengage the zoom servos, making snap zooms impossible, not to mention just being able to do a quick focus check. I know people were also wanting it to be a wider lens and a quicker lens as well. I love the concept and the price point, but I'd be willing to pay more for a lens that really worked and was an invaluable tool. $20,000 is a little out of the range though and that's what this lens is trying to compete with.
 
OK well I've just put it on my a7s and played around with it a bit. Let me preface by saying I'm just a random noob that plays around with this stuff and have no prior experience with real cinema equipment, my only previous cameras being a gh2 and a 6d with various photo lenses.

Focus is repeatable, first clue to that is there is a distance scale on the focus ring and hard stops. There is no weird velocity based focusing (if there was the distance scale wouldn't work). If you're looking for it there is maybe a tiny delay, about 0.1 of a second (unless I am imagining it) when turning the ring to when the focus changes. In practice this is not noticeable.

The zoom ring does have a bit of lag, maybe 0.25 of a second. The zoom rocker is less laggy (or less noticeable). The slowest power zoom I could do takes about 25 seconds end to end, and the fastest about 5 seconds. The fastest you can go with the zoom ring is about 2 seconds end to end, so you won't be snap zooming with this. An interesting thing, that makes sense I guess, is that if you are on servo zoom and then switch it to manual, it will zoom immediately to the focal length dictated by the ring. It would have to work that way, but I've never used a power zoom before so it was novel to me.

I can't do any optical quality testing until I get home, but I intend to take a bunch of photos with all the various settings. I'll do some videos as well to show focus breathing (which is very well controlled, at least compared to the photo lenses I am used to, again I've not used a proper cinema lens to compare against) and zooming, OSS etc.

AF speed in video mode is the same speed as with any of the other native lenses, being controlled by the camera to make it smooth. In photo mode it feels about as fast as my 55mm FE, although I'd have to go home and compare.

So not having ever touched a real $20,000+ cinema lens before, this is very exciting for me. I think it's a bit foolish to compare this to proper cinema gear, of course you get what you pay for. I wouldn't be upset if I bought a Mazda 323 and it didn't compare well to an Audi R8...

I'll post those pics and videos later.
 
OK so I got a bit fidgety at lunch time and took some very quick photos. They are all straight out of camera x.fine jpgs, hand held with OSS, NTRL 0 0 0, ISO 100, combinations of 28mm, 135mm, F4 and F8. All the exif info should be intact.

Remember these are 3:2 photos as well, so if you are looking in corners, they won't even be a part of your 16:9 video image.

And the grass photos are not parallel to the ground, so top and bottom are out of focus.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ccsks4lclztazzf/AACU8RPzn1QxjAU9zYAbkMFna?dl=0
 
Thanks for the info - very helpful. And I'm glad to hear the focus is repeatable! That was my main concern.

Keep us posted and let us know when you get some videos up!
 
In about an hour in that same dropbox folder there will be a video of me rambling/wheezing unprepared and unscripted for 10 minutes going through zooming, focussing, breathing, OSS. And I've discovered that when you push the focus ring forward into the infinite spinning mode that there is velocity based focusing.
 
Bezerk - thanks so much for the video! You answered every single question I had about this lens :) Put it up on YouTube - I'm sure many others will be searching there for some info on the lens!
 
bezerk55 said:
In about an hour in that same dropbox folder there will be a video of me rambling/wheezing unprepared and unscripted for 10 minutes going through zooming, focussing, breathing, OSS. And I've discovered that when you push the focus ring forward into the infinite spinning mode that there is velocity based focusing.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting. All samples help.
 
joe1946 said:
Maybe Sony will put the 12mp A7s sensor in the VG900 with internal 4K soon so the 28-135 will shoot at it's native full frame FOV.
Click to expand...

That would be awesome, even more so with the 5-axis. The VG900 was an odd duck since the video is just like the A99's (my favorite camera, would still be shooting with it if the video wasn't so bad) - it lacks detail and aliasing/moire is really bad.

I would have liked to see the smaller form factor of the VG10/20/30 with the FF sensor. Seems like the VG line has been left for dead, no updates with the new sensor and AF from the A6000 or the new codec, both would make it a pretty good option for shooting video. They're still listed at B&H, but I can't imagine why you would get one over a $350 A5100 body.

The 28-135 on the A7s does make for a great ENG/Run-&-Gun combo. Add the XLR mic module and you have a great package.
 
My Sony 28-135mm came the other day, I've got to say it's one beast of a lens. But the results are beautiful, Shooting 4k with the shogun you can definitely tell the difference.

I'm dead happy with it, can't really see why I'd bother with other lenses on my A7s.
 
I have a question for those who have their lens. All my filters are 82mm and I wondered if using a 95 to 82 step down ring would work without vignetting at 28mm for video. I understand it might be a stretch for photos, but it's worth a shot. The shade seems to cover a whole lot. Not only are 95mm filters expensive, but many of my favorites aren't even available for that beastly size. Thanks in advance.
 
Luis De La Cerda said:
I have a question for those who have their lens. All my filters are 82mm and I wondered if using a 95 to 82 step down ring would work without vignetting at 28mm for video. I understand it might be a stretch for photos, but it's worth a shot. The shade seems to cover a whole lot. Not only are 95mm filters expensive, but many of my favorites aren't even available for that beastly size. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I've got a 95mm to 77mm step down ring and even that doesn't cover the glass element, only the black ring outside. So I think you might be fine.
 
photochris said:
That would be awesome, even more so with the 5-axis. The VG900 was an odd duck since the video is just like the A99's (my favorite camera, would still be shooting with it if the video wasn't so bad) - it lacks detail and aliasing/moire is really bad.

I would have liked to see the smaller form factor of the VG10/20/30 with the FF sensor. Seems like the VG line has been left for dead, no updates with the new sensor and AF from the A6000 or the new codec, both would make it a pretty good option for shooting video. They're still listed at B&H, but I can't imagine why you would get one over a $350 A5100 body.

The 28-135 on the A7s does make for a great ENG/Run-&-Gun combo. Add the XLR mic module and you have a great package.
Click to expand...
Jordan @ TCSTV: FE PZ 28-135mm is wrong FL for FS7 but right for FF :
Screen Shot 2015-02-16 at 11.23.53 AM.jpg
 
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