Automatic zooming with the DVX

Tyrant Lizard

Tyrant Lizard

Active member
THREAD TITLE ERROR: SHOULD READ "AF100"

I'm kind of at a loss, please forgive me. I'm looking for zoom lenses for the AF100 and I'm a bit overwhelmed by the options and restrictions out there. Can someone please point me in the direction of a generally fast, wide to close all-purpose-zoom lens that will work with the AF100?

Someone once told me that zooming was dead, and that nobody serious ever uses it. At the time, I didn't have a response. I always think back to that moment though, when I watch the opening scene of "The Godfather" or practically any moment in a Kubrick film.

We love zooms, we've lived off them for years. We have to zoom. Zooming is great.

How do you guys zoom?

Thank you.
 
I'm sure you have found that there are no real servo zoom options for the AF100, so your options are limited to lenses like the Nikon 17-55, Tokina 16-50, Sigma 18-50 and such. As far as zooming goes, I would hook up a follow focus ring to the zoom ring and use the follow focus as a smooth zoom control. It will be difficult as few, if any, still lenses are parafocal.
 
Thank you. Yeah, this is what I'm seeing as my future until more come out. My researching partner said there are some servo zoom lenses by panasonic, but are relatively slow.

You know, I spoke too soon on that: Kubrick didn't have many zooms in his earlier work. Strangelove only had those few mini quick zooms, I think.

Either way, I'm not discouraged by prime only shooting. I'm sure I'll figure it out. Anyways, aren't they talking about releasing some nice zervo zoom lenses here soon?
 
Comparing my 14-140 with my various Nikon zooms- no way I could get a decent zoom out of them due to the exposure change, but with the Lumix, it could be done. Especially using an improvised follow focus type zoom aid.

Side note: I've had the AF only two weeks, just got a gig (yoga class) that requires pan tilt and zoom. Rather than struggle with the AF, I'm just putting the trusty "old" HVX back in service.
 
Everyone's hoping the new Panny lenses will be nice (f/2.8 through the range reportedly) but I don't think there's been any mention of them having servo zooms - and even if they do they're not likely to be around until the later part of the year I think. Olympus have just released one, but it's slow. Logan'sa dvice is probably best, get a decent Nikon zoom or similar and attach a follow focus as a zoom control.
 
For the occasional zoom, I bought the zoom lever and added it to the 14-140... it works fine. You can't do an extreme zoom as the exposure changes, but it is fine for limited push/pulls.

I got mine through Video Direct:
DMWZL1 Panasonic DMW-ZL1 Zoom Lever for DMC-GH2 Lumix $22.95 (plus shipping)
 
I use a Cooke 20-100 zoom with my AF100, which by the way Kubrick used on many films including The Shinning and Eyes Wide Shut.

All the Best!

Dave
 
Though it's possible to do relatively smooth zooms with the 14-140 with a zoom lever, if you look at the footage, the lens drops in and out of focus during the actual zooming, then comes back into focus when you stop. This occurs even though the lens appears to be parfocal, and even if it's set to manual focus. Also there is what I can only describe as "flashing" -- the lens is making adjustments to the aperture as you zoom, causing this anomaly where the light levels vary in sort of a stutter. What this adds up to is that the 14-140 isn't a cinematography-quality zoom lens. Zooms with it look cheap and unprofessional--not even as cinematic as a good camcorder, like a Canon Vixia G10.

The solution I've been working on is adapting 2/3" B4 lenses. The adapter is around $300 and the lenses vary wildly in price from less than $100 into the tens of thousands. You have to get one that has the 2x extender in it, which will allow you to cover the entire 4/3 sensor (2/3 x 2 = 4/3)

I have the adapters and a large collection of the lenses that I've listed in the MarketPlace section. I also engineered a custom cable which allows me to power the zoom with an inexpensive 12v battery. I sell these on eBay.

Tyrant Lizard, this solution DOES solve all the problems about finding an automatic zoom that is "generally fast, wide to close all-purpose-zoom lens that will work with the AF100". In fact the range on these B4 2/3" zooms is incredible. I have some that are 20x, which are the 35mm equivalent of 34-688mm !! These lenses have all these features: 1. perfectly parfocal; 2. have a stepless iris; 3. have a fixed aperture across the whole focal range; 4. smooth manual zooms; 5. Even smoother motorized zooms; 6. large, smooth turning focus grip.

There are a couple issues with these lenses, however (nothing is perfect). First of all, they're quite heavy. You don't need a rail support with the adapter because the adapter has a built-in tripod mount that is strong enough to support the lens. But you would need some kind of support system to shoot hand-held, and a rail support would also help to balance the whole thing--it's a bit front heavy using just the adapter. Second, image quality is soft wide open, especially in the corners. But it sharpens up when you stop it down a bit. I can shoot in normal indoor light at around ISO 800 with the lens stopped down to where it looks really good.

There are always trade-offs. You're not going to get the paper-thin depth of field or the same "look" that you would get with a 50 or 85mm f/1.4 prime lens. No zooms with this kind of range are going to give you that. The best Canon zoom with a fixed aperture is the 24-70 f/2.8 and that's only 3x. Not much zooming power. And you're not going to get the clinically sharp edge-to-edge sharpness of the native micro 4/3 lenses. But what you do get is a very natural image that can be very sharp, if you use enough light and stop it down some. Outdoors it's not a problem.

I've done a lot of research on these, so if anyone is interested you can send me a PM.
 
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