GH2 Best autofocus lenses for the GH2?

[Julie_Freed]

Am I limited to Lumix lenses? Or will any m43 lens do autofocus? I keep reading to stay away from Lumix lenses as they are too sharp for the "film look".

And yes I know manual focus is the way to go, but I would like to have one at least one autofocus lens in my collection.

 

[ErikTande]

Any m43 lens will autofocus. I love having autofocus when I'm shooting, especially if you're using a glidecam or something similar where you can't run a follow focus at the same time.

 

[Julie_Freed]

Any m43 lens will autofocus. I love having autofocus when I'm shooting, especially if you're using a glidecam or something similar where you can't run a follow focus at the same time.

Sorry for my confusion, but I recently got a Nokton 25mm lens and it does not autofocus. And it is m43. Which m43 lenses besides the Lumix onces autofocus?

 

[M. Gilden]

Sorry for my confusion, but I recently got a Nokton 25mm lens and it does not autofocus. And it is m43. Which m43 lenses besides the Lumix onces autofocus?

LOL- well, obviously not if they don't have an autofocus motor at all! The Nokton, much like Samyang and SLR Magic offerings, aren't really native lenses. They are just generic lenses that aren't designed to fit any particular camera body (and therefore don't interface at all with the camera). In order for you to be able to use them, they need to be made available in at least some form of popular mount option, and in the case of the Nokton, one of them is m43.

I think he meant to say that any lens with an autofocus motor for stills (which is virtually every native m43 lens) will also autofocus for video. You picked one of the few exceptions.

But here's the caveat- the lumix lenses are designed for video AF, so they have some advantages such as silent operation. I've seen a third party zoom for 4/3 (I think it was by Sigma? One of the rare third-party ones in this mount) that someone tried to use on a GH2, and the autofocus was very slow and noisy.

 

[debuys]

I have the 14-140, 20/1.7, 25/1.4, and 45/1.8. AF works during video and is quiet on all but the 20/1.7. All of them will "hunt" if left to their own devices on my GH1.

 

[Julie_Freed]

LOL- well, obviously not if they don't have an autofocus motor at all! The Nokton, much like Samyang and SLR Magic offerings, aren't really native lenses. They are just generic lenses that aren't designed to fit any particular camera body (and therefore don't interface at all with the camera). In order for you to be able to use them, they need to be made available in at least some form of popular mount option, and in the case of the Nokton, one of them is m43.

I think he meant to say that any lens with an autofocus motor for stills (which is virtually every native m43 lens) will also autofocus for video. You picked one of the few exceptions.

But here's the caveat- the lumix lenses are designed for video AF, so they have some advantages such as silent operation. I've seen a third party zoom for 4/3 (I think it was by Sigma? One of the rare third-party ones in this mount) that someone tried to use on a GH2, and the autofocus was very slow and noisy.

Yes of course, sorry for that lol. What m43 autofocus lenses would you say are the best for cinematic footage? Should I stay within the Lumix realm or consider other autofocus options?

 

[Bruce Foreman]

Am I limited to Lumix lenses? Or will any m43 lens do autofocus? I keep reading to stay away from Lumix lenses as they are too sharp for the "film look".

I avoided looking into the GH2 until now because of reading the camera is too sharp and in camera sharpening working with Lumix lenses made it too sharp.

I missed out on getting into it a lot earlier because of all the comments I read.

But I finally pushed myself and got one. I already had the Lumix 14mm and Lumix 20mm I'd been using on an Olympus Pen. I use them on GH2s and don't have a complaint.

The "cinematic" look is a very subjective thing, everybody thinks it's something different, but it all boils down to skill on one's craft. The "cinematic" look is the result of a lot of things starting with lighting, composition, costuming, sets, and STORY!!!.

Yes, the GH2 has a pretty sharp image, that in the end is what sold me on it. The camera and lenses designed for it may wring the maximum sharpness possible out recording a crisp image, but that is what I want. Cinema has been striving often for sharper films with bigger negative sizes.

I learned how to shoot soft portraits, the movie "Somewhere In Time" had a dramatic effect on the way I photographed women. I did a "Somewhere In Time" portrait style and had women coming in with dresses their Grandmothers and Great Grandmothers made and wore. So I can "shoot soft" anytime I want.

So don't obsess over what all you're reading. If you think you might like the Lumix lenses, buy and give them a good long try. If you can't live with what they do for you sell them off at a bit of a discount (get most of your money back). But they are designed to work with the Panasonic cameras and the Panasonic features.

As far as the "cinematic" look, hit up the library for books about old movies, study the images, the "look" you are after comes mostly from finely tuned visual sense. Study up on photographic lighting techniques, maybe even go to a good portrait workshop. But don't rely entirely on "internet warriors".

And yes I know manual focus is the way to go, but I would like to have one at least one autofocus lens in my collection.

Whatever gets your images in focus is "the way to go". The GH2 can be set up to let you autofocus then fine tune it manually if you don't trust what you see. In the CUSTOM menu set AF+MF to ON and MF ASSIST to ON and give it a try.

 

[atarijedi]

I'd get one of the olympus four thirds lenses and an adapter.