GH2 Best Low Light Telephoto Lens for GH2?

B

bmillz

Member
As a newbie, it looks like there's not a whole lot of long fast lens options. The only one I can really find is this one:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/651734-REG/Panasonic_H_ES045_Leica_DG_Macro_Elmarit_45mm.html

I'm shooting someones stand up comedy set in a club and I realized that perhaps my current setup of a 14-42 stock lens and my 20mm pancake might not be the best scenario, especially if there's not a ton of light. I figured that perhaps that 45mm lens coupled with the OIS in it and a monopod would keep the video steady enough from a distance, but $700 is a lot to ask, what do you guys think? At this point I think I should just stick with my 14-42 and make due, but was curious if I had any other options.

Thanks!
 
if you need autofocus. your options are extremely limitied - if at all.
id probably just simply use your 14-42 and crank the iso

or find yourself a nikon to m4/3 adapter and an old nikkor 85 1.8
 
Thanks all. I had seen that Olympus one, but wasn't sure if it acted like a Panny or not. Meaning if it did autofocus etc. I mean, I doubt I'd use autofocus that much, but if I'm ploppin down that kinda cash, I'd like to use the lens for all that it's worth, hah.
 
this lens (oly 45mm 1.8) is fantastic.
And of course is AF.
The only problem in Panasonic body is the lack of OIS... but if you can take a small monopod with you, then its ok.
 
Gotcha. I'm assuming thats the one thing the more expensive Panasonic lens has going for it, is the OIS. I figured that I would have to use a monopod or tripod when using a telephoto like that anyways though. So, this OLY is looking really appealing. Thanks!
 
This is a portrait lens (90mm equivallent)
If you want more tele and fast lens, you can try the very good and cheap manual focus , Samyang 85mm f/1.4
I have it and its my best lens, by far!
 
I use a fast 50mm prime a lot for situations like this. I use teleEx if I have to go really far. The 85mm samyang would be sweet. That and their 35mm are the next on my list. I have a 135 as well but I find a lot of times for a wide shot from the back of the house a 50 works ok.
 
Will Turner said:
You call 45mm long? My 135mm F2.8 is only just about long I say (great lens by the way series 1 vivitar FD)
Click to expand...

We might not be on the same page here, if we're talking standard lenses. 45mm in M4/3 = 90mm.

Yeah I was mostly looking for M4/3 lenses before messing with adapters for traditional lenses and such right now. But, I'm sure that would open up a ton more possibilities!

EDIT: Maybe I'm wrong, the adapters can be really cheap: http://www.amazon.com/RainbowImagin...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1323463800&sr=1-1 Although you lose a few features in the mix.
 
I just got back from selling all of my mid range focal length mf lenses. I used the 55mm F1.2 and 85mm F1.8 for video. However, you simply cannot hold it steady at those focal lengths.

You need IS for video past about 40mm(80mm 35mm Equivalent). I still have the Olympus m4/3s 45mm F1.8 that I use for video. However, I really have to concentrate on holding it still.

The upcoming 12-35mm F2.8 and 35-100mm F2.8 Panasonic lenses will have IS and they will be the lenses to get for video. You can always shoot wider with 1080p and then crop later until the new zoom lenses come out.

I love shooting with the 25mm F1.4 and cropping it back to 720p. Note that if you use ETC to do this then you will have the same image stabilization problems as the longer focal length lenses. Cropping and stabilizing in post can work very well as long as you start with 1080p video.
 
Will Turner said:
You call 45mm long? My 135mm F2.8 is only just about long I say (great lens by the way series 1 vivitar FD)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have that same lens, I LOVE It. I shot most of this with it, it was SUPER dark in there.

http://vimeo.com/26257515


Just FYI, a 135mm FD lens on a GH2 is equivalent to a 270mm lens - very long.

I also have the Olympus 45mm, it's a great lens as well, but you may need something longer if you're shooting from the back.
 
. . .two or three suggestions. First, there is no native MFT fast telephoto. Some good choices in legacy glass are the Nikkor 105mm F1.8, the Canon FDn 100mm F2 or if you can find one the Canon FDn 135mm F2. I've used all three of these on Panasonic GH cameras with excellent results, I used to use the Nikkor on my 16mm gear. There is also one more bargain suggestion, its not really very fast but the Canon FDn 200mm F4 is extremely compact and internal focusing, it balances well on a GH2 body.
 
It's a zoom rather than a straight telephoto but the Olympus 35-100mm is plenty fast at F2. AFAIK there are no other F2 zooms available for any camera (except the Olympus 14-35mm F2).
 
Hard to beat the Samyang 85mm. Vivtar 55mm is very good even at F2.8 but the Sammy goes down F1.4.
 
aguia said:
Some good choices in legacy glass are the Nikkor 105mm F1.8, the Canon FDn 100mm F2 or if you can find one the Canon FDn 135mm F2.
Click to expand...
Another good legacy choice for long lenses are the manual-focus Vivitar Series-1 135mm f2.3 and 200mm f3. These were made in a variety of mounts such as Canon FD, Nikon F-mount, Pentax K-mount, Minolta MD, and Konica AR. I have both of these lenses and the focus ring action is smooth as silk.

http://makingnottaking.blogspot.com/2010/03/vivitar-series-1-135mm-f23.html
 
I would think that you would want a good zoom, not primes, for shooting live. Primes are great in a studio setting where you can do multiple takes. You're not going to be able to change lenses during the performance and if you shoot the whole performance at one focal range it's not going to be very interesting. Doing a one camera shoot is limiting enough to begin with. Using a zoom lens would do a lot to make the footage more interesting--you can zoom out to encompass the audience and zoom in tight on just the performer's face, and everything in between.

The dilemma is that there aren't any fast micro four thirds zoom lenses. The 14-140mm "movie lens" is great if you have bright light but the f/4 - f/5.6 is too dark for indoor light. There have been problems reported with focus and f-stop control with the Olympus 35-100mm f/2 lens which is Four Thirds, not micro 4/3. Reportedly, it has clicking/flashing problems during zoom. Also, it's equivalent to 70-200mm which means you can't get any wide shots.

You can use an adapter with something like the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 which will give you great image quality but there are two problems: 1. There is no iris control. For indoors you could just shoot it wide open, since you're shooting in low light anyway. 2. The lens costs around $1300. You can't get around this. (although that's cheap compared to pro video lenses)

I also shoot performances in clubs and I found a great solution that can cost as little as $500 or $600, which is adapting professional B4 2/3" video lenses to the GH2. If you get one with a built-in extender, it covers the micro four thirds sensor completely without any vingetting. The advantages of using a professional video lens are many:

1. Great zoom range. The zooms go from 12x to 20x with the most common being the 14x 8.5-120mm. With the extender it makes it 17-240mm, or by "35mm equivalent" terms, that's 34-480mm. An amazing and highly useful zoom range!
2. Wide, fixed aperture. The aperture on most of these zooms is f/1.7 across the entire zoom range! You do have to use the built-in 2x extender which makes it f/3.4, but that is fixed across the entire zoom and still very good.
3. The lenses are parfocal. This is almost a must for video. Parfocal means the lens holds the same focus across the entire zoom range. You can zoom in, grab focus, and then be confident that when you zoom out you'll still be in perfect focus. Most of the SLR lenses are not parfocal.
4. Zoom and focus are very smooth since these are pro lenses.
5. Power zoom. You can even power the zoom rocker on these lenses for super-smooth power zoom. I built a Hirose cable and external battery solution for this.
6. Inexpensive. You can pick up a professional Fujinon 14x B4 lens on eBay for around $200-$300. The adapter can run anywhere from $120 for a cheap Chinese one to around $300 for the good one with the tripod mount. These lenses originally sold for $5000 - $10,000 and up !!

I stock the lenses, the B4 to micro 4/3 adapters, cable and battery to power the zoom and other accessories which I sell on eBay. If anyone is interested I can supply the links or you can send me a msg and I can set you up with a B4 lens system for your GH2 at a discount to what I normally list them for.

Here is some sample footage: The A camera, stage left, was the GH2 with a14x B4 lens. These are the shots that have zoom. The B camera shot from stage right was a Canon Vixia HD video camera. You can see that the footage shot with the B4 lens has a nice film-like quality to it. Focus is a bit soft on the close-up because I was slightly off, but still looks darn good.


B4_Adapt004-1.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top