Best starter lens for AF-100

alexdias I was told by a B&H guy that I won't be able to control the iris on the Tamron 17-50 2.8 through the AF100. He said I'd need to look the iris on a Cannon camera and than put it on the AF? Sounds crazy but that's what he said.

I'm thinking the OIS on the camera would compensate for the no OIS on the lens, wouldn't it?


No personal experience with this particular combo, but I believe you'll not have iris control from the camera. Manual only.
The AF100 does not have OIS as far as I know.
 
I have a question related to the Novoflex Nikon to M4/3 adapter discussed in this thread:

I understand that this adapter has an aperture ring, and can be used with, say, a Nikon G-mount zoom that lacks one - but the aperture ring has no F-stop markings. If I control aperture using the ring on the Novoflex, how do I know exactly which stop I'm at? Can the camera tell me? If I can't know exactly which stop - is this a significant issue?

Comments please for a noob.

Thanks!
 
I have a question related to the Novoflex Nikon to M4/3 adapter discussed in this thread:

I understand that this adapter has an aperture ring, and can be used with, say, a Nikon G-mount zoom that lacks one - but the aperture ring has no F-stop markings. If I control aperture using the ring on the Novoflex, how do I know exactly which stop I'm at? Can the camera tell me? If I can't know exactly which stop - is this a significant issue?

Comments please for a noob.

Thanks!

It does not tell you. I just turn to the desired DoF and then adjust the ND wheel to compensate using the built in waveform monitor.
 
Yes you can control the iris with the adapter. No, you don't know what f-stop you are at. For most, this is not a big deal. It only matters if you need to to repeat setups using a specific f-stop. You could technically just use tape and a marker and put it on the adapter if you need to put the adapter at particular marks repeatedly.

Hope that helps.


I have a question related to the Novoflex Nikon to M4/3 adapter discussed in this thread:

I understand that this adapter has an aperture ring, and can be used with, say, a Nikon G-mount zoom that lacks one - but the aperture ring has no F-stop markings. If I control aperture using the ring on the Novoflex, how do I know exactly which stop I'm at? Can the camera tell me? If I can't know exactly which stop - is this a significant issue?

Comments please for a noob.

Thanks!
 
OK. You see, I'm thinking about the Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom as a variable prime - because of the nice effective range (covering the equivalent of a pretty standard set of 35, 50, 85, 100 primes), nice glass, minimal breathing on the long end (where I'd be more likely to pull focus) and constant aperture.

Almost perfect for my needs (low-budget amateur filmmaking/learning)- but the lack of a marked aperture ring is a little troubling.
 
So Bgunde, in other word... I could calibrate the adapter? I could put F-stop mark myself by comparing to another lens and waveform?
Does the adapter's aperture ring have hard stop or it will loop infinitely?

Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 seems like a really great lens before I get my primes, but just the aperture ring kind of holding me off from buying it.
 
You're going to have to get a Nikon adapter anyway so I'd get one with aperture control like the Novoflex or other better quality ones. To put actually f-stop marks would be very difficult but I suppose not impossible. Birger will eventually get around to making an adapter for Nikon like the one they will have for Canon. Until then, eyeballing the DOF isn't that hard. If you're indoors, chances are you're going to be using it fully open anyway. For me, I guess it's not a big deal.

So Bgunde, in other word... I could calibrate the adapter? I could put F-stop mark myself by comparing to another lens and waveform?
Does the adapter's aperture ring have hard stop or it will loop infinitely?

Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 seems like a really great lens before I get my primes, but just the aperture ring kind of holding me off from buying it.
 
OK, I've decided to go with the Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8, along with the Novoflex Adapter with iris control.

I thought about it, and most of the time I'm going to want to shoot wide open anyway, and I can then use the ND wheel plus a 0.3 ND filter to achieve any hard stop down to f/22 (just as if I had a click iris). This would also be repeatable, if necessary.

If I need to fine tune, or flatten out a shot for more depth, I can use the Iris ring on the adapter in conjunction with the various exposure tools on the camera.

So I should be good; I'll have a really high quality fast lens with constant aperture, no exposure shift, no breathing issues on longer focal lengths (where I'm likely to pull focus) and a sweet-spot range for a single "utility" variable prime (eq. of 34-110mm).

I'd love the two Olympus f/2.0 lenses if I could afford them - but the Nikon is going to give me a heck of a lot of quality and utility in a single lens at 1/4 the cost.
 
lens

lens

Hi all, sorry i am new to this business of buying lenses (I own a dvx100b but am now looking to upgrade to the af101). So it sounds like the best two albiet most expensive options are the two olympus lenses 14-35mm and 35-100mm. Also the voightlander sounds quite popular too. I was wondering why no one mentions any of the canon lenses. My friend on another forum highly recommends the canon 24-70mm lens but i can't see any mention of it on here. Are they not very good then or even do they not work on this camera!? Excuse my ignorance. Thanks for any help I'd appreciate it. Taras.
 
Canon Lenses are good but because the aperture is controlled electronically you need an electronic mount like what Birger is developing at the moment to control aperture and focus. (Birger made the canon mount for Red users)
 
Hi all, sorry i am new to this business of buying lenses (I own a dvx100b but am now looking to upgrade to the af101). So it sounds like the best two albiet most expensive options are the two olympus lenses 14-35mm and 35-100mm. Also the voightlander sounds quite popular too. I was wondering why no one mentions any of the canon lenses. My friend on another forum highly recommends the canon 24-70mm lens but i can't see any mention of it on here. Are they not very good then or even do they not work on this camera!? Excuse my ignorance. Thanks for any help I'd appreciate it. Taras.

The Canon lenses are great. The older ones (FD and FL) lenses work well with an adapter, readily available starting at about $30.00, I recommend the Novaflex for about $300.00 very well made. I personally use the following FD and FL lenses:
24mm f.2.8
35mm f2.8
50mm f1.4
70-210 f4
These are old lenses I have had for at least 3 or 4 decades and they are completely mechanical. They can be found on Ebay or used camera stores quite inexpensively. They do breathe so they are not ideal but produce very nice images.

The new EOS EF lenses are excellent, but hard to use until the Birger mount comes out. They have completely electronically controlled Iris, no lever like the Nikons, so it is very cumbersome to set the f-stop, you have to do that on a still camera and then remove the lens when stopped down. Not a great way to shoot. But once the Birger adapter comes out these lenses will be very viable options.

I plan to use the following L's:
14mm f2.8
17-40 f4
50mm f 1.4
70-200 f2.8
100mm f2.8 macro
100-400 f4-5.6
The reason is because I already own all these.

So far the only AF100 specific lenses I have bought are the 14-40 Lumix, it is OK as a wide lens, but slow. And the Voightlander 25mm f.95, I love this lens and highly recommend it.

There are lots of choices out there, and that makes it hard, but this is a good problem.

If money is no object and for future proofing I would buy PL lenses, I think there will be many cams in the future using these, and the cine lenses are the best for rack focus and have much better focus scales, you have clear markings and long throw on the focus rings, and the iris rings have no clicks.

But if you are on a budget I think older Canons and Nikons etc are a great way to expand your collection. If you already own them then buying an adapter is a no brainer in my mind.
 
and the OIS is very helpful for run 'n' gun.

This weekend we filmed a PSA that involved lots of shots of, & from within, a moving car. We also shot from the front deck of a camera truck & up in a 80' Condor arm.

We had three AF100 & even though we had 20+ lenses with us, two of the cameras used the 14-140mm almost exclusively. The only reason for this was OIS. It made a huge difference when we were being bounced around on the front of the truck, or within the car, or being buffeted by the desert wind high in the condor.

As for the 3rd camera it was mostly on a Steadicam, but the high wind wrecked havoc on it, & we needed to cover the shots with handheld cameras with OIS.

We could have used stabilized heads/gyros/etc/etc, but due to time limits, we'd never have gotten all the shots we did.

Panasonic lenses don't get much respect on this forum, but lens breathing, & variable f-stops, aren't the end all of filmmaking.

Regards,
Bern
 
Last edited:
Has anyone used the Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Autofocus Lens with the AF 100? Is it a parafocal lens?
 
I have and have used the 24-70 f2.8 L on the AF100. It is definitely not parafocal. I use it as a variable prime, no zooming. It also breathes a bit more on the long end than the wide end.

You may be able to zoom with it if you stop down a bit. I will be using it a lot once I get my Birger adapter.
 
Has anyone used the Canon Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Autofocus Lens with the AF 100? Is it a parafocal lens?

The EOS 24-70mm is my go to lens for interviews. It's parfocal & lovely wide-open.

Like others I'm using the Kippon adapter for minor f-stop corrections while waiting for the Birger.

Best,
Bern
 
I have and have used the 24-70 f2.8 L on the AF100. It is definitely not parafocal.

Olof,

I respect your opinions so was worried about the response that your 24-70mm is not parfocal. So I re-did my tests on a 5D & confirmed mine is.

Perhaps I got lucky, but I believe Canon's Chuck Westfall has stated this lens is supposed to be parfocal.

So the best answer to whether the 24-70mm is parfocal seems to be YMMV.

Best regards,
Bern Caughey
 
Last edited:
Olof,

I respect your opinions so was worried about the response that your 24-70mm is not parfocal. So I re-did my tests on a 5D & confirmed mine is.

Perhaps I got lucky, but I believe Canon's Chuck Westfall has stated this lens is supposed to be parfocal.

So the best answer to whether the 24-70mm is parfocal seems to be YMMV.

Best regards,
Bern Caughey

Bern, I just ran a simple test with mine. It is almost parafocal but not quite.

I focused on an object about 3' away from the lens at 70mm then I zoomed out to 24mm and the focus went out quite a bit about 4" or so. Now on longer distances this is not as obvious. But this is the way mine works on a 5DmkII.

This is why I stated that it is not parfocal (I suppose it is possible that the back focus can be different in different lenses mine is about 3 years old, ser# 171510X (I substituted the last digit from the s# with an X).

This and the 70-200 f2.8 IS L are my all time favorite lenses.

Best regards
Olof
 
Bern, I just ran a simple test with mine. It is almost parafocal but not quite.

I focused on an object about 3' away from the lens at 70mm then I zoomed out to 24mm and the focus went out quite a bit about 4" or so.

My test was similar to yours, including subject distance, I could not detect focus shift. I eye-balled it at 10x with a Zacuto finder, & in Lightroom on a laptop.

My serial number is 70440x & it's probably 7+ years old.

Best,
Bern
 
Hi all thanks for the advice and responses first of all, I appreciate it! Does anyone know when the berger mount for the canon 24-70mm is coming out then? And basically i am getting a af 100 in april and want a lens/lenses that i can start off on and be able to shoot good feature films and music videos. One conern is that i currently own the dvx100b, and use it handheld a fair bit. Say i copied those handheld movements with a lens like the viogtlander 25mm that is not ois specific, would the image look worse and more shaky? I was thinknig of getting the viogtlander as a good first lens that can double as a macro and be good in low light, as well as the canon or maybe a lumix like the 7-14 to cover my bases as an allrounder. However, sounds like the oly 35-100 and 14-35mm are regarded among the best before spending crazy money on the cine lenses. So perhaps i should save and buy one of the two- though i would then suffer from the fear of "putting all your eggs in one basket" syndrome lol. Thanks again, Taras
 
I don't believe so. Though the focus ring is geared, perhaps 1.5/1, it does not have a hard stop at infinity so if you went past infinity, you could not find the exact mark again. The gearing does allow though, for very accurate focus.

Well, you could always use a follow focus with adjustable hard stops so you can set them at each end... though not many people I know with FF's have them on their FF.
 
Back
Top