Best starter lens for AF-100

The Olympus 11-22mm looks like a great solution compared to the Lumix. It's F2.8 as well at 11mm, which makes it much easier for indoor use if needed. The Voightlander 25mm f.95 looks great, but it ends up being a 50mm lens or so doesn't it with the AF100 crop? AT least the 11mm would be a 22mm or so...much wider.

Am I wrong there? Does the Voightlander still have the 2x crop even if it's a Micro 4/3 mount?
 
There is no "crop" related to the lens. Every 25mm lens ever made, in any mount, will have the same magnification as any other 25mm lens ever made in any other mount, when they are used on any particular sensor. It is the sensor that does the cropping, not the lens.
 
KyleProhaska said:
The Olympus 11-22mm looks like a great solution compared to the Lumix. It's F2.8 as well at 11mm, which makes it much easier for indoor use if needed. The Voightlander 25mm f.95 looks great, but it ends up being a 50mm lens or so doesn't it with the AF100 crop? AT least the 11mm would be a 22mm or so...much wider.

Am I wrong there? Does the Voightlander still have the 2x crop even if it's a Micro 4/3 mount?
Click to expand...

Yip, I only know this because Barry told me: finally, I can answer a question with authority! Okay, unless you've shot with and are comparing your field of view to a 5D or any other full frame 35mm still camera, your crop factor (dreaded word) is only 1.18. of a 35mm Cinema camera, so your voigtlander gets an approximate field of view of a 30mm lens.

And as Barry said, it's the sensor that births the crop, not the MFT mount, not the lens. I looked at my field of view on my nikon utility lens, set it on 25mm to see what I'd be seeing when my Voigt arrives.

For me, this is my portrait lens indoors, I'll just move my feet. I wouldn't worry too much. I heard one director shot an entire movie with one wide lens (the name escapes me) but he just moved in close for close ups and stayed in a normal position for wides.
 
If you're only going to get one lens you may as well buy a fixed lens camera. The main advantage of having a camera with exchangeable lenses is that you can exchange lenses.

Depending on what they shoot I would guess that most serious AF100 owners have a range of lenses. Usually these would be either a few good zooms or a series of fast primes. Some may have a mixture of both.

I personally have gone for a series of 5 primes to cover most focal lengths - Lumix 14mm (my widest but slowest), Nikon 28mm, Nikon 35mm, Nikon 50mm and Nikon 85mm. Along with the Adaptimax Nikon adaptor they have probably cost me less than £1000 in total.
 
Gary Askham said:
If you're only going to get one lens you may as well buy a fixed lens camera. The main advantage of having a camera with exchangeable lenses is that you can exchange lenses.

Depending on what they shoot I would guess that most serious AF100 owners have a range of lenses. Usually these would be either a few good zooms or a series of fast primes. Some may have a mixture of both.

I personally have gone for a series of 5 primes to cover most focal lengths - Lumix 14mm (my widest but slowest), Nikon 28mm, Nikon 35mm, Nikon 50mm and Nikon 85mm. Along with the Adaptimax Nikon adaptor they have probably cost me less than £1000 in total.
Click to expand...

I don't know that I'd go so far as to say "get a fixed lens camera".
Even people like myself who have probably close to 50 lenses, had to start somewhere... A first lens.
Many people just don't have the budget set aside to purchase a complete set of lenses.
As many have noted, a zoom lens will cover more ground, and would likely make the best choice as a single starter lens. For what it's worth, I have the Lumix 14-140mm zoom lens which I got with my GH1, and it is the only M4/3 mount lens I own. I'm trying not to tie up a bunch of money in M4/3 mount lenses, as who knows what mount will be on the next camera I purchase. Panasonic was offering the AF100 bundled with the 14-140, I'm not sure if that is still a valid offer, but that would be the first choice.

For my kit, I have several different routes I can go depending on how the camera is intended to be used.

Lumix 14-140 which can be used with controller if needed for something like a boom shot.

Zeiss C/Y mount primes & zooms from 18mm - 300mm used with a C/Y to M4/3 adapter, & can also be used on Canon EF mount bodies with an adapter.

Cooke 20-100 PL mount zoom, used with PL to M4/3 adapter.

Cooke Speed Panchros in Arri Standard mount, used with Arri Std to M4/3 mount adapter.

A few Canon FD lenses, which I keep around for their certain look, used with an FD to M4/3 adapter.

And a few Canon EF mount zoom lenses, Tokina 11-16, Tokina 16-50, and Sigma 70-200, with an EF to M4/3 adapter. These as you know work on Canon bodies as well.

Like the electronic M4/3 mount stuff, I'm trying not to tie up a bunch of money in EF mount lenses with electronic control.

I know this likely does not help narrow down you first lens choice, but maybe it will give you a look into different ways an AF100 can be lensed.

All the Best!

Dave
 
I'd actually like to find recommendations for a slightly higher-end zoom lens. I currently own some Canon lenses I can use as a fixed lens when I have time to set up properly, but if I need things like zoom, autofocus (for run & gun situations) etc, I would like to have a good multi-purpose lens that works with the AF100. Things on top of my list would be fast focus, a wide aperture range, and maybe a zoom range of 14-50 or 100. Something less than $2000. Anyone have suggestions for this?

Thanks,

Lawrence
 
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