Digitally Pleasing
Active member
Today I got the new Bower 35mm f1.4 lens for my Canon 7D. It’s like the store brand cereal at the grocery store. You can get the exact same lens under the Samyang and Rokinon brand names. I’ve never had a problem with store brand anything. That is, except for Fruit Loops. Could always tell the difference.
But simply put, the Bower 35mm f1.4 is a fast, manual lens designed specifically for DSLR video shooters who don’t have much of a use for autofocus. So if you don’t need it, why pay for it? That’s at least what this Korean company thinks, and I’m jumping on board.
It’s fantastic, seems solid and well built. But remember, it’s a manual lens so your iris is control by a ring of the lens itself (LIKE A REAL *#(&)#$ing VIDEO CAMERA!). Also, the exposure display meter seems to measure really low… don’t trust it. Oh, the lens cap falls off too easily.
But, overall I love the lens. Great value for $499… if you do still photography it becomes a dilemma and you might want to splurge for the autofoucs on the Canon lens. It’s like a grand more though.
Anyways, my own video is the first I’ve seen come from this lens under the Bower name. It is untouched. No color correction, grading, etc. I used the Marvels Cine picture profile setting on my Canon 7D. Highest ISO setting used was 320. At night, the lights in the ballpark were too bright to let me get down to f1.4 without a ND filter. Overall range in video is f1.4 to f4.
Keep in mind this was shot hand-held during free moments working a wireless PDW-700 for the Fenway HD boards.
~ Jim
Jim Meegan
bostonpixel.com
