GH3 Fast zoom lens for the GH3 needed for my 1st wedding video... Olympus 14-54mm?

S

Stab

Well-known member
Hi all,

In 2 months I have my 1st wedding video planned. I bought the GH3 mainly for controlled shoots (shorts / corporate stuff) so I only bought primes, but now with this wedding (and hopefully more in the near future) coming up, I'm in need for a fast zoom.

I would like to keep the costs down as much as possible and I don't need the best image quality available. This will be used for weddings only and I'm fairly sure that any el-cheapo zoom does the trick when paired with a GH3 to provide more than decent image quality. It just needs to be reasonably fast because of indoor shootings.

After a quick search it doesn't really look like there are many options at the moment, but I did found out about the Olympus 14-54mm F2.8-3.5. It's actually a four thirts lens, but it should fit (without an adapter) to a M43's camera like the GH3 right?

Anyone knows more about this? Or has another recommendation?

Thanks!
 
There's a Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 is a Fourth Thirds lens too, but the Olympus, Sigma a PanaLeica have a very slow autofocus with the GH series.

And yes, do you need a Adapater for it. Panasonic and Olympus made those adapters i don't remember the exact name model.
 
It's a shame but I believe the 12-35 is the only option, and with it's problems , I'm not sure I'd spring for it, although it just dropped below a grand...but not at b&h. There are no other 24(28) to 70mm f2.8 equivalents in m4/3...which is a shame . I'd go with your primes.
 
I have a kiron for sale 28-85. f 2.8-3.5, nice and sharp, Nikon mount (would need an adapter) Lens is mint, not a spec of dust, iris is nice and snappy, pretty bokah, and built like a tank. This is a great lens on the gh series cams, produces a beautiful warm image that I would call cinematic, more so than the gh series glass as I have both. Looking to get 125.00 including shipping. I have pics in a for sale thread here.
 
The 12-35 is kinda out of my price range atm. The range is a bit too short for me as well.

When walking around a wedding it would really be great to have long range so when 3 girls start posing and ask 'hey can you take our picture' it should be an instant snap from whatever distance. Then when the bride does something funny at the dancefloor I want to be able to insta-zoom there and get it. Having to change the lens is not desirable on a wedding.

Why am I even going into this business :(
 
maranfilms said:
I have a kiron for sale 28-85. f 2.8-3.5, nice and sharp, Nikon mount (would need an adapter) Lens is mint, not a spec of dust, iris is nice and snappy, pretty bokah, and built like a tank. This is a great lens on the gh series cams, produces a beautiful warm image that I would call cinematic, more so than the gh series glass as I have both. Looking to get 125.00 including shipping. I have pics in a for sale thread here.
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Sounds interesting but there's no autofocus possibility with that one right?
 
Stab said:
The 12-35 is kinda out of my price range atm.
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That's unfortunate, because to do weddings well, you really need both the 12-35 and the 35-100, about $2500 worth of lenses.

They're the only options that offer the appropriate zoom range, constant 2.8 and OIS, all three of which really are needed for the best wedding work.
 
If it's your first wedding why buy the lens? You can rent for a fraction of the cost and figure out if the Lumix 12-25 or 35-100 is the right lens for your style of shooting.
 
PixelWrangler said:
If it's your first wedding why buy the lens? You can rent for a fraction of the cost and figure out if the Lumix 12-25 or 35-100 is the right lens for your style of shooting.
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Hmm didn't even consider that yet actually. Probably not easy to find the lens for rent over here also.

Anyway, it's not really about style as much as it is about versatallity. I'm not new to shooting video / photo's, just don't have the gear to make the wedding 'easy' on me. That's where this zoom lens comes in.
Unfortunately it's not likely I can come with that kind of money anytime soon, so I have to look at cheaper options...
 
Is there a reason why you have to use a DSLR to shoot a wedding? So many people forget about how good video cameras actually are at this. For what you will spend on the 12-35 and 35-100 lenses and a GH3 you could buy a darn good 1/3" video camera that may be just as good in low light and will be a heck of a lot easier to shoot a wedding with.

Honestly forget about the fast lenses and just get a second low light consumer video camera that will have lots of power zoom and auto features. Use the DSLR for the creative shots and the video camera for the practical shots when you could really use the power zoom. There are some consumer grade video cameras now that may be just as sensitive as the f2.8 zooms. Ultra fast primes will still be brighter but when it comes to zooming video cameras will do it better for a long time to come yet.
 
Thomas Smet said:
Is there a reason why you have to use a DSLR to shoot a wedding? So many people forget about how good video cameras actually are at this. For what you will spend on the 12-35 and 35-100 lenses and a GH3 you could buy a darn good 1/3" video camera that may be just as good in low light and will be a heck of a lot easier to shoot a wedding with.

Honestly forget about the fast lenses and just get a second low light consumer video camera that will have lots of power zoom and auto features. Use the DSLR for the creative shots and the video camera for the practical shots when you could really use the power zoom. There are some consumer grade video cameras now that may be just as sensitive as the f2.8 zooms. Ultra fast primes will still be brighter but when it comes to zooming video cameras will do it better for a long time to come yet.
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AC90 - less than $2K.
 
The Leicasonic 14-50mm f2.8-3.5 is another option similar in performance and price to the Olympus 14-54mm. It also requires the same MFT adapter as the Olympus. The Leicasonic has two major advantages over the Olympus - a manual aperture ring, calibrated in 1/3 stops, and rock-solid Optical Image Stabilization. These features make it unique among fast auto-focus zooms, and I've found it the most flexible choice for the GH2.
 
Lpowell said:
The Leicasonic 14-50mm f2.8-3.5 is another option similar in performance and price to the Olympus 14-54mm. It also requires the same MFT adapter as the Olympus. The Leicasonic has two major advantages over the Olympus - a manual aperture ring, calibrated in 1/3 stops, and rock-solid Optical Image Stabilization. These features make it unique among fast auto-focus zooms, and I've found it the most flexible choice for the GH2.
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Thanks, will definately look into that one. Sounds great!

It will have autofocus with the adapter, right? And for which type of lenses would this be the case and for which not? I was wondering that actually.

And buying a videocamera is not an option. 1st of all I like the look of a big sensor and want to make the weddings look 'cinematic', and second it is very handy to being able to switch to the stills mode in a second to picture some posing people or a nice moment. Also, I don't have that kind of money right now :)
 
Stab said:
Thanks, will definately look into that one. Sounds great!

It will have autofocus with the adapter, right? And for which type of lenses would this be the case and for which not? I was wondering that actually.

And buying a videocamera is not an option. 1st of all I like the look of a big sensor and want to make the weddings look 'cinematic', and second it is very handy to being able to switch to the stills mode in a second to picture some posing people or a nice moment. Also, I don't have that kind of money right now :)
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Well then you may have a hard time finding an affordable lens that will do what you want. DSLR's are great cameras but they are not great at shooting all types of video. Honestly for what you will pay for a zoom lens you can buy an entire video camera for $600.00 that has the auto features you want plus a powered zoom. Keep in mind shooting while zooming with a DSLR is not optimal and can be rather jerky and difficult at times and it will be very easy for you to miss shots. Most people I know shooting weddings with a DSLR are using more then one camera. I know you want a certain look but is it worth sacrificing the quality of the wedding because your workflow was compromised. Just a bit to think about. It is much harder to shoot a wedding with a DSLR then it is a video camera. Those who have done it for awhile have worked out their own methods but it takes time to learn to work around the limitations.
 
Stab said:
It will have autofocus with the adapter, right? And for which type of lenses would this be the case and for which not?
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Yes, the Leicasonic 14-50mm f2.8-3.5 auto-focuses on the GH2 and GH3. As with all legacy Four Thirds lenses I've tried, using the Panasonic or Olympus MFT adapters, auto-focusing is not very fast, but it is reliable. And if you put the camera in manual focus mode, it can switch automatically into magnified focus-assist mode each time you adjust the focus ring on the Leicasonic.

GH3 compatibility varies among legacy Four Thirds lenses. Here's a link to Panasonic's GH3 compatibility chart:

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/connect/gh3.html
 
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