FS7: FS-7...One lens to rule them all?

M

mapkos13

Member
New FS-7 shooter and at the risk of opening up Pandora's box here was looking for some input on lenses that you've enjoyed. I'll try to break down a couple categories as to not get too deep into the hundred questions that come up when we do these.

Quite simply, if you. could only buy ONE lens for documentary work, what would you choose? I've added three price ranges they might fall into.

$0- $2500

$2,501-$5000

$5,001-$7,500

There usually is a standout but the question in itself is very subjective depending on your style. Figured I could give it a shot and see if this would help narrow my search. Feel free to add anything else you'd like as I'm confident you will anyway! :thumbup:

Thanks as always for your input!

** I should say that I did just find a thread from 2015 but not broken down by price or any new models that have come out since**
 
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Check the threads.

Could be..

New sony 18-110 f4 $4k
Fuiji 22-110 $8k
Canon 17-135 $23k
Canon 18-80 $7k
Canon 24-105 and speedbooster $2k
Canon FD/nikon/contax 28-85 and speedbooster $1k

Or a $40 35/2 from a pawn shop

S
 
A mate of mine is shooting a documentary on a single 35mm prime on a speed booster.

The footage he has shown me so far looks epic as f**k, he is a talented bastard and he's in complete control of the documentary i.e. it's a labour of love and the subject matter suits the wide angle.

I was talking to a photojournalist who had covered conflict zones and he always packed a nifty fifty should his zoom get damaged he could carry on working with a normal lens because most great photojournalism is done up close and personal. To him the 50mm was the one lens to rule them all.
 
mapkos13 said:
New FS-7 shooter and at the risk of opening up Pandora's box here was looking for some input on lenses that you've enjoyed. I'll try to break down a couple categories as to not get too deep into the hundred questions that come up when we do these.

Quite simply, if you. could only buy ONE lens for documentary work, what would you choose? I've added three price ranges they might fall into.

$0- $2500

$2,501-$5000

$5,001-$7,500

There usually is a standout but the question in itself is very subjective depending on your style. Figured I could give it a shot and see if this would help narrow my search. Feel free to add anything else you'd like as I'm confident you will anyway! :thumbup:

Thanks as always for your input!

** I should say that I did just find a thread from 2015 but not broken down by price or any new models that have come out since**
Click to expand...


If I could only have one lens for documentary work, not for reality tv or general run & gun where a zoom wider than 20mm is a necessity, it would be the new Zeiss 21-100mm.

The price is right, the speed is acceptable, the focal range is very good, the extent to which is shades is acceptable, and while far from petite in size it is still a more manageable weight and length than is a lens such as the Canon 17-120. ( the necessary camera adapter makes it even longer than it is when pictured sans adapter ). From what I have seen and read of the image produced by the Zeiss 21-100mm, it is in a class well beyond that of other par focal zooms such as the Sony 18-110, Sony 28-135mm, and Canon 18-80mm. As should be expected considering its price well above those zooms.

You gotta admit, it looks great on the Fs7. It has the right proportionality for the Fs7:

NIC_1991.jpg

Now, you listed prices ranges and none of them went over $7500.00

If choosing a doc zoom under $7500 it would, for myself, come down to either the Sony 18-110 f/4 or the Canon 18-80mm f/4. I suspect that the Canon has a prettier image than the Sony and less electronic / digital business taking place behind the scenes so I lean towards the Canon. The caveat being that the Canon will require a lens adapter and that introduces issues that come with lens adapters. There is something to be said for a native mount lens, even if the native mount isn't the most robust. And compared to the Sony 18-110 you give up a not insignificant amount of length that would likely often leave one wanting. While paying $2000 more.

All things considered...with emphasis on usability, convenience, and price...I'll go with the Sony 18-110mm. Albeit FAR from "THE zoom lens" and far from a lens deserving the title of "The one lens to rule them all". It's more of a "Will have to do for now" lens.
 
The Canon 24-105/4 ain't perfect but I use it so often as it covers most of what I need and it is the lens I always bring. I wish something similar existed with parfocal optics but I can't see any other options that are affordable.
 
Very imperfect but Tamron 28-300mm OS with speedbooster ultra is a pretty all-purpose inexpensive option.
 
JPNola said:
If I could only have one lens for documentary work, not for reality tv or general run & gun where a zoom wider than 20mm is a necessity, it would be the new Zeiss 21-100mm.

The price is right, the speed is acceptable, the focal range is very good, the extent to which is shades is acceptable, and while far from petite in size it is still a more manageable weight and length than is a lens such as the Canon 17-120. ( the necessary camera adapter makes it even longer than it is when pictured sans adapter ). From what I have seen and read of the image produced by the Zeiss 21-100mm, it is in a class well beyond that of other par focal zooms such as the Sony 18-110, Sony 28-135mm, and Canon 18-80mm. As should be expected considering its price well above those zooms.

You gotta admit, it looks great on the Fs7. It has the right proportionality for the Fs7:

View attachment 116923

Now, you listed prices ranges and none of them went over $7500.00

If choosing a doc zoom under $7500 it would, for myself, come down to either the Sony 18-110 f/4 or the Canon 18-80mm f/4. I suspect that the Canon has a prettier image than the Sony and less electronic / digital business taking place behind the scenes so I lean towards the Canon. The caveat being that the Canon will require a lens adapter and that introduces issues that come with lens adapters. There is something to be said for a native mount lens, even if the native mount isn't the most robust. And compared to the Sony 18-110 you give up a not insignificant amount of length that would likely often leave one wanting. While paying $2000 more.

All things considered...with emphasis on usability, convenience, and price...I'll go with the Sony 18-110mm. Albeit FAR from "THE zoom lens" and far from a lens deserving the title of "The one lens to rule them all". It's more of a "Will have to do for now" lens.
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Sorry, but none of these lenses even exist yet. Not sure what you are on about here... we'll have to wait and see on all of them.
 
remsyatassi said:
Sorry, but none of these lenses even exist yet. Not sure what you are on about here... we'll have to wait and see on all of them.
Click to expand...


Pre-production examples exist. These aren't concept lenses. They are pre-production lenses. The specs that have been announced are the official specs and not rumors.

My analysis of the lenses was based upon the official specs.
 
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I once shot a 40 min doco with virtually one lens, a 50mm, on a lens adapter. That said, I think people need to get over their obsession with trying to find 'one lens'. The FS7 is a large sensor camera and to limit yourself to one lens is ludicrous. It's not an EX1.
 
I rather have a shorter range and run a bit more than a longer range and a flat, boring looking image. So a good 24-70 2.8 works well for me. Just slap on the speedbooster at night or when you need wider shots. The cropmode is also handy sometimes although I try to avoid it when I can. I would probably say a FF covering 35-50mm zoom would be perfect, maybe I should buy that Nikon vintage 35-50 :)
 
nyvz said:
Very imperfect but Tamron 28-300mm OS with speedbooster ultra is a pretty all-purpose inexpensive option.
Click to expand...

Would that be any better than the Sony 18-200 PZ? When you get into superzoom territory everything gets a bit sh1t. The Sony PZ at least has a video optimised active OSS which may be better?


The 18 - 200 focal range should at least be broken in two with an equivalent of 18-70 and a 70-200 lens combination but it's better to use 3 lenses, a wide zoom, normal zoom and tele or adda couple of choice primes to a two zoom setup.

An interesting tidbit regarding the Sony 18-110 F4 is that the close focus distance in about 1m in Manual mode and only drops to 0.45m when in auto focus. Now if that doesn't kill your interest nothing will.
 
Nirv said:
Would that be any better than the Sony 18-200 PZ? When you get into superzoom territory everything gets a bit sh1t. The Sony PZ at least has a video optimised active OSS which may be better?


The 18 - 200 focal range should at least be broken in two with an equivalent of 18-70 and a 70-200 lens combination but it's better to use 3 lenses, a wide zoom, normal zoom and tele or adda couple of choice primes to a two zoom setup.

An interesting tidbit regarding the Sony 18-110 F4 is that the close focus distance in about 1m in Manual mode and only drops to 0.45m when in auto focus. Now if that doesn't kill your interest nothing will.
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It's a stop faster and has manual focus not unusable servo focus. Other than that it's a bit more complicated but sometimes it's worth it.
 
JPNola said:
Pre-production examples exist. These aren't concept lenses. They are pre-production lenses. The specs that have been announced are the official specs and not rumors.

My analysis of the lenses was based upon the official specs.
Click to expand...

But none of us have used them or have any idea re:performance and image quality. Specs are just specs, they can be meaningless if there are other issues at play. Sample videos mean very little. It's premature to make a decision this early, unless you've used all these lenses in the field?
 
Liam Hall said:
I once shot a 40 min doco with virtually one lens, a 50mm, on a lens adapter. That said, I think people need to get over their obsession with trying to find 'one lens'. The FS7 is a large sensor camera and to limit yourself to one lens is ludicrous. It's not an EX1.
Click to expand...


I shot a lot of still photography for documentary type work and used a 35mm / 50mm (FF) combo on Leica M & Nikon F bodies for years. I added a 28mm in London, because sometimes the sidewalks were too narrow to back up far enough with the 35mm. Every once and a while I would take along a 85mm to get closeups of faces at events, where you couldn't get close enough to the subject with a 50mm for various reasons.

Personally if I shot a doc on the FS7 etc I would go for the new Sigma Cine T2 18-35. That would give me the 28-50mm range I used in still work. I would probably add a fast 50 and 75 primes for closeups. But that's just how I like to work.


That said I can see the desire for a one lens solution. Less gear to juggle, your entire focal length is always at hand etc.
 
remsyatassi said:
But none of us have used them or have any idea re:performance and image quality. Specs are just specs, they can be meaningless if there are other issues at play. Sample videos mean very little. It's premature to make a decision this early, unless you've used all these lenses in the field?
Click to expand...


I think he's asking for suggestions to look at, not to make a final decision right here and now. All of these lenses have been announced, shown and look like they will be shipping in the near future. It would make little sense to pretend they don't exist, unless you were so pressed for time that a purchase had to be made immediately.
 
remsyatassi said:
But none of us have used them or have any idea re:performance and image quality. Specs are just specs, they can be meaningless if there are other issues at play. Sample videos mean very little. It's premature to make a decision this early, unless you've used all these lenses in the field?
Click to expand...

Well, people are pre-ordering the lenses despite having no first-hand experience with the lenses, are they not?
I own many lenses that I purchased despite never having used a copy of the lens in the field. Hell, I purchased the Fs7 without ever having used one, when the only reviews available were of pre-production examples. Being on the forefront of tech often necessitates informed and measured leaps of faith. Making sure to keep the sales receipt and original packaging. Besides, it's only money.
 
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