GH2 BEST "VIDEO" Lens to have?

J

jonnytsunami

New member
What lens would be good for video and why?
ex.
what would the panasonic 20mm be good for? documentary?
is the 14-42 kit lens a lens to have? why?

thx guys:thumbsup:
 
Hi Jonny
I have both the 14-140 HD and the 20mm plus various Canon lenses, but for ease of use , stabilisation etc. the 14-140 is the way to go if you want fast silent autofocus.
Cheers
Paul
 
The best all-around video lens for the GH2 is the 14-140 kit (Vario HD). The autofocus is fast, silent, and the aperture steps are smooth. The large zoom range with OIS to smooth it out also lends itself to that versatility. That recommendation stops there though. Your applications will decide the best lens for the job.

*edit* Reading wandere63s reminded me of the same point I often make to people. Having a combo with the fast pancake is a great way to go. So bright and the autofocus is nothing to sneeze at. In fact, it seems even snappier to me on the GH2 for some reason.
 
farfromsubtle said:
The best all-around video lens for the GH2 is the 14-140 kit (Vario HD). The autofocus is fast, silent, and the aperture steps are smooth. The large zoom range with OIS to smooth it out also lends itself to that versatility. .
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Really? I can not zooming in or out whithout seeing the aperture steps, flickering the shoot. I like the general sharpness of this lens, but I can't understand (I am a profesional cinematographer) this issue. Any recommendations to avoid it?
 
avoid zooming while shooting =) I have to agree that the 14-140 is the best all round video lens if you don't want to think. Have a look at adapting some B4 eng tv lenses if you want that zoom stuff.
 
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Thx guys ^ ^
sucks i got my gh2 with the 14-42...
i think i probally will get the 20mm...i want the 14-140 but its expensive...
 
jonnytsunami said:
What lens would be good for video and why?
ex.
what would the panasonic 20mm be good for? documentary?
is the 14-42 kit lens a lens to have? why?

thx guys:thumbsup:
Click to expand...
The Lumix G Vario 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH OIS has the best quality @14mm wide open when compared to the 14-42 and 14-140. The 20mm F1.7 is a good choice but the Voigtländer Nokton 25mm f/0.95 is sharper and much faster.
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/widget/Fullscreen.ashx?reviews=90,61&fullscreen=true&av=3.667,3.667&fl=14,14&vis=VisualiserSharpnessMTF,VisualiserSharpnessMTF&stack=horizontal&&config=LensReviewConfiguration.xml%3F2

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicdmcg2/page13.asp

http://m43photo.blogspot.com/2010/12/comparison-14mm.html

20mm F1.7 vs 25mm F0.95 etc:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...-candlelight&p=2193692&highlight=#post2193692
 
lluis said:
Really? I can not zooming in or out whithout seeing the aperture steps, flickering the shoot. I like the general sharpness of this lens, but I can't understand (I am a profesional cinematographer) this issue. Any recommendations to avoid it?
Click to expand...

I set the aperture to f6.3 when the lens is on widest angle for constant fstop during zooming. Unfortunatly thats the fastest you can go as the lens range is f4.0 - f5.8. You cant set it lower then f6.3 because when the lens is at its widest angle the fstop options are 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.6, 6.3 etc and you cant dial in a 5.8 to match the zoomed min fstop of f5.8.
 
If you like to shoot hand held, you should go wide or get a lens with stabilizer. The jello look from a hand held long lens looks like soccer mum film making. Even magic bullet looks and a pathetic film score won't help you to get away with your wobbly footage.
I became a little obsessed lately in hunting old glass on ebay to shoot video. My personal ranking for shooting video so far:

1. 25mm f1.4 Schneider-Kreuznach 16mm film lens (c-mount). This particular lens cuts off the edges of the full 4:3 frame (vignetting) but not as much as other c-mount lenses do. I like the vignetting in video mode and its not existent in ETC mode. This lens is so smooth and precise to adjust - love it!
2. Nikkor-N Auto 35mm f1.4. Its like a 85mm Portrait lens on the GH2. Dreamy wide open, sharp stopped down, nice bokeh, warm colors
3. Pentax-A f2.8 20mm. Sharp, low distortion, not a pancake but still small and very nice to operate.
4. Panasonic 20mm f1.7. Very nice, almost not existent walk around lens. Like its vignetting. I hate to adjust aperture from some fiddly buttons/wheel.
5. Panasonic 14-140mm. Nice all round focal range, nice auto focus, very nice image stabilization, TO SLOW after all.

new lenses (not much used by now):
Contax - Carl Zeiss Biogon 28mm f2.8. Needed to remove the protection for the rear Lens group in order to mount it on the GH2. The adapter has a built in focus ring since the focusing was done from the camera body (not very smooth). I still need to shoot more footage with it. it wasn't cheap (EUR 230,-). Not sure if its sharpness is worth the price.
Canon lenses together with this adapter that has built in aperture blades. Its like Philip Bloom said: Usable but not perfect. Aperture ring operates not very smooth (needs to much force). Tried it with that well regarded Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 - didn't like it. It was too dark for the Tokina though.

Disappointing:
Schneider-Kreuznach Arriflex-Cinegon 16mm f2. The Arri adapter just arrived from Taiwan (ebay). Heavy vignetting (full circle in 4:3). Adapter has backlash, makes focusing impossible during recording. Focusing needs too much force.
Iscorama 2005 anamorphic lens with Prakticar B-mount. Dose hardly flare. 2m closest focus. Has focus to infinity issue even on GH2 (suspect that some one opened and modified/ruined the lens).

Not tested, still waiting to arrive:
a few old Russian m39 lenses. I expect nice low contrast, flares, glare. Same with some early Vivitar, Minolta and Canon FL Lenses.

Longer lenses:
Olympus OM G.Zuiko Auto-S 55mm f1.2. Stunning bokeh! awesome portrait lens on the GH2. Can produce rainbow lens flares (chroma hoop) :)
Canon FL 135mm f2.5. Needs a good tripod to be mounted on for video. Stunning bokeh
 
I'd like to ask if anybody had opportunity to compare [Lumix G Vario 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH] with 14-42 (kit lens).

I found 14-42 for 100$ meanwhile 14-45 for 300$ and someone here claimed that 14-45 has better quality so I'd like to know if differences between these two lens worth that extra money, or if I should rather put that 200$ to some old (maybe russian? I am thinking about M42/M39 lens :p ) lenses with adapter :)
 
If you already have the 14-42, stick with it and spend the extra money elsewhere. If you are picking between the 14-42 and the 14-45 for your next purchase the 14-45 is far superior. It is my choice for my walkaround lens.
 
thank you for so quick reply :)
I am sorry for bothering but...
It's going to be my first lens, so I've been also considering 14-140.
Or if you think there might be better solution (preferably up to 400$)... I am open-minded :)

Purchasing 14-45 (instead of 14-140) and GH2 + some (prime) lenses (preferably older from (Eastern) Europe/Russia + proper adapter) in future might be best option for "starter" kit, do you think so?
[I've never held DSLR so I can't imagine how much focal length above 50 mm might be useful for filmmaking (maybe for photo-making?)]
 
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While the Lumix 14-140mm is a good general-purpose lens, it's lacking in several crucial areas:

* Slow max aperture, non-constant over zoom range
* Electronic focus ring, unusable with follow focus
* Front lens barrel extends several inches, unusable with matte box
* Sticky zoom mechanism, creeps when subjected to gravity

If these issues matter to you, there are two inexpensive alternatives I've found that work very well for video:

Tokina AT-X 235 AF PRO 20-35mm f2.8 in Nikon mount:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tokina/20-35mm-f28.htm

Tokina AT-X 270 AF PRO 28-70mm f2.8 in Nikon mount:
http://nikonglass.blogspot.com/2009/11/tokina-at-x-pro-28-70mm-f26-28.html

These Tokina zooms pair well together with fast constant apertures of f2.8. They both feature fixed outer barrels that neither extend nor rotate when the lens is zoomed or focused. This makes them well-suited for mounting on 15-inch rails, along with follow focus and matte box. The Nikon auto-focus mechanism is disengaged by sliding the focus ring back into manual position, after which it operates exactly like a manual-focus lens. These lenses are constructed out of solid metal and the focus, zoom, and aperture rings are well-damped and smooth in operation. Like most modern zooms, they are not parfocal, and focus changes as they zoom. Their biggest drawback, however, is that they're no longer in production, though not hard to find used.

Note: The Tokina 270 AF PRO 28-70mm was issued in several different versions, some listed as having f2.6-2.8 max aperture. After some research, I concluded that these models are preferred over the more recent Tokina 287 PROSV and Tokina 280 AF PRO.
 
what if i get the canon adapter what good canon lens for the GH2?
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get what you like. there is no "best"
when you get into the adapter realm, you open up SO many doors. i got the rayqual nikon adapter for my gh2 which basically allows you to use any nikon lens ever made.

get an adapter then take it and your camera into a used lens shop and just try stuff out.

the downside of adapter use is that you lose all modern lens "features" like ois and autofocus
 
I picked up a Tokina 24-40 for the Pentax K mount. It's a constant 2.8 and I found it for a 100 bucks. There are some good deals out there. I've gotten some nice FD lenses as well and my next purchase is going to be either the 14mm F2 by Olympus or the 11-16 from Tokina. I've rented the tokina and its a really nice fast wide....
 
aemonk said:
1. 25mm f1.4 Schneider-Kreuznach 16mm film lens (c-mount). This particular lens cuts off the edges of the full 4:3 frame (vignetting) but not as much as other c-mount lenses do. I like the vignetting in video mode and its not existent in ETC mode. This lens is so smooth and precise to adjust - love it!
Click to expand...

That's a nice collection of lenses you have. For this C-mount lens, can you focus to infinity? Some people seems to say you need to have them modified to focus to infinity..
 
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