GH4 GH4 wide angle questions

G

GMG802

Active member
So I haven't committed to the GH4 yet, but I'm seriously considering it. The mobility, high quality, and (as cliché as it might be) the slow motion capabilities are big selling points for me. I'm primarily going to be doing travel/promotion work as well as ski/snowboard videos.

My question is that with the metabones EF to MFT speed booster, would it be possibly to use a Rokinon super wide angle lens, like the 8mm f/3.5, and get a clean(ish) wide angle shot? With the extra stop of light and reduction of the crop factor, I feel like the 8mm could be comparable to a 11-16mm tokina on a crop sensor (which I've loved shooting with)

For sport videos, that down low fisheye is a pretty essential shot to have, so I'm hoping someone might have had some experience with this already. The only video I've seen has been the Rokinon 8mm MFT mount, so it turns to a 16mm, which is pretty wide, but not quite the extreme fisheye needed for sport videos.

I appreciate any feedback, thanks!
 
GH4 + EF-m4/3 speedbooster + 8mm f3.5 "manybrand" (Samyang/Rokinon/Bower/etc) fisheye is actually going to be wider (and thus appear more distorted) in 1080p mode than the same lens on a Canon APS-C camera. In 4K mode it will be slightly narrower.

I wouldn't advise shooting "normal" stuff with a fisheye. Skaters/bladers/skiiers/etc are completely used to seeing fisheye distortion, from years of continuous exposure to it, but regular folks often find it disorienting. It even makes some people seasick/queasy.

You could try de-fishing in software. Emm from cheesycam has a post about doing just that on his site. Seems like a passable option if you shoot in 4K and deliver in 1080p.

Personally, I'm using the BMCC booster with a Nikon-mount manybrand, for the widest possible fisheye with (almost) no vignetting. I used the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 with my 60D, and was always happy with it, so I'm going to pick up a Nikon-mount copy and see how it looks with the BMCC booster.
 
The Samyang/Rokinon 7.5mm MFT lens is much sharper than the APS-C 8mm Samyang /Rokinon lens.
[h=2]Samyang 7.5 mm f/3.5 UMC Fish-eye MFT[/h] [h=3]Image resolution :[/h]
3488_roz.jpg

[h=2]Samyang 8 mm f/3.5 Aspherical IF MC Fish-eye[/h] [h=3]Image resolution :[/h]
17022_samy_8mm_res.jpg
 
I appreciate all the feedback. It's relieving that there are good wide angle options for the MFT GH4, I was worried that the crop factor was going to be a major setback. Now to decide if I sell my canon 11-16mm for a nikon mount, and get the cheaper and more available nikon to MFT speedbooster.
 
Except with Sigma... AFAIK most of their Nikon versions don't go the Nikon way (Sigma 10-20/3.5 is also a good UWA)

I briefly tried a Rokinon 8/3.5 with a Nikon Speedbooster on my GH2, and it exhibited some major weirdness on the extreme edges of the frame; granted, only on my GH2 (~1.86 crop), none such weirdness on my AF100 (2x crop); YMMV
 
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Here's some basic comparison pics between the 7.5mm m4/3 lens, and the 8mm APS-C lens with the BMCC booster... showing 1080p and photo modes:


http://imgur.com/a/TZKiR


And I have an Instagram vid with a few rollerblading clips, from my first night with the booster/8mm setup:


http://videos-h-15.a...362843811_n.mp4

My plan at this point is to use the BMCC booster for my wide lenses- the 8mm fisheye and an 11-16 UWA. I also have a bunch of Minolta MD/MC lenses I've been collecting, and will use those on a MD/MC-m4/3 Speedbooster.

Hope this helps!
 
jnorman34 said:
I would tend to think the native panny 7-14mm would be a better solution.
Click to expand...

The 7-14 works great for many situations, 2 drawbacks though. It's an f4, not ideal for low light. On the other end of the spectrum, in broad daylight you are pretty much forced to shoot at f22 (assuming video at 1/50th shutter and iso 200) because there are no filter threads for ND. That tends to show every spec of dust on the lens or inside it.

I ended up 3d printing a plastic ring that sits just inside the lens hood that I glued an ND to. Works great in 4k mode, in 1080 mode it just barely vignettes at 7mm.

-Tim
 
If your shooting actions sports in the snow, you are actually in pretty good shape especially if you are shooting slow mo, cuz then you can crank up the shutter speed and that will of course drop your aperture. But at 24 fps and 1/50th you are gonna want some nd for sure.


GMG802 said:
starting to realize the drawbacks of some of the wide angle lenses that won't accept ND filters. Out in the snow on a sunny day they're pretty essential. http://cheesycam.com/tip-ultra-wide-angle-lens-for-panasonic-gh4-camera-defish-fisheye/ pretty good results, getting extreme fisheye for sport/specialty shots, then just a crazy wide for tight spaces with the defishing.
Click to expand...
 
jnorman34 said:
I would tend to think the native panny 7-14mm would be a better solution.
Click to expand...


YES... IF the rumor comes true and there is a new one that comes out that's supposed to be a constant f/2.8. When that happens, I'll absolutely get it. I like everything about the current 7-14, except the f/4. It would be fantastic to have the 7-14 at 2.8, but I'll pass on the current 4.
 
My choice was a "lightly" used Olympus m.Zuiko 9-18mm f4-5.6. If I have to, I can work within the limitations of f4 in some low light situations. If I don't need it that wide, I do have the Lumix 14mm f2.5 for a little over an additional stop to work with.

The Oly takes 52mm filters so adding ND in daylight is no problem.
 
I am running the nikon mount Tokina 11-16 on my GH4. It's a really nice wide angle option, and with constant f2 with the SB it's the fastest wide angle zoom combo for GH4 I have found.
 
OldCorpse said:
YES... IF the rumor comes true and there is a new one that comes out that's supposed to be a constant f/2.8. When that happens, I'll absolutely get it. I like everything about the current 7-14, except the f/4. It would be fantastic to have the 7-14 at 2.8, but I'll pass on the current 4.
Click to expand...

Not a rumour, Olympus already has announced it. Coming out next year.
 
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