I just bought AF100 and need suggestions on lens

S

skmami

Member
Greetings,

Glad to see there is a dedicated forum on AF100 that I just bought.

I bought the camera just this weekend and I am looking for a general purpose lens and I am overwhelmed with amount of lenses that are out there.

Please can you suggest a single lens that can be used as a multipurpose lens and designed to work with this lens. I am planning on buying a varizoom remote control to control Focus, Iris and zoom. I appreciate your help.

Thanks
Satish
 
Gary Askham said:
You probably actually need 2 lenses.

http://www.four-thirds.org/en/microft/lense.html

The two X Lenses are the most 'all purpose', they are the 12-35mm and 35-100mm F2.8 Lumix lenses.
Click to expand...

90% of what I shoot is on these two lenses (I tend to shoot a lot of run & gun). They aren't cheap depending on your budget, but good glass can last longer than your camera, and m4/3 isn't going anywhere anytime so you can resell it later.
 
Thanks a lot for suggestions.

I was told by the guy who sold me the camera that I should get this lens. Please can you let me know what do you think of this. This one lens goes from 14 to 140. Should I just get one lens or two separate lenses that break up this distance. What are the advantages of two separate lenses as opposed to just one. Sorry, if this is a dumb question.

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Lum...TF8&qid=1387214399&sr=8-1&keywords=H-FS14140K

Thanks
Satish
 
Just so you know, the Varizoom will not control the zoom on any of the lenses recommended. It will control the iris and focus though.

It will control the zoom on the Lumix PZ 45-175mm f/4.0-5.6 and the Lumix PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6...but I think that is about it for power zooms on the AF.

I have the varizoom controller on my shoulder rig and it is especially handy for the start/stop button, which would be a pain to hit on my shoulder setup.
 
The 14-140mm is the best lens to have if most of your shooting is outside or under good lighting conditions. It is not a fast lens, so it is useless in low light such as a wedding reception.
 
I agree with the others. Start with the 12-35 then add the 35-100. I have the new version of the 14-140 but only use it on occasions where lens changes are impractical, which is very rare.
 
As Greytail said, the 14-140 is not a fast lens. It's convenient because it's one lens with a lot of range, but comes at a price. When I had the old 14-140, it was f/5.6 for a good chunk of that range. The two X lenses are constant f/2.8. That makes a huge difference, but at the price of having to use two lenses and, well, price.
 
I also have the lumix 12-35 and 35-100. The great advantage with these lenses is constant aperture throughout the range and their low light capability. They are not cheap but these two advantages make them essential equipment . The 14-140 you mention starts off slow (exposure capability) and gets slower as you zoom or extend the focal length, which means another adjustment may need to be made to the gain or ND filters.
Cheers!
Rod
 
Thanks a lot for all the suggestions.

I am not so professional when it is comes to dealing with lenses yet. To be honest this is my first professional camera, I got it because it is on sale on CraigsList and I saw many positive reviews. I was shooting with Sony HDR-PJ30V (http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HDR-PJ30...&qid=1387315411&sr=8-2&keywords=sony+hdr-pj30) so far which has everything automatic no lens changing nothing. Do you think going straight to 1100 dollars lens (times two) would benefit me much. ?

I am thinking I need a lens whose zoom I can control with remote like varizoom remote controller. Unfortunately, I have been noticing there are only two lenses of this type.

I really appreciate it, if you can give me suggestions based on where I am Today.

I will be mostly using this camera to shoot video for non profit events and charity etc.

I am mostly shooting dance programs performed on a stage from 30 to 100 feet distance.

Thanks again.
 
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Honestly and considering the OP's statements, I think the 14-140 is the right lens for him at this time. Find it used on the internet and get shooting and comfortable with the camera while only setting him back a few hundred dollars. Then OP, as you progress and find the need for it, you can upgrade to the X series lenses.
 
The 14-140 might be the most suitable for his needs but then he may as well have bought an HMC150. Buying a camera with an interchangeable lens system and then not changing the lenses is just a waste. The 14-140 is terrible for low light situations and the OP is going to hate using the camera.

How about instead to save a little cash he gets the Lumix 14mm pancake and then the Lumix 35-100 X lens?
 
Get a mettabones speedbooster and abunch of cheep nikon lenses off ebay. Thats what I would do if I had my time again.
 
skmami said:
....Please can you suggest a single lens that can be used as a multipurpose lens and designed to work with this lens.
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The Panasonic 14-140 is the single multi-purpose lens for the AF-100. It doesn't cost much, it's sharp, it's designed to work with the AF-100. It's a great lens for this camera.

But, there are things you should be aware of. It is not parfocal, it is auto focus and auto iris. So the manual mode does not work like a mechanical lens. You cannot pull focus manually with the lens ring (well, you can sort of, but not really). You can pull focus with a remote control, but it is nothing like a mechanical lens.

Forget about zooming while shooting. This lens is a variable prime, not a zoom lens. You cannot pull a smooth zoom while shooting.

These may be substantial shortcomings depending upon how you plan to use the camera.
 
EndCredits said:
Get a mettabones speedbooster and abunch of cheep nikon lenses off ebay. Thats what I would do if I had my time again.
Click to expand...

I was going to suggest this but then changed my mind because the OP doesn't seem to know much about lenses and just wants to get up and shooting. However it's the route I took and I have to say I don't regret it - there's not a better way to learn about lenses and cinematography in general than realising when you need to change from a 50mm to a 85mm, from knowing when to 'stop down' and when to 'open up' and from knowing that F3.5 just isn't going to cut it in this dark venue.
 
EndCredits said:
Get a mettabones speedbooster and abunch of cheep nikon lenses off ebay. Thats what I would do if I had my time again.
Click to expand...

Is the Metabones speedbooster you mentioned is this ? It costs over 400 dollars. Is this the correct one ? or am I looking at the wrong product .

http://www.amazon.com/Metabones-Nik...01095&sr=8-1&keywords=metabones+speed+booster

I do own two canon EOS EF-S lenses that came with my Canon Rebel T1i DSLR camera. I am planning on using those and ordered a adapter for them from BH PhotoVideo and it only costed me 45 bucks.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/839146-REG/vello_la_mft_cef_lens_mount_adapter.html

Why is the adapter for Nikon lenses so expensive ? I hope it offsets the savings from the cheap Nikon lenses.

Thanks
 
The speedbooster isn't just an adapter. It is also a lens with a special purpose. There are plenty of posts on the forum about it and examples of what it does.
 
I'm not sure what you know/don't know, but just to be sure- do you know that there are electronic lenses (new, like "EF" Electronic Focus) and mechanical/manual lenses (older, like Nikon stills lenses, or modern film/cine lenses).

The adapter you found for the EF lens just mounts the lens to the body, you have no control over iris/aperture (you can, however, focus manually).
Redrock's $700 Live Lens adapter is the only adapter that controls iris on EF lenses.

From B&H on your posted adapter
Autofocus, automatic aperture and AE metering will be disabled by the lens adapter as there will be no electrical communication between camera body and lens.
Click to expand...

Manual, mechanical Nikon lenses have an physical aperture ring to control iris.
Add a Speedboster (to a manual Nikon lens) makes it faster (more light sensitive) and wider.

Lumix lenses are electronic, but they "talk" to the camera, allowing you to use the iris dial on the camera to control the iris of the lens.

Make sense? And if you already knew this, well, it's here for the next novice!

Good luck on your lens journey!
 
I'm not sure what the final verdict was on 2/3" ENG lenses and the AF100, but maybe the OP should look into it? I saw some footage that looked perfectly acceptable for most "zoom style" recordings. I think there's a threads about it buried somewhere.

There's a guy in Chicago who also has an eBay store that sells these old ENG lenses (Canon, Fujinon, etc). and he also sells the adapters needed to make them work on M4/3 cameras. Then he sells the little battery kit you need to make the built in Servo work, and VOILA you have an ENG style camera. I always wanted to buy one, but haven't gotten the chance yet.
 
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