GH3 Interview lens with smooth/quite zoom ring

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den59

Well-known member
Hi everyone,

i was shooting couple of one-camera sit-down interviews recently.
Nikkor 24-85/2.8-4.0 was ok to use. But i have two complains:
1. It's not parfocal 2. Zoom ring is very loud (produces noise when rotating),
and not smooth.

What can u guys recommend as a decent solution for at max 500$?
i was thinking about Tamron 17-50/2.8 (non-VC) or Tokina 28-70/2.6-2.8 Pro I (Angeneux).
Both seem to be parfocal, but i have no idea how smooth and silent the zoom ring is.

Any other options i shall consider?

regards,
denis
 
I tend to shoot interviews with a 50mm prime.
Zooms are obviously useful, but I'd rather just use 2 cameras with primes, or reset the one camera in a close up for the last quarter of the interview.
 
I have 50/1.4 prime as well. But only 1 camera. From my limited experience i would prefer a zoom to go from OTS to MCU/CU for a subject without stoping the interview, and do "noddies" separetely.
 
My current two favorites for the purpose are the Leica D 14-50/2.8-3.5 and a Nikon-mount Sigma 50-150/2.8 . The Tamron might be a better choice than the Leica due to constant mechanical aperture and focus, but the Leica's been a better all-purpose lens for me.
 
If your doing lots of interviews and need quiet, smooth, constant aperture zooming you might consider picking up a broadcast B4 mount zoom lens. You need one with a doubler (2x extender) in it if you want to use the whole MFT sensor or you can shoot in EX Tele mode without doubler. You just need a power source for the lens to get the servo zoom to function.
 
Leica 14-50/2.8-3.5 looks good. The downside is that it's 4/3 and requires an adapter (another 140$). Pity they didn't update it for m43. I would go for it without hesitation even if they provide no AFC at all.

I'm also considering the upcoming 14-140/3.5-5.6, which is a bit slow, but native m43. Anyone tried using the original one (4.0-5.6) for in-doors interviews?

I never touched any B4 lens, suppose they are very good for this, but then the whole kit becomes big (lens + power source + doubler). As a personal preference i would prefer not to sacrifice size and weight of a set, since i'm always a one-man crew. That's partly why it's important to have zoom/focus ring quite since i record audio from on-camera shotgun + lavaliere.

p/s/ in terms of primes, i have no questions: 14/2.5, 25/1.4 or 25/0.95, 45/1.8, but some all-purpose zoom is a tough thing to find for m43.
 
den59 said:
Leica 14-50/2.8-3.5 looks good. The downside is that it's 4/3 and requires an adapter (another 140$). Pity they didn't update it for m43. I would go for it without hesitation even if they provide no AFC at all.
Click to expand...
NO FREAKING KIDDING!

I'm also considering the upcoming 14-140/3.5-5.6, which is a bit slow, but native m43. Anyone tried using the original one (4.0-5.6) for in-doors interviews?
Click to expand...

I used the 14-140 for interviews a bit. It's not all bad... with the 14-140, the GH2 (and AF100) handles a bit more like an old HVX - just light it well and if you want to throw a background out of focus, step back and zoom in.
 
I dont think you are going to get what you want unless you get a cine lens like the Cooke.

You could consider/try the nikon 35-70 manual and the nikon 28-85 manual. Both far better than any modern lenses.

Smooth and nice to focus

Both can be found for $200

But not par focal and the the 28 is 3.5 to 4.5 so gets darker as you zoom

If you want smooth parfocal zooms why dont you use a video camera?
 
I don't know how smooth the focus or zoom is with these lenses, but they are rated as parfocal...

Nikon Parfocal

17-35mm f/2.8
24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S

Olympus Parfocal

35-70mm f/4.0 ( OM mount )
75-150mm f/4.0 ( OM mount )
85-250mm f/5.0 ( OM mount )

Panasonic Parfocal

7-14mm f/4.0
14-140mm f/4-5.6
45-175mm f/4.0-5.6

Tamron Parfocal

17-50mm f/2.8
28-75mm f/2.8

Tokina Parfocal

11-16mm f/2.8
16-50mm f/2.8
 
den59 said:
...

I never touched any B4 lens, suppose they are very good for this, but then the whole kit becomes big (lens + power source + doubler). As a personal preference i would prefer not to sacrifice size and weight of a set, since i'm always a one-man crew. That's partly why it's important to have zoom/focus ring quite since i record audio from on-camera shotgun + lavaliere.

....
Click to expand...

You don't need to run the B4 lens with the servo. The servo motor/control comes off the B4 lens with three screws. Then you have a cine lens with gear rings for zoom, focus, and aperture.
 
Also, a B4 lens really isn't all that cumbersome connected to a tiny GH3. If it's the difference between getting the shot you need and not, the small size difference really shouldn't be questioned for the huge functionality you gain.
 
Is there any difference between B3 and B4? Should i prefer B4? Any particular, not too expensive, lenses which are known to work good with m43 sensor and double extender?
If i understand correctly that doubler eats a stop of light, thus /1.7 becomes around 2.4. So it's the opposit of speed booster. I wonder are those lenses sharp enough for m43 2k?
 
Also, with ragards to extenders, can they bought separately? On ebay i saw a couple of b4 lenses without extenders, whereas those with extenders cost like three times more
 
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