Lens advice for FS700 4k?

F

firehawk

Veteran
Is the kit lens (Sony 18-200) and the Sony 18-104 good enough to use with the FS700R once you start shooting 4K with an external recorder such as Odyssey 7Q+ or Shogun Inferno? Or are they pretty much good for HD?
Don't some lenses utilize electronic distortion correction that no longer works once you use an external 4K recorder?
 
You're correct about the electronic distortion correction not working with external recorders, however if you are shooting 4K you've got a lot more pixels in post so you can do your own distortion correction there. It'll be different at every focal length so will need to be done on a per-clip basis, but I don't find it adds a whole lot of time to my workflow (I use a Speedbooster with a Canon 24-105 which has notoriously bad barrel distortion at wide angles).

Having said that, I don't have much personal experience with those particular lenses. I hated the 18-200 which felt soft even at 1080p, and I've only use the 18-105 a few times & with internal recording only.
 
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I did like the 18-200 power zoom and still miss it and am thinking about getting one again... never tried it with 4K/7Q. The 18-105, depends on what's in frame and how critical it is. On the other hand, if it's not so critical you usually shoot internal anyway ;)
Here's the only thing I've shot using the 18-105 and the FS700/Odyssey 7Q... quick video for a friend:
https://youtu.be/aj165d5SCMc
 
No correction, but you can see on some shots where there's a road or something in the background that there's barrel distortion... as long as there's no straight lines it works... but it all depends on what you are shooting...

I have the 50 and 35mm lenses as well, they work fine!
 
flinty said:
If a lens is soft at HD it sounds pretty rubbish.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I never tested it with charts or anything scientific, I only said that it "felt" soft to me. I think it may have been the low contrast as well effecting the overall look. Or perhaps I had a bad copy.

I'm not meaning to say it is a rubbish lens, just that it never particularly sang for me.
 
All superzoom lenses like the Sony 18-200mm have their tradeoffs. Generally speaking, the Sony is pretty decent for a superzoom, although it's definitely not as sharp as shorter range zooms or primes. The sharpness is pretty decent at the wide end, but it's less good at the telephoto end.

Here's one review:
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/sony-sel-p-18-200mm-f-3-5-6-3-oss-lens-review-21956

Sony sells versions of the lens without the powerzoom feature aimed at still shooters (which is generally more demanding in terms of resolution than video, after all UHD is only 8 MP ...). So I wouldn't say it's useless for shooting in 4K. If shooting RAW or ProRes to the Odyssey 7Q it bypasses any in-camera sharpening, but you can always add some sharpening in post if needed.

The 18-105mm is sharper than the 18-200mm, but the distortion on the 18-200mm is not as severe.
 
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