Looking forward to this lens (Sony 18-104 OSS F4)...

Of course this lens is not a cinema lens, but would have been a nice addition as a cheap allround lens, if it didn't have that weird pincushion distortion.

I called the sony broadcast support to ask if it will be possible to correct this incamera, as the fotoNEX cameras do.
The guy at the sony support line even didn't know that lens and said that there is no possibility to add any lens correction for the videoNEX cameras, including FS100/700 and the VG10/20/30/900. That's somehow a typical Sony case. One hand doesn't know what the other is doing...

And yes, it's a cheapo for the specs, but it's just a zoom lens fpr APS-C fotocameras with the G label on it. I really have expected a better performance.

Now I will choose one of the 24-105/4,0 from Canon or Sigma and out it on a Speedbooster. This will cost 100% more, but the performance at least will be better. Not so much with weight, constant length throughout the zoomrange and price of course...
 
I think there was an assumption that this lens would be suitable to use with the FS cameras, however they were never listed as being a compatible product on the Sony website, probably as they are now relatively old and probably soon to be superseded and as I stated earlier - when contacted, Sony do advise to stick with kit lenses if you want a powered zoom as this lens may distort and there is no software correction etc etc. Looking at the examples you could probably use it quite happily in certain applications, though probably not advisable for shooting architecture!
 
pythonman said:
Hopefully it'll pair nicely with the FS700

https://vimeo.com/79844144
Click to expand...

what camera is he using in the video? Distortion looks way better in this demo!

distortion.jpg
 
Erik Wittbusch said:
Now I will choose one of the 24-105/4,0 from Canon or Sigma and out it on a Speedbooster. This will cost 100% more, but the performance at least will be better. Not so much with weight, constant length throughout the zoomrange and price of course...
Click to expand...

it's something totally different. No AF, no face detection, no motorized zoom. I used these features more often than I thought for run&gun
 
It's unusual for a lens to pincushion like this through the range, usually a zoom would go from barrel to straight to pincushion. So i'm assuming it's intentional because if you're going to undistort this electronically then pincushion is a better place to start than barrel. Even so, totally unacceptable in this day and age. Compare it to the new sigma 24-105 or a whole host of full frame SLR lenses. Really unacceptable.

Just noticed that it is a G class lens - supposedly professional, like a Canon L

cheers
Paul
 
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it should be remembered that even hasselblad whose lenses are made by fuiji allow distortion in the glass and then have appropriate correction software/meta data

such bad (good/intelligent?) lens designes have had a positive impact on cost/performance

The main thing is to sell them only for cameras that have the right software..
 
There's several 3rd party apps available that will remove pincushion, barrel distortion and vignetting. Photoshop is one that comes to mind.
 
There's a couple of others that can do it depending on your NLE. Optics Compensation in After Effects, Crumble Pop, FCP Effects - Remove Fisheye and so on.
 
Erik Wittbusch said:
Removing distortion in Video with Photoshop? That sounds like a whole lotta fun...
Click to expand...

It works pretty well but it's quite time consuming. Unfortunately most lens correction Plug-ins deal with barrel correction for GoPro
here's a tutorial https://vimeo.com/41923389

I see also another problem: if you zoom from wide to long lens in the same clip you will
apply the correction to every frame. 18-30mm range which seems quite okay to me will
have a barrel distortion instead. here's a sample before and after:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8273739/Sequenz01.mov
 
"Removing distortion in Video with Photoshop? That sounds like a whole lotta fun... "

...and since when was rotoscoping a whole lotta fun? I swear there are MORE cry-babbies in this forum than ever.

PTLENS at epaperpress is relatively automatic, can be calibrated for each lens, and deals with vignetting, barrel and pincushion distortion AND Chromatic aberration. PTLENS stand alone or acts as a plugin to Photoshop. If you own Photoshop extended, you can automate the process. Not suggesting you want to correct a feature film, but, for short clips, there's always a solution if you're willing to look. I wonder how much effort it would take the author to make this work for an image sequence? Ya think someone could ask?
 
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I was really looking forward to this lens but the pillow zoom issue is a major deal breaker for me. Mine will be arriving tomorrow as I didn't know about this when I placed my order...but I'll be promptly sending it back (after I do a scathing review).
 
been editing a shoot with this lens didn't really notice the distortion until editing yesterday. 80% of our shots were moving heads in nature totally usable to an uninformed eye. Then they started to go into a doorway of a train "hello"!! I was able to correct it with after effects where the zoom was static. On a full zoom the barrel distortion increases dramatically 50 mm up and has to be keyframed which is time-consuming. Of course knowing a unique characteristic of a lens ahead of time shot selection can avoid some of its pitfalls. This does take A few stars away from this lens and one of its key advantages over the 18-200 kit zoom. Definitely easier to key exposure compensation than lens distortion. Leaning towards shipping her back and using the kit servo lens when needed. May keep it for another week in hopes that convergent design releases the 4K prores firmware which I assume much of the distortion can be cropped out. Going to try PT lens and see if this helps hopefully someone can come up with an efficient workflow. I doubt Sony Will if they could fool with it for FS cams.
 
A response to my earlier inquiry with the Product Operations Support Center at Sony USA about the distortion issue, and whether a firmware update for the FS100/FS700 might be in the future:

I have forwarded your e-mail to our product manager and our engineering people for their comments. They are saying that this lens, SELP-18105G is not compatible with the NEX-FSxx cameras.
Click to expand...

Looks like I will be sending mine back, unfortunately.
 
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