GH4 Low-Budget Documentary Lens

J

JasonMillard81

Active member
Greetings: I am looking to make a wise investment decision for a low-budget documentary zoom lens. I do not have an expansive budget as I do not do this for paid work, so some negliable trade-offs are welcome.

I have a GH4 and a 25m 1.8 prime lens.

Was leaning toward the 14-140 but I was warned that since it isn't constant aperture I may run into problems when filming.

Is the 35-100 the best option? thoughts on the two as well as other zoom options?

A metabones/FF lens is not an option due to price.

Thanks for any advice and direction!
 
It depends on how you plan to use the lens. Since you desire constant aperture, that may imply you want to do zooms in the shot. These photography lenses are not designed to do that. If you want to do in-camera zooms, then you need a cinema lens. You might consider a 2/3" ENG lens from Fujinon or Canon. You need one with the 2x extender to get full sensor coverage. Many people have done this with satisfactory results. They are available on ebay for modest money. You can see from this search, that prices have a wide range depending on vintage and other factors. They older vintages will be soft on the edges. If you want to play with one, I can give you on for free. But you'll have to get a B4 to MFT adapter and you will have to pay shipping.

Here is an example of what it looks like on an AF-100: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmSIJLT4K5c. That was me doing hand zooms. But the lens has a servo zoom on it so you can do buttery smooth zooms. That takes a bit more work to set up. If interested, I can explain it further.


Here is a search for the 2/3" lens you need:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...erm.TRS1&_nkw=fujinon+zoom+lens+berm&_sacat=0
 
Last edited:
I've gone a bit different direction for all of my filming the last few years. While not documentary per se I spend most of my time either zoomed in or wide angle. Almost every thing I do now is with a Samyang 12mm f/2 ($200), a Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.7 ($300) and a Panasonic 100-300 ($400 used). I run the Samyang with my gh4 on a stabilizer for those walking around shots and landscapes. The 42.5 is the finest portrait/interview lens you can get for the money in any camera system right now and the 100-300 surprisingly produces great images from extremely long distances.

From there you have three shooting modes to adjust the field of view with these lenses. 1080-60p is the full 2.08x crop of the GH4 and can be used for a very nice slow motion. 4K UHD is a 2.49x crop and super sharp crisp image. A little known trick if you are going to be finishing your projects in 1080 is to shoot 4K UHD with the 2x digital zoom turned on. It creates some of the most stunning images I've seen out of my GH4 and acts like a 5x crop, but it retains the f/stop of your fast prime lens (the 42.5 becomes a 210mm f/1.7). I think it creates a much finer image than the ETC function I was so fond of for quite a number of years with my older G6 and then for a year or so on the GH4

In any case with just the 12mm on stabilizer and the 42.5 you could do amazing pieces without spending too much. Add an audio recorder and a couple of wireless mics and you could create productions that would go any where.

I really believe to get the best out of the GH4 you need faster lenses. Shooting at f/2.8 or f/4 in darker conditions just doesn't give the image quality I have become accustomed to with these couple of primes I've been using.

Just my $0.02

Cheers,
Pete
 
I am headed to India for a documentary next week, (Circular Resonance) and I'll be using a mix of the 14-140 and the Sigma 18-35 with speed booster.

The Sigma will be used for interview and set up shots (and low light), while the 14-140 will be used for the run and gun work.
If I am moving around continuously, carrying the camera on my back, I want to have a very good range of wide-telephoto without having to constantly change lenses. The 14-140 works great for that, and has a pretty decent image for a stock lens. The variable aperture is not a problem, as long as you aren't trying to change focal length during the shot. I set mine to 5.6 and leave it there, adjust exposure with a variable ND. The lens is very slow though, not good in low light. (Where the Sigma shines)
 
You said budget without more detail ... are the Pany 35-100 and Sigma 18-35mm affordable for you? If not, the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 ($250ish on EBay) is a nice lens for the price, if you are OK with manual focus.
 
Yeah, it would be extremely helpful if we knew what "budget" means to you. For example, the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 is about $800 (or less used), and for what it is, it's considered extremely inexpensive. When talking about documentaries, I find low-light capabilities absolutely critical with the GH series. The GH series cameras are not naturally good performers in low light, therefore you need to compensate with extremely fast lenses. I have the native Panny 12-35 f/2.8, and find it just too slow in low light on a GH3/4 - sorry. You will be severely limited in interiors if you can't (a) go wide and (b) go fast. Personally, if I were to do a documentary, I'd spring for the Sigma 18-35, which is not budget anymore once you add in the necessary adapter for the m4/3 mount or especially if you go for a MB SpeedBooster - at which point you are almost at $1300. But you'd be totally covered for wide and fast. But you'd still need a long lens for exteriors. In any case, if I were to be limited to only one lens, I'd go for the Sigma 18-35 + MB SB - but again, I don't know what is "budget" in your mind.
 
If I could only take one lens with me to do doc work, it would be the Panasonic 12-35 f2.8. The 35-100 is a fantastic lens, but it's really not wide enough when you want to go wide and you've got limited room to move. At least with the 12-35 you can turn on Ex Tele Conv on the GH4 if you really need to get a little closer.

The only reason I don't use the 14-140 any more is because it's slow especially at the longer end. Nothing beats that range, but I found it limiting on indoor shoots where I couldn't control the lighting. The not constant aperture isn't that much of a problem. Yes, there may be a change if you're wide open and zooming, but I don't think it's the sort of thing that's really distracting to a viewer.
 
I agree with the 14-140, have that and don't really use it for anything. Even stills it was a bit slow at times.
 
Do you need a zoom lens? They really are more about convenience than anything else. No zoom lens for a DSLR is very good to zoom while shooting. The camera isn't actually meant for that kind of workflow. It can be done but it will rarely be a smooth zoom and I personally would try to limit that as much as possible. The best zoom tool on a DSLR is your feet.

The 12-35mm f2.8 is nice but is it a zoom range you absolutely must be able to use? I mean its not a huge range that you couldn't make up for by moving a little closer or further away from your subject.

I actually really like the 14-140 lens for run&gun work. Yeah its darker but if you treat it like a f5.6 it can be rather constant and you compensate for the light situation. The thing I like about the 14-140 is that it has good stabilization and a zoom range that kind of makes sense to use a zoom. A 10x zoom is equal to some video cameras which gives a huge amount of creative freedom.

My workflow is to use the 14-140 as much as possible in good light and switch to my 25mm f1.4 Lumix lens indoors and move as needed. If space is super tight I will use my Rokinon 12mm f2.0 lens which isn't the best but gets the job done. For interviews I use an Olympus 60mm f2.8 lens. I want to get a faster lens eventually but at the time I decided I wanted a macro lens so got the Olympus instead. Has the same DOF as 45mm f1.8 so it works well for interviews with moderate lighting conditions.
 
+1 for the Panny 12-35 f2.8! That lens is on my camera 75% of the time with a vari ND. Next most often is a canon FD mount 50mm f1.4 for sit down interviews (pretty cheap on Ebay
with a FD to M43 adapter - probably dont even need a speedbooster, just a dumb adapter as the Canon fd is 1.4 is fast enough).

3rd most often I'll go fisheye in really tight places (cars or for architectural shoots) and even less often I'll put a canon fd 60-300 f4 usually or outdoor / wildlife.

If you shoot 4k you can also zoom in on a 1080 timeline and get a lot more reach. This is 12-35 at 12mm shot in 4K edited on a 1080 timeline... first is 50%, 80%ish and 100% (maybe even 110%) - I forget.

https://vimeo.com/105074538
password test
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top