Lumix G 14-140mm or maybe fixed prime lens for doc interviews?

M

mikebarber

Active member
Greetings all, I am budgeting out an AF100 camera package that I am about to thrust myself in to years of debt over, and find myself stuck on the issue of what glass to put on it.

I was considering the Lumix G 14-140mm f4.0-5.8 since it is priced just right for me for now and gave me a wide array of focal lengths that seemed to be a good all-purpose lens… then I went and read Barry Green's enlightening write up and now my head is full of FUD.

My immediate need in a lens is something for interviews. Ideally something that would give me the range to go from a medium close shot to a somewhat extreme close shot. I'm still fairly unfamiliar with choosing focal lengths, but what I was thinking (and please correct me if I am wrong, or if you have suggestions) was something to achieve along the lines of 65-75mm (in 35mm terms) for the MCU and somewhere between 100-135mm (in 35mm terms).

Of course, I want to be able to keep a shallow depth of field, which I gather the slow F4.0-5.8 will work against. Any of the f2 zooms that I see are well beyond my price point at the moment (the Olympus zooms seem perpetually on back order anyway).

An option is a to forgo a zoom and get a prime like the Zeiss Planar T* 1,4/50 or 1,4/85, either of which, when combined with a Novoflex MFT/NIK adapter, just hits the margin of my lens budget… or a Sigma EX 30mm f/1.4 or 50mm f/1.4 with the 4/3 to M4/3 adapter would work.

Of course I lose any flexibility with a fixed prime with regards to focal length… ugh, the torment! One work around -- maybe -- is to frame the interview for the MCU with a fixed prime (but which?!) and push in to a CU in post. I am planning on adding the AJA Ki Pro Mini to the kit in order to record ProRes422. You think the sharpness of the prime glass coupled with the high data rate of the ProRes codec will allow for some blowing up without too much noticeable degradation (Isn't that pretty much what Errol Morris does anyway?)

Wow, this turned out to be a much longer post than I intended. If you made it this far, I thank you! :thumbsup:
 
If you are worried about budget, why not pickup some old Canon FD primes or older Nikon primes? You could get a 24/35/50/85 for close to the price of one Zeiss lens if you are smart about it.
 
Second the above post, I just finished shooting 6 interviews this month with the 14-42 Lumix and an older 50mm manual canon FD, could not be happier with the images or the FOV. You can easily purchase both of those lenses, and a couple other older manual canon/nikon primes for the price of the 14-140.
 
Straight up... here are 2 lenses that you can not go wrong with for what you wish to do.

Either or both will nail it for you. (..with an adapter)

Nikkor 17-35mm f2.8
Nikkor 28-70mm f2.8

Both are future proof, quality optics and engineered, versatile (variable primes).
Both will hold their value for many years (because you will need to get them both second hand and they are now sought after)
Both are full manual ( but have auto capabilties on appropriate cameras)
Neither are "electronic" or OIS. - a good thing in my opinion.
Next best thing to true cine lenses.
 
wait a tic… I actually happen to own two Canon FD lenses! On my old Canon AE-1 camera I have a Canon FD 50mm and a 28mm as well. These will work on the AF100 with an adaptor? I expect they would act as 100mm and 56mm respectively?
 
Shooter said:
They will act as a 28 and a 50.
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Oh? I must be confused. I thought that the sensor crop of the AF100 essentially doubled the FOV, making a 50mm lens act like a 100mm. See, this is just how green I am when it comes to lenses. It's the one area that I never paid to much attention to. I am grateful for the help!
 
A 50 is a 50 is a 50... ( same magnification). Different FOV and that depends on the sensor.

How will you control the exposure with these lenses?
 
Shooter, break it down so he understands.

Mike. A 50 will be a 50, but on the af100 it will have a field of view of a 100mm (2x mag due to M43 sensor). Now if you put a 5d with a 50 and and af100 with a 50 in the same spot, they will have same DOF. But if you move that af100 back to create same FOV as 5d, it won't have the same DOF. Now in the same spot again, if you add a 100mm to 5d, the FOV will be the same as af100 w/50, but DOF will be shallower on 5d.

Yes, you a can adapt your FD glass to af100.

Now you can go with shooters suggestion with the mentioned nikkor zooms, great glass, run you about $3200/new. Or, you can e-bay older nikkor primes (50/1.4, 24/2, 85/2 or faster, 35/2) and spend about $1600 for the lot. but being that you have the 50 and the 28 Canon FD's just buy an FD to M43 adapter and shoot away...
 
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Shooter said:
A 50 is a 50 is a 50... ( same magnification). Different FOV and that depends on the sensor.
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Yes, that is my understanding… that a 50mm lens on the 4/3 sensor has the FOV of a 100mm lens on a 35mm camera. Isn't that right? But I guess I am confusing magnification, field of view, and apparent depth…*

What I do know, is that I am looking to use a lens that looks good for interviews. I think of focal lengths typically used for portraits and close ups (I think 75mm, 100mm, 135mm)… so if I understand correctly, my 50mm isn't going to cut it and I'll want to go for maybe a 100mm?

How will you control the exposure with these lenses?
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I'm not entirely sure what you are specifically asking. Do you mean in terms of ISO ratings (I'm used to thinking in video terms like Gain rather than ISO) and/or aperture settings?
 
Shooter, break it down so he understands.
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I barely understand it my self!

What we do around here is..simple....we dont try and make any comparison or calculation between focal lenfgths. We fit a lens and we "look" at what it is doing for us.

We fully understand what each and every lens we own does and when / where to use each one. The number on each one is only a way of "naming it" and is irrelevant otherwise

We have selected our lenses that meet our "criteria" and as being suitable for cine work on the AF102 as well as what and how we shoot.
Our criteria maybe be very different to others criteria.
 
I'm starting to see where I am confusing different technical aspects. I'm much more used to thinking in creative terms ("I want it to look like this") than technical ("I need this to make it look like that"). So all in all, I'd still want to be getting a 100mm or 135mm (longer would be overkill, no?) for my interview framing, eh?
 
Being that you said you have a 28 and 50 FD lens, you have a good start. Your 50mm FD will act like a 100 (FOV) but have the DOF of a 50mm. THose markings on the lens, the depth of field scale won't change on the af100. Now, I have the 14-140 and I like the lens as a general lens, I have no problem with the 100-140 range on that lens at 5.6 as you still get a nice DOF. And if you're lighting an interview the speed shouldn't be a problem with the Lumix. If I need speed, I go to my Nikkor primes or EOS primes. What Shooter is suggesting is the 24-70 Nikon 2.8 (FOV of 48-140 on af100). Pricey but glass lasts. An old saying, Buy cheap buy twice. I think if most of your stuff is interviews, I'd have a look at the nikon 24-70/2.8. Now you won't get any auto focus with the nikon glass. With the AF100, the ability to adapt so many optics, there really is a choosing one must do.
 
If you are going to do an interview or several, buy yourself a nice 50mm and 85mm prime. If you buy wisely, I'd bet it will be sharper and have better contrast than any zoom in the same price range.

Read reviews online at http://www.dpreview.com/ or http://www.kenrockwell.com/ or any other dozens of sites and figure out which glass is good for your needs and price range.

Spend a few bucks on a chepo ebay adapter, or a few of them, and test a few lenses out at a local photo shop, or meet up with a fellow DVXUser. If you are in NYC, feel free to come by and check out my setup.

I just shot three interviews with a two camera (AF100 and GH2) setup, and used an 85mm and a 135mm. They worked great. It all depends on what you want to show.
 
dustylense said:
Here is an FD to M43 adapter, there are many of them: http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-FD-FL-Len...ltDomain_0&hash=item43a252075e#ht_2144wt_1141
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My experience of these e-bay adaptors has been poor. I've bought a couple but neither are good. The main problem is that they are lightweight and even when locked right in don't hold the lenses particularly solidly. Pull focus with a followfocus unit and the lens moves in the mount.

Here is a decent adaptor - heavyweight stainless steel - solid as a rock !

http://www.mtfservices.com/home.htm...page=flypage.tpl&product_id=108&category_id=2
 
In interview situations I usually shy away from primes in favor of constant aperture zooms as I m always re-framing and don't have time to switch glass.
 
mcgeedigital said:
In interview situations I usually shy away from primes in favor of constant aperture zooms as I m always re-framing and don't have time to switch glass.
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I agree & mostly use an EOS 24-70/2.8 or occasionally the 24-105/4. I prefer the reach on the longer lens, but the speed of the shorter. If I were to pick one Nikkor for interviews it would be the 24-70/2.8 as it's supposedly parfocal. The Nikkor 28-70/2.8 is not parfocal, but it does have an aperture ring.
 
I really like my Olympus 35-100 for shooting interviews. Great for low light at 2.0 and great for varying your shots. I tried the Panasonic Lumix, but wasn't happy with the picture quality compared to the Olympus, that and it doesn't do well in low light.
 
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