Newbie needs help choosing GH2 lenses

J

Julie_Freed

Member
Hello there :)

I am a no budget film maker who just makes movies for fun, and I thought I'd upgrade my Panasonic HDS-TM300 and enter DSLR land so I can get a more film-like image. I've never used a DSLR for video, and I know they require a bit more effort than a dedicated cam, but I am excited to learn and practice.

I've done some research and it appears that the best and most cost effective option for me is the GH2, but I've never dealt with lenses. How many should I have? Is there a good all around one that can shoot a little bit of everything, or do I need a bunch of them? What are the higher quality ones? I do plan to shoot subjects both near and far, and both indoors and out, and I do not have any fancy lighting (yet). Also, Image stabilization is important. (Do they all have that?). And are all of them zoom lenses? Questions, questions..

I have set aside a nice budget for the lenses as I know that makes a huge difference. I would like very high quality.

Again this is new area for me, so I hope I don't sound too dumb. :) I hope someone out there can guide this noob in the right direction.
 
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A prime lens at a fixed focal range has some advantages, primarily they are much "faster" than zooms, meaning they can see better in low light. They also have a nicer aesthetic in my opinion. If you're okay swapping lenses when you need to change to a different focal range then primes are a really great investment.

If you want to get "film-like" footage from the gh2, then vintage prime lenses can really help you there. The advantage of using a vintage lens as opposed to a new "electronic" lens, is that you can manually adjust the aperture via a ring right on the lens itself. If you're after a softer filmic image, then the Nikkor 50mm 1.4 is a pretty good choice. You can find one pretty easily for under $100 on ebay. Here is a video I shot with that exact lens, https://vimeo.com/39151120 . There are many vintage brands all easily found for less than $100. You probably want to get setup with a couple lenses that are around 30mm - 50mm; this would be adequate for many standard shots. You can always get a 80mm-90mm lens for long distance shots as well.

Cheap, but awesome brands to look out for:
Nikkor
Minolta Rokkor
Canon FD
Takumar

All these vintage lenses will require an adapter, since they are not the same mount as the gh2 (m4/3). These are usually inexpensive and can be found for around $15-30.
 
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I just spent a lot of time trolling ebay for canon FD lenses. Unless you want to spend a lot of $ you will want prime (non-zoom) lenses. They are fast and reasonably cheap. I picked up a 50mm 1.8 for $30 and a 28mm f2 for $75 (Vivitar). The GH2 produces a very sharp image with most Lumix lenses, so you can soften it up a bit with the older Canon lenses. I also picked up a cheap FD to m43 adapter off of Ebay.

Also keep in mind that m43 cameras double the focal length - so a 50mm (on a 35mm sensor) is = to 100mm and a 28mm=56mm, etc.
 
L1N3ARX said:
A prime lens at a fixed focal range has some advantages, primarily they are much "faster" than zooms, meaning they can see better in low light. They also have a nicer aesthetic in my opinion. If you're okay swapping lenses when you need to change to a different focal range then primes are a really great investment.

If you want to get "film-like" footage from the gh2, then vintage prime lenses can really help you there. The advantage of using a vintage lens as opposed to a new "electronic" lens, is that you can manually adjust the aperture via a ring right on the lens itself. If you're after a softer filmic image, then the Nikkor 50mm 1.4 is a pretty good choice. You can find one pretty easily for under $100 on ebay. Here is a video I shot with that exact lens, https://vimeo.com/39151120 . There are many vintage brands all easily found for less than $100. You probably want to get setup with a couple lenses that are around 30mm - 50mm; this would be adequate for many standard shots. You can always get a 80mm-90mm lens for long distance shots as well.

Cheap, but awesome brands to look out for:
Nikkor
Minolta Rokkor
Canon FD
Takumar

All these vintage lenses will require an adapter, since they are not the same mount as the gh2 (m4/3). These are usually inexpensive and can be found for around $15-30.
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[h=1][/h]Would that be a better option than the 14-140mm Panasonic includes in their kit? Should I go body-only and the Nikkor? Thanks again for your advice, and I love your video! :)
 
IMO, since you are new to the camera go with the 14-140mm Panasonic. It is a very good lens and allows you to use all features of the camera. After a little bit of experience you can try some of the vintage lenses that others have mentioned.
 
L1N3ARX,

Will I need a lens wider with the Sigma 30mm 1.4? I was looking at the 11-16 2.8 Tokina.

I'm assuming I won't need to invest in a telephoto lens since I can utilize the crop feature on the GH2. I'm either going to buy the GH2 kit with the 14-140mm and a 30mm, or buy the GH2 body with the 30mm and another lens.
 
Julie_Freed said:
Would that be a better option than the 14-140mm Panasonic includes in their kit? Should I go body-only and the Nikkor? Thanks again for your advice, and I love your video! :)
Click to expand...

Well, the 14-140 is an okay lens, nothing wrong with it except it won't really help you out in low light. For the price of a 14-140 you could get about 5-6 great vintage lenses that will give you a far superior cinematic image, and will handle low light situations much better.

Keep in mind, vintage lenses will retain the exact same value over time. Buy a $70 vintage today, and by next year it is worth the same or more. You can't lose here. If you're set on producing a captivating cinematic image, and want to get serious about video, go with a couple vintage lenses to start. You won't regret it.
 
L1N3ARX, would love to know some of your 5-6 recommendations for vintage lenses! will be shooting music videos and commercials. thanks!
 
The best medium wide lens you could find is an Olympus Zuiko OM 24 f2.8. On the GH2 it is a standard lens, but it compares favorably in sharpness, contrast and color to any lens made around that time. Olympus also made a series of F2.0 lenses in a multicoated version (MC) at 21, 24, 28 and 35mm. These are the holy grail of vintage lenses, but the 21mm is going for close to $1000 with the 24mm close to $600.

In any case all the vintage Zuiko OM lenses are well worth it if you find one at a garage sale or such.

Cheers,
Pete
 
boo said:
L1N3ARX, would love to know some of your 5-6 recommendations for vintage lenses! will be shooting music videos and commercials. thanks!
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Right off the top of my head, my go-to vintage lenses would probably be:

md w.rokkor-x 28mm 2.8
md w.rokkor-x 35mm f/1.8
mir 24m m42 2/35
Nikkor 50mm 1.4 or the super takumar 50mm 1.4 (both amazing)
canon fd 85mm 1.8

All those lenses are well built, have focus rings that make you never want to shoot another modern lens again and all produce very nice cinematic images.
 
I might add Rokkor-X 45 mm f2 pancake, should be sharp even aperture wide open. Costs almost nothing, is a bit wider than 50 mm lenses and offers mega-quality.
 
L1N3ARX said:
Right off the top of my head, my go-to vintage lenses would probably be:

md w.rokkor-x 28mm 2.8
md w.rokkor-x 35mm f/1.8
mir 24m m42 2/35
Nikkor 50mm 1.4 or the super takumar 50mm 1.4 (both amazing)
canon fd 85mm 1.8

All those lenses are well built, have focus rings that make you never want to shoot another modern lens again and all produce very nice cinematic images.
Click to expand...

This is great, thank you. :) If you had to choose just 2 or 3 of these for that breathtaking cinema-like image, which are your favorites? Also, can you recommend me the adapter I would need to use these on the GH2? Thank you again.
 
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