GH3 Nikkor AI and Follow Focus

S

sharry

Well-known member
Hey everybody. I was just looking at different follow focus systems and wherever I read reviews there would be at least one review that would come up which would say that small lens like m4/3 and nikkor ai would give a bit of trouble. What is going on? People recommend these lens and they look beautiful. I want to buy the shoot35 cinefocus r2 or the lanparte ff02. Would these cause problems with my Nikkor AI lens. Here are the lens I have:

- Vivitar 19mm f3.8
- Nikkor AI 24mm f2.8
- Nikkor AI 35mm f2.8

All of these lenses will have step up rings to 77mm (though I think this won't matter to follow focus situation). I was thinking of using the halfinchrails lens gears but after reading these posts I don't know what to do. People say that if you go with the kind redrock makes its going to be good. Please help me out. What do you guys who use nikkors do?
 
The thing to know about Nikkors (and most third party F-mount lenses) is that the focus rings rotate in the opposite direction as Lumix and Canon lenses. With Nikon lenses, follow focus gears rotate in the direction I prefer. There are numerous other factors, however, that make some lenses far more video-friendly than others. I compiled a detailed list of such lenses in this thread:

http://www.personal-view.com./talks/discussion/859/video-friendly-lenses-for-lumix-dslrs/p1
 
Ok... After reading, Lpowell's post the only problem with Nikkor AI lenses are that they are compact and they will be problem with FF and MB. But there are solutions. What do you think Lpowell? What I am saying is I cannot afford most of those lens. And seeing the quality of these lens, they are magnificient. According to your list Nikkor Ai, Leica R, Minolta Rokkor, Pentax SMC and Contax Zeiss come with problems. Because all of them are compact. What are the best solutions to make them fit with FF and MB?
 
sharry said:
Wherever I read reviews there would be at least one review that would come up which would say that small lens like m4/3 and nikkor ai would give a bit of trouble. What is going on?
Click to expand...

So you are saying that follow focus systems also don't work well with Panasonic's own m4/3 lenses?

What about Panasonic's new professional zoom lenses? The 12-35mm f/2.8 and the 35-100mm f/2.8? Certainly there must be some type of follow focus available that works well with them?
 
I've never used Lumix lens with FF. I've only used the older gen and also those with hand mostly for BTS photos on a shoot. Also the first gen where told to be that they focus by wire and FF is not too good with them. Don't know about the 2nd gen. FF work but there are two problems. One that they are compact lenses and so it can be difficult to get the gears close enough. Second that using FF with Mattebox would also be difficult. But there are solutions. Like use gears like from redrock or get it geared from duclos (expensive). Also add a metal hood infront of your lens if your are connecting to a mattebox. I guess these will work. I doubt the hood would cause a problem because we are already cropping the FOV. Lets see what other people say.
 
For use with follow focus gears, Lumix lenses are undesirable due to their electronic focus mechanisms and lack of mechanically-coupled focus rings. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Nikon AI-S primes wider than 85mm are problematic due to their short barrel lengths. The lenses I've had the most satisfactory follow focus experiences with are these:

Rokinon/Samyang 85mm f1.4
Tokina AT-X 235 Pro 20-35mm f2.8
Tokina AT-X 270 Pro 28-70mm f2.8
Sigma 20mm f1.8
Nikkor AF 105mm f/2 D Defocus Control
 
Maybe this isn't what you are looking for, but I thought I would just give my two cents. I shoot my GH2 with the D|Focus Follow Focus Version 4, its build quality is a bit lower than some of the ones you are looking at, but for me it works alright. Anyway I shoot with the Nikkor 35mm 2.8 Ai, and the Nikkor 24mm 2.8 AiS (among others) and in most situations I can get by with a variable ND on the front of my lenses, and If I am having a bunch of trouble with light then I put on my Nikon HN-28 hood (which is a 77mm screw-in Hood there are a bunch of different once out there you can use) you mentioned you had step up rings which I use for both the variable ND and the lens hood. If you really want to use a matte box, which I will admit there are certainly some situations where I wish I had one, and you could always look at a clip on style. Best of luck to you on finding a solution, I love my old Nikkor lenses and if you can you should try to make them work for you.
 
Yeah I have decided to go with the Nikkor lens and with the step up rings along with metal hoods like the the one zeiss has. Even if i want to add the mattebox I can attach it with the hood on the lens. I guess that will give a bit of space to the FF.
 
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