Olympus 14-35, 35-100 zoom lens owners

What type of helicopter shoots were you doing? What lenses did you use?
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This is a question asked a while ago, and I didn't respond, don't want to seem rude...

The helicopter shots I've referred to were one for Mercury Cougar in the late 60s with an early Tyler. And, again, in the early 80s I was shooting from a Hughes 500 for CBS during a monster storm. The gyro went weird and I finished the shoot hand held (with a TK76!) out the door in a gale force wind. Not pleasant - (we also had a rotor malfunction while over open ocean in Monterey Bay). I don't like helicopters any more.
 
thomas diehl said:
so which ones did you buy instead?
I am really frustrated about the zoom-lens situation,
I had just decided to buy some zuikos ...
what now?
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I bought a set of Zeiss ZF.2 primes (28mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4) and three Nikon zooms, all f/2.8 with manual aperture (17-35mm, 28-70mm, 80-200mm). Using them with Novoflex adapter. Excellent results. I'm very happy now.
 
editman said:
I just sold My 35-100/2 because it stayed at home most of the time. I found out I like smaller lenses on my AF101...
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Can definitely see where you're coming from. However, I find that lens along with the 14-35 are such a knockout pair for dual cam interviews that not to have it would be like having one of the old jewels removed. :)
 
I use my Olympus 35-100mm f2 mounted on a heavy-duty Manfrotto gimbal for nightclub event shooting and it's simply awesome. I also used it once outdoors in the rain and it performed like a tank. I recently found a 16x9 Inc. 0.7X 72mm wide-angle adapter on eBay for $0.11 (yes!). This thing is massive but screws neatly on the non-extending front barrel of the 35-100mm, converting it into a 25-70mm zoom with imperceptible loss of light or video image quality. As a medium-range nightscope it simply cannot be beat.
 
So after testing this temp lens, I've got the same headache of changing f-stop, but what an awesome picture...

I have however come to realize that I would probably always be using this 14-35 more like 3 primes at 14, 25, and 35 anyway. Add to that - I cant find any competing set of 3 primes that does what this lens does for less money, so, it would appear this is still my best value/option.

It burns my butt, however I'll probably end up keeping it. I just love the picture.
 
I have suffered with the notchy iris action on the Olympus lenses because for the money the variable focal lengths are really what I need, and the Olympus lenses are the best choice at the moment. That could change once the Birger mount comes out and then some Canon lenses will be more attractive. I played with the prototype Birger at Nab and it really does a sweet job of operating those canon lenses..

That said I just spent 2 days in Detroit shooting interviews with 2 AF's and the Olympus 14-35 and 35-100 were exactly the right combo for this assignment.
 
Regretfully replaced our Oly 35-100 with 2 vintage Leica R lenses : 35-70/F4 and 70-180/F2.8
Terrific IQ of course, bit of a trade off with slower F stop and replacing one lens with 2 but ......(insert drum roll) ....no iris glictch!
These lenses are typically used by us in well-lit setups, ISO 800+, so slower F stop has been no problem. 35-70 is our default
interview lens used wide open, beautiful bokeh and F/4 can keep both eyes in focus : )
 
I just want to say that the service I received regarding this issue from both Olympus and Don's Photo was over the top awesome.

I have decided to keep with the ED 14-35... the picture is super, and I just can't say enough about the support. These two together trump the iris problem, which I am no not convinced is only the lenses fault. I'm pretty sure it's a communication problem between the manufacturers.

Now it was the advertised ease of these products all working together that attracted me to the micro 4/3 system, it would be wise for the different manufacturers to spend some time getting their software to understand one another.
 
monkeyking said:
Regretfully replaced our Oly 35-100 with 2 vintage Leica R lenses : 35-70/F4 and 70-180/F2.8
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kylekmd said:
I bought a set of Zeiss ZF.2 primes (28mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4) and three Nikon zooms, all f/2.8 with manual aperture (17-35mm, 28-70mm, 80-200mm). Using them with Novoflex adapter. Excellent results. I'm very happy now.
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I've been using the 14-35 + 35-100 for a few months now in India. I love the image they make, and I'm more or less OK with not being able to rack-focus on the 35-100. However my main problem is shooting outdoor interviews in changing light, I need to change the aperture smoothly and on the Af100 it seems like it only changes in BIG jumps (like f/4.0 to f/4.6, skipping 4.2, 4.4, etc.) This is pretty annoying. Can those Nikon zooms or Leica zooms you mentioned have their aperture ring de-clicked by duclos etc. ? Or are you also having to do big aperture jumps with those.

I would pay $3000 a piece for these Zuiko lenses if they had manual focus and a de-clicked aperture ring, I don't even care that much about the breathing...

P.S. Not being able to scroll through the ISO's while recording on the AF100 really sucks, and especially if you have a lens like this where it jumps in aperture! I'm looking at buying a Fader ND of some kind just to be able to change my exposure smoothly... (ISO jumps to 3 settings, lens aperture jumps, ND wheel is super obvious while recording, how the heck can you smoothly change exposure while recording???)
 
P.S. Not being able to scroll through the ISO's while recording on the AF100 really sucks, and especially if you have a lens like this where it jumps in aperture!
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Thats the price you pay for using a stills lens (without an aperture ring) on a movie camera

ISOs arent meant for controlling aperture (exposure)... as a general and practical rule.
 
Shooter said:
ISOs arent meant for controlling aperture (exposure)... as a general and practical rule.
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I know this, but as budget digital cinematography where DOF control is important gains more popularity, I think this will become more popular and desirable.

It must be fairly common to say, setup an interview for f/4.0 with 6" of DOF, and want to make minor adjustments to the gain/sensitivity/ISO as lighting changes without messing up the delicate DOF setup (aka becoming too shallow and loosing focus or diminishing the aesthetically desirable bokeh for the shot.) This is a different situation then a 1/3" ENG shooter would face, and in analog cinematography live ISO-adjustment isn't possible. But now that we have the technology why not give one more tool for those who want it? Surely a ISO-adjustment wheel or something isn't technologically so difficult to implement on all these new cameras.

Anyway maybe that's a subject for another thread.

I guess your workflow is using de-clicked Nikkor lenses and smoothly changing aperture if/when needed?
 
Yeah. Call me old fashioned but ...I do like to know what the f-stop is and I do like the simple mechanical convenience of adjusting it and basing other exposure factors around it.

That does not mean I dont believe there is some validity to what you ask for though.
 
Totally. I will probably end up buying a set of Zeiss ZF.2's or Nikkor zooms and get them de-clicked eventually, I certainly like knowing the F-stop and being able to adjust it smoothly with my own analog flesh-and-bone hand.

Sometimes though I will want to shoot to maintain a certain DOF and adjust sensitivity around that as lighting changes outdoors. I'm thinking a Fader ND is the only real way that's going to happen in the near future.
 
Rod support is mandatory for the 35-100 Olympus lens which is a beast at 3.7lbs and about a foot long w/shade. AF100 lens mount weight capacity is rated at 2.1lbs
The 14-35 Olympus lens is just light enough to not require rod support and the focal lenght range is much better suited for handheld (shouldermounted) . The 35-100 focal range
is too long for practical handheld work, ymmv.
Actually I still use rods w/14-35 handheld for my handgrips, cineroid vf.
 
Barry_Green said:
I badgered the major lens manufacturers about this. I pestered Angenieux, Fujinon, and Zeiss, attempting to make the case that there is a potentially huge market for a small, affordable, fast zoom. I have a Super16 Angenieux 17.5-70 zoom, which is f/2.2. Compared to the Arri Alura S35 18-80 zoom, it's basically the same focal length but it's 1/10th the weight, half the length, about 1/4th the diameter, and almost an f-stop faster, and was 1/25th the price. Only problem is, of course, that the AF100's sensor is over twice as big as S16 film and so the lens doesn't cover the sensor. But it comes pretty darn close, maybe 80% close. So I think it would be reasonable that they could extend the image circle coverage just a bit, might make the lens just a bit bigger, maybe a tad slower, but maybe we would end up with something like a two-pound 17.5-70 at maybe f/2.4. With pure manual slick luscious cinema mechanicals. How many of you would buy something like that? I'd be first in line.

Question is, is there a big enough market for something like that? Well, consider that Red turned the PL lens market absolutely inside out, by selling 8,000 new PL-mount cameras in the space of four years. Panasonic has (by my estimate) sold that many AF100's in four MONTHS. And every one of us is looking for that cine-style lens... I think there's a huge market, I think it could be an amazing product, and I really hope that they listen and see the potential.
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Barry,

The lack of a lens like that is the reason I haven't bought an AF 100 yet.
If a lens like that was offered, it would take me about 10 seconds to buy it
and the AF100.....if that long.
 
Sometimes though I will want to shoot to maintain a certain DOF and adjust sensitivity around that as lighting changes outdoors. I'm thinking a Fader ND is the only real way that's going to happen in the near future.
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I carry a set of glass ND filters .3,.6,.9 ..... and use in combination with the built in wheel. I am a simple man and need simple solutions.
 
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