GH4 Olympus 40-150mm F2.8 on GH4 for Video?

A

avfreedman

New member
Hi all,

I'm a videography professional for a local community college and I also shoot corporate and wedding videos as a small business on the side. I own a GH4 with the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8, but I'm in need of a telephoto lens. At work, I use the Panasonic AF100 and have the Panasonic 35-100 f/2.8. I love the lens, but I often find myself wishing I had just a little more reach. To get around this, I've thought about shooting in 4k on the GH4 at 100mm on the panasonic telephoto lens, then just punching in further in post but, of course, getting closer on the raw footage would be more ideal.

I know an Olympus on the GH4 means no OIS and, for video, that can be a deal breaker - especially as I'm often run-and-gunning weddings, but I'll most likely have the GH4 on a tripod when I'm using the Olympus lens - so maybe not having the OIS isn't such a big deal in my case?

I'm also aware the Olympus lens is larger than the Panasonic, but size really isn't a big concern for me as it's still way better than the full-frame lens comparison.

If anyone's out there who has used the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 on a GH4 for video, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks!
 
I've used it once for stills, and if you're going to mount it on a tripod it's not going to be an issue anyway.

The main downside for me is that the zoom ring turns the other way around. I'm so used to the Nikon/Panasonic way the Canon/Olympus way drives me nuts.
 
Thanks for the response Yslee!

Hmm, I never thought about the zoom ring turning a different way. Not sure if that would get on my nerves too. I think I would definitely appreciate the fact the Olympus isn't a fly-by-wire focus ring.

I guess a lot of people just go for the pany 35-100mm because I just can't find any information/reviews about using the olympus on the GH4 :/
 
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Ooh, good video Vardalos!

It might just come down to me having to buy the Olympus 40-150mm and test it out. I suppose I can always return it to B&H if it's not to my liking.
 
The focus ring is focus-by-wire. All m43 lenses have no direct mechanical coupling to the focus helicoid.

That said, for use with a follow focus it should be fine. There might be a bit of lag but it should not interfere.
 
I've used Olympus 14-35mm and 35-100mm f2.0 zooms and they're both superb photographic lenses, but they share the typical MFT drawbacks for video: aperture glitches and focus drift while zooming. So the question is...

Does the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 hold focus and aperture steady while zooming?

BTW, I also have an AF100 and this is the most parfocal telephoto zoom I've found so far:

http://www.buhla.de/Foto/Konica/Objektive/e80-200_35.html
 
yslee said:
The focus ring is focus-by-wire. All m43 lenses have no direct mechanical coupling to the focus helicoid. That said, for use with a follow focus it should be fine. There might be a bit of lag but it should not interfere.
Click to expand...
Actually the 40-150 is not fly-by-wire. Once you slide the focus ring into MF position it's mechanical, with hard stops. Should work just fine with a lens gear and a FF. Same with the 12-40.
 
Focus drift while zooming is a typicall drawback for ALL still photo lenses. If some of those happen to hold focus / are parfocal - it is by accident.
 
I own 12-40/2.8, it is a nice lense and indeed when the focus ring is switched into manual position, it feels like mechanical and does have hard stops. Miles away better than the usual m43 lenses like 45/1.8 and 12/2.5 i owned before.
 
aldolega said:
Actually the 40-150 is not fly-by-wire. Once you slide the focus ring into MF position it's mechanical, with hard stops. Should work just fine with a lens gear and a FF. Same with the 12-40.
Click to expand...

Nope, it's focus-by-wire. Turn off the camera and you'll realise the lens elements don't move. The lens is merely mimicking a traditional manual focus mechanism.
 
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