Ed Jeffersen
Active member
Wondering if by chance any of you have mounted one of these to your AF100?
My question is does the aperture ring work on the AF100?
Happy 4th!
My question is does the aperture ring work on the AF100?
Happy 4th!
Panasonic Lieca 42.5mm and 15mm lens on AF100?
- Thread starter Ed Jeffersen
- Start date
Ed Jeffersen
Active member
I will answer my own post for anyone who would like to know. Happy to report the aperture ring on the 42.4mm Nocticron does work with the AF100. There is a bit of delay, but I find it a good thing because the change is gradual. The lens is as good as they say and I look forward to my next talking head shoot.
Two problems I find ... first off the lens barrel diameter. It extends equal to or beyond the bottom plate of the GH4. I will have to modify my manfrotto plate, or use a shim of some type. Of course this is not a problem with the AF100.
The second issue is manual focussing. It is very smooth, but the variable "focus by wire" make it impossible to replicate a follow focus pull. The rate of focus changes with the rotational speed of the focus ring. Slow turns give higher precision and faster turns jump quickly. These results were the same with my GX7 and AF100. (The GH4 is in for repair of the audio circuit.)
The choice between this and the Voigtlander 42.5mm was difficult. My desision was made based on the Power O.I.S. that will make for some nice stills when hend held shooting the GH4.
I will be purchasing the 15mm as well.
Two problems I find ... first off the lens barrel diameter. It extends equal to or beyond the bottom plate of the GH4. I will have to modify my manfrotto plate, or use a shim of some type. Of course this is not a problem with the AF100.
The second issue is manual focussing. It is very smooth, but the variable "focus by wire" make it impossible to replicate a follow focus pull. The rate of focus changes with the rotational speed of the focus ring. Slow turns give higher precision and faster turns jump quickly. These results were the same with my GX7 and AF100. (The GH4 is in for repair of the audio circuit.)
The choice between this and the Voigtlander 42.5mm was difficult. My desision was made based on the Power O.I.S. that will make for some nice stills when hend held shooting the GH4.
I will be purchasing the 15mm as well.
James Fisher
Active member
Hi Ed,
Thanks for the update on these two lenses. Very tempted by the Nocticron. I too can't decide between the Voigtlander and this. Have the CV 25mm and love the manual control, but the Nocticron just looks amazing at every aperture while the Voigtlanders start to get a little shaky larger than 1.4 =)
Thanks for the update on these two lenses. Very tempted by the Nocticron. I too can't decide between the Voigtlander and this. Have the CV 25mm and love the manual control, but the Nocticron just looks amazing at every aperture while the Voigtlanders start to get a little shaky larger than 1.4 =)
My experience with the Nocticron wide open (GH4):
https://vimeo.com/102891300
https://vimeo.com/103187015
https://vimeo.com/102891300
https://vimeo.com/103187015
I recently got the 15mm lumix lens. And as with the 42.4mm the aperture ring, af/mf button and everything else. does work on the AF100. If anyone thinks about buying this lens....a few opinions...
-If you were hoping that the aperture ring is like a "real" aperture ring that will let you adjust exposure seamlessly then you will be dissapointed. The ring is just like using the normal control "wheel" on the camera. The aperture is adjusted in steps so forget about fineadjusting exposure during a shot. It will be look just as bad as with all the other lenses. When that is said the ring is a lot nicer and more intuitive to use than the "wheel" on the camera. So I am hoping this ring will be present on other future lenses as well.
-The focus ring feels nicer than the other lenses i have (the 14-140mm, 20mm, 12-35mm).
-I am a bit dissapointed in the continous auto-focus respons of this lens. Sometimes it takes quite a while before the lens decides to refocus (particularly if you go from a object very close and then pan to a object far away or the opposite). But when it finally decides to refocus it does so really fast. I am unsure if this is an issue with the camera or the lens. It should be the camera that tells the lens where to focus, but I tried doing the same shots several times (also with the same f-stop and mm) with both the 15mm and the 12-35mm lens. And the 12-35mm repsonded faster and more accurate all the time. I was hoping to use the 15mm for steadicam shots, but the unreliable AF performance of this lens makes it unsuitable for that purpose when shooting things that I you cant do a second take on. So for me I will go back to the 12-35mm (which is much more reliable) for that purpose. I hope a firmware update might improve the AF performance up to the standard of the 12-35mm. But to be clear...The AF response of the lens is in a totally different league to the old 20mm lens.
-the focus motor of the lens makes a little bit of noise. It is not loud, but in a silent room you will hear it. The 12-35mm is quieter.
-with the nice aperture and focus rings on the lens this could have been a really good lens for shooting with a shoulder rig. But the lack of OIS sadly makes it not very suited for this unless you have an extremely steady hand. The 12-35mm with its great OIS is so much more useful for handheld shooting.
Who should buy it?
-if you mainly do interviews on a tripod and want shallow depth of field this lens could be for you. But since this situation requires only manual focus you could might as well just buy the 20mm and save a lot of money.
-if you want to do run-and-gun handhenld or on a shoulder rig the lack of OIS makes it kind of unusable for this. The 12-35mm (even handheld on max zoom) with OIS on will give you a steadier shot.
-if you want to use the lens for steadicam work I would recomend saving up for the 12-35mm which performs more reliably on AF. If you absolutely need the larger aperture of the 15mm lens then it is usable, but be prepared for a lot of hit and miss with AF performance.
-If you were hoping that the aperture ring is like a "real" aperture ring that will let you adjust exposure seamlessly then you will be dissapointed. The ring is just like using the normal control "wheel" on the camera. The aperture is adjusted in steps so forget about fineadjusting exposure during a shot. It will be look just as bad as with all the other lenses. When that is said the ring is a lot nicer and more intuitive to use than the "wheel" on the camera. So I am hoping this ring will be present on other future lenses as well.
-The focus ring feels nicer than the other lenses i have (the 14-140mm, 20mm, 12-35mm).
-I am a bit dissapointed in the continous auto-focus respons of this lens. Sometimes it takes quite a while before the lens decides to refocus (particularly if you go from a object very close and then pan to a object far away or the opposite). But when it finally decides to refocus it does so really fast. I am unsure if this is an issue with the camera or the lens. It should be the camera that tells the lens where to focus, but I tried doing the same shots several times (also with the same f-stop and mm) with both the 15mm and the 12-35mm lens. And the 12-35mm repsonded faster and more accurate all the time. I was hoping to use the 15mm for steadicam shots, but the unreliable AF performance of this lens makes it unsuitable for that purpose when shooting things that I you cant do a second take on. So for me I will go back to the 12-35mm (which is much more reliable) for that purpose. I hope a firmware update might improve the AF performance up to the standard of the 12-35mm. But to be clear...The AF response of the lens is in a totally different league to the old 20mm lens.
-the focus motor of the lens makes a little bit of noise. It is not loud, but in a silent room you will hear it. The 12-35mm is quieter.
-with the nice aperture and focus rings on the lens this could have been a really good lens for shooting with a shoulder rig. But the lack of OIS sadly makes it not very suited for this unless you have an extremely steady hand. The 12-35mm with its great OIS is so much more useful for handheld shooting.
Who should buy it?
-if you mainly do interviews on a tripod and want shallow depth of field this lens could be for you. But since this situation requires only manual focus you could might as well just buy the 20mm and save a lot of money.
-if you want to do run-and-gun handhenld or on a shoulder rig the lack of OIS makes it kind of unusable for this. The 12-35mm (even handheld on max zoom) with OIS on will give you a steadier shot.
-if you want to use the lens for steadicam work I would recomend saving up for the 12-35mm which performs more reliably on AF. If you absolutely need the larger aperture of the 15mm lens then it is usable, but be prepared for a lot of hit and miss with AF performance.
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