GH4 Sigma 18-35 with SB or Lumix 12-35?

I

Itamar Kool

New member
I am going to make a documentary about an old peoples house. For this documentary I think I will have a lot of run and gun type of filming, handheld and sometimes in small rooms. Now I am considering the lens I should buy for this type of filming on my GH4 and I think I have two choices:
1. The Lumix 12-35 mm 2.8. The advantage of this lens is that it is AF and has image stabilisation
2. The Sigma 18-35 mm with speedbooster. Will give me a wider FOV (I think), larger aperture but no AF and no image stabilisation
Which one do you think I should choose?
And if you have some advice on sound and rigging, I would be thankful too
 
The 12-35 is "the" run'n gun lens for the GH4. With f2,8 it's no shallow-depth-of-field king, but it's small, light, has IS + AF and the quality is good.
Cons: It has no hard-stops for MF and isn't the fastest out there.

The Sigma 18-35 is a georguess lens: Fast, wide, sharp PERIOD. But it's also big, heavy and all manual on the GH4. If you choose the BMCC-Speedbooster instead of the MFT.Speedbooster it's even faster.
It will be more like a 11,5-22,5/1.1 !! More possibilities through a faster f-stop, greater control with hard stops for MF.
Cons: Larger, heavier, more expensive and manual control only

It all depends on your needs and skills. The Panasonic 12-35 will be the easiest way to have a small and versatile run'n gun machine, the Sigma 18-35 with Speedbooster will be more cinematic but needs lot more manual control from the operator. As the 12-35 will be a good-to-go lens nevertheless, I would begin with that one and add more cinematic options later. Maybe a speedbooster and a cheap and manual 50/1,4 or 85/1,8 lens for close ups...
 
Yep, that's pretty much spot on. The 12-35 has very poor mechanics, but IS is very nice to have. On the other hand, the 18-35 is basically 3 primes in one. I own both, and would keep both (if I wasn't ditching M4/3).
 
Keeping it simple is sometimes a good idea, 12-35 i'd go for unless I really wanted to push it.
 
I have and enjoy the 18-35 as well. Also bought the 12-35 for reasons cited above: simple, quick best mate for GH4. The 12 will stay on MOST of the time, and the 18 used for special manual shoots.
If I had neither, personally, I would have gotten the 12-35 Panny as a do all workhorse.
 
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