Joshua Milligan
Well-known member
Hey friends, I used to own the Canon 18-80 Cine Servo Zoom and I loved using it on the FS7. The lens grip was perfectly placed and felt much more comfortable to me than using the FS7's handgrip. It simply felt natural. Also, the servo zoom was ultra fast and very responsive allowing for crash zooms for in-the-moment filming on doc shoots and events. I also really appreciated the manual focus. I felt the focus throw was perfect for filming run and gun shoulder shots and was easy to pull focus with.
Last year, however, I ended up selling my 18-80 and picking up Sony's 18-110 because the range simply made more sense for my line of work. I really like the lens, the image quality, the focal range, the lens hood, etc. I'm using it on a FS7 MK II now and it's a pretty slick setup. That being said, there are a few quirks with the lens that make it harder to work with than the 18-80, for me at least.
First, the focus throw is almost too long. I don't want a DSLR lens-like focus throw that's so short you can't pull focus with, but the focus throw on the 18-110 is so long that I can't by hand do rack focus shots very well. It's just requires too much of a turn to get from point A to point B. I know this is not something that can really be fixed unless I use a follow focus and whip, so I just have to live with it, but I do wish it was a little shorter.
Second, the servo zoom is very slow. You can only get a crash zoom if you zoom by hand using the zoom ring which sometimes isn't ideal for shoulder shooting, plus, sometimes I just need to pull in or out quickly during a shot and with this lens that's hard to do. It's also not very responsive. There's definitely a lag between pushing the servo and the lens actually zooming.
The last problem I have is that there is no option to add a lens grip to the lens itself like you can on the 18-80. This means I have to use the FS7's handgrip which feels awkward to me.
So, with those issues in mind, I had some thoughts on a solution. I understand that the focus throw is what it is, so I won't address that any further, but what if someone could design a handgrip that could somehow be strapped or mounted to the lens barrel that had it's own servo? It would almost be like the lens grip on the 18-80. If so, we could give the 18-110 a great handgrip for working from the shoulder without needing the FS7's grip and with it's own servo and motor, we could fix the problem with how slow and unresponsive the zoom is.
I love this lens and would be ecstatic to buy a grip like this for it if there was something out there that would work or if there was a way to build one. It would make my work so much easier. I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas on the matter and see what kind of solutions we could come up with. Thanks!
Last year, however, I ended up selling my 18-80 and picking up Sony's 18-110 because the range simply made more sense for my line of work. I really like the lens, the image quality, the focal range, the lens hood, etc. I'm using it on a FS7 MK II now and it's a pretty slick setup. That being said, there are a few quirks with the lens that make it harder to work with than the 18-80, for me at least.
First, the focus throw is almost too long. I don't want a DSLR lens-like focus throw that's so short you can't pull focus with, but the focus throw on the 18-110 is so long that I can't by hand do rack focus shots very well. It's just requires too much of a turn to get from point A to point B. I know this is not something that can really be fixed unless I use a follow focus and whip, so I just have to live with it, but I do wish it was a little shorter.
Second, the servo zoom is very slow. You can only get a crash zoom if you zoom by hand using the zoom ring which sometimes isn't ideal for shoulder shooting, plus, sometimes I just need to pull in or out quickly during a shot and with this lens that's hard to do. It's also not very responsive. There's definitely a lag between pushing the servo and the lens actually zooming.
The last problem I have is that there is no option to add a lens grip to the lens itself like you can on the 18-80. This means I have to use the FS7's handgrip which feels awkward to me.
So, with those issues in mind, I had some thoughts on a solution. I understand that the focus throw is what it is, so I won't address that any further, but what if someone could design a handgrip that could somehow be strapped or mounted to the lens barrel that had it's own servo? It would almost be like the lens grip on the 18-80. If so, we could give the 18-110 a great handgrip for working from the shoulder without needing the FS7's grip and with it's own servo and motor, we could fix the problem with how slow and unresponsive the zoom is.
I love this lens and would be ecstatic to buy a grip like this for it if there was something out there that would work or if there was a way to build one. It would make my work so much easier. I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas on the matter and see what kind of solutions we could come up with. Thanks!
