After shooting with the 28-135 on the FX6 for a couple of months, I agree with most of the positive points made above. It is a workable good range zoom at a good price. The alternative at this bracket are mostly stills lenses and they're very limited for this kind of work.
I've worked for a few years with various stills zooms (mostly Nikon) and coming back to something that allows you to zoom and focus smoothly while following someone or something in shot is a relief.
Until recently I would've been swinging lens all day to cover the range the 28-135 covers. I have used FX6's clear image as well for doco coverage when there's not been an alternative and it hasn't looked terrible. Unlike other accounts in this discussion, it always holds focus through the zoom range.
I mostly shoot with the servo off and find the fly-by-wire zooming responsive enough. (What I really want is a short stemmed rod to screw into the zoom ring in the small hole made for this purpose - just like on the old Angenieux lenses - to make manual zoom control more precise.)
It isn't the lightest lens and the FX6 mount is hardly sturdy so I keep 28-138mm supported on the rails. (Has there been any word from Sony on the max size/weight the FX6 mount can support? It doesn't matter, as one of the OPs said, it's still not anywhere near as robust as the B4 lenses on ENG units.)
Other positives about this lens: Optional de-clicked aperture ring, manual and auto focus, and it has its own stabilisation which FX6 doesn't.
One of my biggest criticisms is the wide diameter of the front. My previous matte boxes won't fit around it so I've had to order a 110mm one so I can put polas etc on the lens.
I was uneasy about getting this but then $2500 is not expensive in lens-land. You can easily resell it if it doesn't work out or just keep it for certain jobs where practicalities demand it.
I've worked for a few years with various stills zooms (mostly Nikon) and coming back to something that allows you to zoom and focus smoothly while following someone or something in shot is a relief.
Until recently I would've been swinging lens all day to cover the range the 28-135 covers. I have used FX6's clear image as well for doco coverage when there's not been an alternative and it hasn't looked terrible. Unlike other accounts in this discussion, it always holds focus through the zoom range.
I mostly shoot with the servo off and find the fly-by-wire zooming responsive enough. (What I really want is a short stemmed rod to screw into the zoom ring in the small hole made for this purpose - just like on the old Angenieux lenses - to make manual zoom control more precise.)
It isn't the lightest lens and the FX6 mount is hardly sturdy so I keep 28-138mm supported on the rails. (Has there been any word from Sony on the max size/weight the FX6 mount can support? It doesn't matter, as one of the OPs said, it's still not anywhere near as robust as the B4 lenses on ENG units.)
Other positives about this lens: Optional de-clicked aperture ring, manual and auto focus, and it has its own stabilisation which FX6 doesn't.
One of my biggest criticisms is the wide diameter of the front. My previous matte boxes won't fit around it so I've had to order a 110mm one so I can put polas etc on the lens.
I was uneasy about getting this but then $2500 is not expensive in lens-land. You can easily resell it if it doesn't work out or just keep it for certain jobs where practicalities demand it.