Viddovation
Veteran
It's physics. Larger sensors need larger glass to give similar zoom ratios. A lot larger, and a lot heavier.
FS7: Sony FE PZ 28-135mm: any happy users?
- Thread starter icarusfilm
- Start date
It's physics. Larger sensors need larger glass to give similar zoom ratios. A lot larger, and a lot heavier.
allenfacemire
Well-known member
I did a test between the kit and the SELP 18/105 (FOV is 27/157mm) and found both to be very sharp and smooth. SELP has the same slow f4 as the kit but $600 compared to $2500 for the kit made no sense. The kit only focuses down to 3.3' while the SELP goes to 9". Big drawback is the little lens is fly by wire focus with a small barrel radius and the kit while fly by wire also, has a broader barrel turn so it's much easier to manual focus. The little guy is very light and primarily set up for auto function with manual over ride. I like it a lot. Looking at the just released Sony E PZ 18/200 (FOV 27/300). Slower on the far end but apparently a much better zoom and direct focus capability. Comes in at about $1200. Might be a bit too slow for interior interviews but may serve well as a sports lens.
JPNola
Veteran
For anyone wanting a less expensive alternative to the Duclos 11-16mm or Tokina Cine 11-16mm the Sony 10-18mm is a decent little lens.
I cannot say how it compares as far as image quality but it is a low-cost way to have a wide lens option in your kit. While not without flaws, I found that the combo of the Sony 10-18mm and the Sony 18-105mm is workable for Run & Gun shooting. A total of two lenses that provide coverage from 10mm all the way to 105mm. And you have the ability to perform nice slow zooms that ease to a start and ease to a stop. Something not possible with EF zooms. An added bonus of that lens combo is that both lenses are small in size and lightweight. You can easily carry whichever of the two is not in use in a lens pouch worn on the waist. No having to return to a gear case to retrieve a lens or store a lens. One problem I found with the FE 28-135 is that it is too large to conveniently carry in a lens pouch worn on the waist. When I would need to switch to a wider lens I had no place to easily carry the FE 28-135mm on my person. I would have to go back to my gear to store the lens properly and that meant I was missing shots in the meantime. Even were I to wear a backpack or Boda bag to store the 28-135mm that slowed things down too much for the type of Run & Gun shooting that I have been doing of late. I need to have something that I can quick-draw, need to be able to go from wide lens to longer lens and be ready to shoot again in no more than 10-15 seconds.
The above lens combo may not work for 4k shooting since the recommended lenses are not likely up to 4k snuff.
And yes, the 18-105mm is imperfect. It has wonky focus action. But it is the ONLY satisfactorily wide to acceptably long servo zoom available for the Fs7 that is under $30k. For sit-down interviews I use Canon EF zooms or, if I want or need to be able to perform in-shot zooms during the interview, the FE 28-135mm. Although my experience is that the Fe 28-135mm is difficult to perform feathered zooms with. It abruptly jumps to a start and a stop. The Sony 18-105mm has a better servo action for feathering into and feathering out of slow zooms. It has an advantage over EF glass in that it can auto-focus and auto-iris. The auto-iris being stepless. So you can perform pans with huge exposure change and not have that amateurish stepped exposure compensation that is unavoidable when using EF zooms.
It would be great if Sony re-engineered the Sony 18-105mm so that it is an f/2.8 and it has better focus action that feels less fly-by-wire. Such an animal would be the lens that should have been the kit lens for the Sony Fs7. Or, since I am dreaming up lenses, a parfocal 18-180mm f/2.8 that has an iris ring on the lens and features 100% mechanical focus with focus end stop. I think many of us would gladly pay $5k for such a lens.
I cannot say how it compares as far as image quality but it is a low-cost way to have a wide lens option in your kit. While not without flaws, I found that the combo of the Sony 10-18mm and the Sony 18-105mm is workable for Run & Gun shooting. A total of two lenses that provide coverage from 10mm all the way to 105mm. And you have the ability to perform nice slow zooms that ease to a start and ease to a stop. Something not possible with EF zooms. An added bonus of that lens combo is that both lenses are small in size and lightweight. You can easily carry whichever of the two is not in use in a lens pouch worn on the waist. No having to return to a gear case to retrieve a lens or store a lens. One problem I found with the FE 28-135 is that it is too large to conveniently carry in a lens pouch worn on the waist. When I would need to switch to a wider lens I had no place to easily carry the FE 28-135mm on my person. I would have to go back to my gear to store the lens properly and that meant I was missing shots in the meantime. Even were I to wear a backpack or Boda bag to store the 28-135mm that slowed things down too much for the type of Run & Gun shooting that I have been doing of late. I need to have something that I can quick-draw, need to be able to go from wide lens to longer lens and be ready to shoot again in no more than 10-15 seconds.
The above lens combo may not work for 4k shooting since the recommended lenses are not likely up to 4k snuff.
And yes, the 18-105mm is imperfect. It has wonky focus action. But it is the ONLY satisfactorily wide to acceptably long servo zoom available for the Fs7 that is under $30k. For sit-down interviews I use Canon EF zooms or, if I want or need to be able to perform in-shot zooms during the interview, the FE 28-135mm. Although my experience is that the Fe 28-135mm is difficult to perform feathered zooms with. It abruptly jumps to a start and a stop. The Sony 18-105mm has a better servo action for feathering into and feathering out of slow zooms. It has an advantage over EF glass in that it can auto-focus and auto-iris. The auto-iris being stepless. So you can perform pans with huge exposure change and not have that amateurish stepped exposure compensation that is unavoidable when using EF zooms.
It would be great if Sony re-engineered the Sony 18-105mm so that it is an f/2.8 and it has better focus action that feels less fly-by-wire. Such an animal would be the lens that should have been the kit lens for the Sony Fs7. Or, since I am dreaming up lenses, a parfocal 18-180mm f/2.8 that has an iris ring on the lens and features 100% mechanical focus with focus end stop. I think many of us would gladly pay $5k for such a lens.
Last edited:
Seriously, like, what is wrong with sony and their fly-by-wire thing in lenses??? What were they thinking?! Sorry for a rant (it comes back to me once in a while), but for me it doesn't make any sense and it kills those lenses for filming. NOONE from the users is happy with that (both photographers, videographers and filmmakers) and they could easily change that with firmware update: just make it selectable, so focus throw is constant. I really don't understand that, this "improvement" is such a terrible design...
Duke M.
Veteran
mine does not jump when zooming. I just covered a soccer game and zoomed in and out on players with no problems.
JPNola
Veteran
I blame the Still Photogs and the "DSLR revolution". As far as I can figure Sony is responding to that market. When reading user reviews on B&H there are often reviews that criticize the auto-focus capability of a lens. That indicates that there are many people who use auto-focus, particularly for still photography. I get why one would use auto-focus for stills shooting but there are times when reading those comments when I want to respond "enough with the damn AF!! REAL shooters focus manually!!". Auto-focus crack. Once you get hooked it is a difficult habit to kick!
JPNola
Veteran
Are you able to begin a zoom so slowly that it is almost imperceptible and feather a zoom to a stop so slowly that it is almost imperceptible? I am comparing the servo to that of broadcast zooms ( b4 zooms ). With those the servo could feather the initiation of the zoom action and maintain a barely perceptible slow zoom to the point where it could take 30 seconds to zoom from head and shoulders shot of a subject to a close up of the subjects face. Those zooms have what I call a truly infinitely variable servo.
Are you able to perform a zoom that comes to a halt so subtly that a viewer has difficulty telling when you ceased zooming? I find that the start and stop is always abrupt. There is no doubt as to exactly when the zoom began or came to a halt.
basspig
Veteran
Pillow distortion. Chromatic aberration. Softness at the corners. Slow apertures. Slow zoom motor. Not suited to 4K shooting. So many compromises under $20K. Too bad lens correction is said to work only at 2K and under. Where one really needs CA correction is at the higher resolutions.