I did a quick test of my photographic Zuiko 4/3 glass working on AF101 with and without the Manfrotto 521PFI remote (reviewed here: http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/article.php/14 ).
The lenses I tried were as in the photo (on my "optical bench"): on camera the 150mm/f2; from left to right 50-200/2.8, 14-35/2, 50/2, 12-60/2.8, 35-100/2 (521 controller behind).
In my opinion the most useful for the cine-like AF101 are the lenses with f2 aperture. The DOF at f2 becomes really cinematic. Whoever used these digital zuikos knows they are near-perfect optically from wide open and at all f-lengths--across the frame. Amazing glass in other words.
How they cooperate with the AF101 and how can the focus be controlled, especially with the 521PFI?
First, the disappointments. My favorite photographic zoom, the 12-60/2.8 can work in manual focus only mode. On top of that the barrel rotation is so short even then it's not easy to set the focus. Thank god for the focus assist (the red outlines on the objects), that really helps.
521 remote can control only the aperture here . The same behavior is displayed by the 50/2 macro and 50-200/2.8. The amazing 150/2 also is manual focus only and no remote focus, but here the barrel rotation is long and the manual focus can be set quite comfortably, especially with the assist. Fortunately from my point of view the above lenses are the least useful Zuikos on the AF101.
Now the good news. 14-35/2 and 35-100/2 work very nice and cooperate with the 521 remote.
Without the remote both lenses work in push-focus mode (no continuous focus). Attach the remote and the focussing is as smooth as with the barrel ring, except easier-- ergonomically. You can hear every click of the focussing gears and accuracy is as good as when turning the barrel ring itself. It's no mean feat, see my short description of panasonic m43 lens below.
The 521 has a big (over 2 inch) focussing wheel on which one can put his marks with the grease pencil. It also has the rack focus function which I tested briefly and it works. But how accurately-- I cannot assure here, more tests are needed. I believe especially the 14-35/2 zuiko is very well suited for drama production and the 521 remote can be quite helpful in establishing accurate focus (the rack focus function to be tested further). 14-35/2 on the 17.8 mm wide sensor is equivalent to 20-50mm on the S35 frame. A lot of top DPs shoot all movies between those values (eg Deakins, he also said if he had to shoot a film with one lens that would be 32mm on S35, equivalent of 25mm on m43).
One glitch I haven't worked out with the 521 manfrotto remote is the aperture control at the wide end. Sometimes it gets stuck at values one stop higher than max aperture (eg f2.8 instead of f2) and cannot get it to open up the lens fully. Need to work on it a bit more.
As for panasonic lumix m43 lenses I am not overly impressed (with one exception). Optically they are light years behind Zuiko SHG f2 series. They are usually slow ("dark") and manual focussing is inaccurate. Of the whole line I have (7-14, 8 fisheye, 14-45, 14-140, 45/2.8 elmarit, 25/1.4 summilux, 45-200) the one exceptional exception is summilux D 25mm/1.4. Leica design, Panasonic manufacture, technically a 4/3 lens so the adapter is needed. This is a true summilux shining like a supernova from f1.4. It is also the "deakins" fav focal length, so presumably a whole oscar flick could be shot with it. It has an aperture ring!! It works beautifully with the Af101, push focus only (continuous focus needs a contrast detection purpose built lens on Panny m43 bodies). It works very nice with the 521 remote, again every focussing gear click felt for ultimate accuracy. Yes, if I was to have one lens only for the AF101 that would be it. Hopefully the upcoming panasonic 25/1.4 in the micro 43 mount will lose nothing of the summilux pedigree.
The other lens I tried was the 45/2.8 panaleica elmarit. It is a native m43 lens, so continuous focus and face recognition focussing should work on it fine (did not test). It is optically very nice (Leica elmarit design) but could be f2 for those portraits (like the zuiko 50/2). However 2.8 is almost sufficient and the face recognition focus feature could make it a special purpose lens for those focus-on-villain-coming-up shots. And it's also a macro (cockroach on the wall !). However it's a pain to focus manually, either with the barrel ring or the remote 521. The focus jumps from the smallest moves of the barrel or the remote's wheel as if the gears and mechanism were tuned for AF only--maybe they are. That seems to be the case with majority of m43 lenses with AF.
The last Panasonic lens that might be of some interest for me is the superwide 7-14. Photographically it's an excellent lens, for moviemaking must be treated as a very rare special. Interesting nevetherless.
The rest of Panny m43 line is of little interest for me. Either too slow/dark, or too compromised optically. It will be interesting to see the upcoming 12-50/2.8 though.
Of course my preferences are particular (I see the Af100 as a drama-only camera) and I understand that others might disagree.
I hope some of the above information (on focussing compatibilities especially) people will find useful.
The lenses I tried were as in the photo (on my "optical bench"): on camera the 150mm/f2; from left to right 50-200/2.8, 14-35/2, 50/2, 12-60/2.8, 35-100/2 (521 controller behind).
In my opinion the most useful for the cine-like AF101 are the lenses with f2 aperture. The DOF at f2 becomes really cinematic. Whoever used these digital zuikos knows they are near-perfect optically from wide open and at all f-lengths--across the frame. Amazing glass in other words.
How they cooperate with the AF101 and how can the focus be controlled, especially with the 521PFI?
First, the disappointments. My favorite photographic zoom, the 12-60/2.8 can work in manual focus only mode. On top of that the barrel rotation is so short even then it's not easy to set the focus. Thank god for the focus assist (the red outlines on the objects), that really helps.
521 remote can control only the aperture here . The same behavior is displayed by the 50/2 macro and 50-200/2.8. The amazing 150/2 also is manual focus only and no remote focus, but here the barrel rotation is long and the manual focus can be set quite comfortably, especially with the assist. Fortunately from my point of view the above lenses are the least useful Zuikos on the AF101.
Now the good news. 14-35/2 and 35-100/2 work very nice and cooperate with the 521 remote.
Without the remote both lenses work in push-focus mode (no continuous focus). Attach the remote and the focussing is as smooth as with the barrel ring, except easier-- ergonomically. You can hear every click of the focussing gears and accuracy is as good as when turning the barrel ring itself. It's no mean feat, see my short description of panasonic m43 lens below.
The 521 has a big (over 2 inch) focussing wheel on which one can put his marks with the grease pencil. It also has the rack focus function which I tested briefly and it works. But how accurately-- I cannot assure here, more tests are needed. I believe especially the 14-35/2 zuiko is very well suited for drama production and the 521 remote can be quite helpful in establishing accurate focus (the rack focus function to be tested further). 14-35/2 on the 17.8 mm wide sensor is equivalent to 20-50mm on the S35 frame. A lot of top DPs shoot all movies between those values (eg Deakins, he also said if he had to shoot a film with one lens that would be 32mm on S35, equivalent of 25mm on m43).
One glitch I haven't worked out with the 521 manfrotto remote is the aperture control at the wide end. Sometimes it gets stuck at values one stop higher than max aperture (eg f2.8 instead of f2) and cannot get it to open up the lens fully. Need to work on it a bit more.
As for panasonic lumix m43 lenses I am not overly impressed (with one exception). Optically they are light years behind Zuiko SHG f2 series. They are usually slow ("dark") and manual focussing is inaccurate. Of the whole line I have (7-14, 8 fisheye, 14-45, 14-140, 45/2.8 elmarit, 25/1.4 summilux, 45-200) the one exceptional exception is summilux D 25mm/1.4. Leica design, Panasonic manufacture, technically a 4/3 lens so the adapter is needed. This is a true summilux shining like a supernova from f1.4. It is also the "deakins" fav focal length, so presumably a whole oscar flick could be shot with it. It has an aperture ring!! It works beautifully with the Af101, push focus only (continuous focus needs a contrast detection purpose built lens on Panny m43 bodies). It works very nice with the 521 remote, again every focussing gear click felt for ultimate accuracy. Yes, if I was to have one lens only for the AF101 that would be it. Hopefully the upcoming panasonic 25/1.4 in the micro 43 mount will lose nothing of the summilux pedigree.
The other lens I tried was the 45/2.8 panaleica elmarit. It is a native m43 lens, so continuous focus and face recognition focussing should work on it fine (did not test). It is optically very nice (Leica elmarit design) but could be f2 for those portraits (like the zuiko 50/2). However 2.8 is almost sufficient and the face recognition focus feature could make it a special purpose lens for those focus-on-villain-coming-up shots. And it's also a macro (cockroach on the wall !). However it's a pain to focus manually, either with the barrel ring or the remote 521. The focus jumps from the smallest moves of the barrel or the remote's wheel as if the gears and mechanism were tuned for AF only--maybe they are. That seems to be the case with majority of m43 lenses with AF.
The last Panasonic lens that might be of some interest for me is the superwide 7-14. Photographically it's an excellent lens, for moviemaking must be treated as a very rare special. Interesting nevetherless.
The rest of Panny m43 line is of little interest for me. Either too slow/dark, or too compromised optically. It will be interesting to see the upcoming 12-50/2.8 though.
Of course my preferences are particular (I see the Af100 as a drama-only camera) and I understand that others might disagree.
I hope some of the above information (on focussing compatibilities especially) people will find useful.
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