Sigma 17-35

[Randy Johnson]

Chris did you have this lens? I was thinking about it, The reason I didnt think a 35 mm lens could work for me full time was I hae the 17-50 and the adapter I have makes it really hard to adjust iris smoothly and the lens doesnt zoom smoothly or focus with any resistance. is the 17-35 @ 1.8 better? I know you have moved on but I still like my EA50 and I am trying to hang on to it for now.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Randy

Yep, fantastic lens but limited in zoom range. It was perfect for weddings but too limited for doing stills as 35mm is just not enough so I use the Sigma 17-70 for my stills. Bear in mind that at a wedding reception you would be working mostly with F1.8 so the DOF is tiny. If you are shooting a table at 35mm and F1.8 the people on the other side of a round 8 seater wedding venue table will be out of focus. Very sharp lens and was my goto lens for receptions with a Tamron 17-50 F2.8 on the A-Cam for speeches and the 17-50 on the B-Cam. Also remember it weighs over 900g so almost exactly 2lbs so hanging off the front of an EA-50 it makes the camera very front heavy and kills your back.

[Randy Johnson]

I know what you mean by the shallow DOF I bought the 30 mm at 1.4 and for anything except a controlled situation I cant use it. The auto focus cant even handle the job. I was asking because it looks like adapters have come a long way and Sigma has one that SHOULD still give me most of my camera controls (auto focus, Iris control) no servo zoom of course but pretty much everything else. I was thinking ceremony my 80-200 at 2.8 for indoor big churches my Sony 17-105 for small churches and my 18-200 for outdoor weddings and the 17-35 for receptions. Also B&H has a $1900 bundle which comes with the 17-35 and the 50-100 plus the adapter and some filters but I think thats too much money for me and this camera.

[Chris Harding]

Seriously Randy if you leave the EA-50 on full auto BUT put a dumb adapter on the camera with the Sigma focus in manual is really easy if you use yellow focus peaking set to middle intensity ..you can snap into focus in a few milliseconds. The only issue I had was supporting the camera with the 2lb lens up front and not suffering from a sore back. The lens itself was perfect ! Then again I'm getting old so I needed lighter cameras ... the all up weight was a killer but you could easily take it in your stride I'm sure! I'm always up front even in big Churches so I never really needed to go over 70mm

[Randy Johnson]

You know i'll give it a shot.The issue with that lens in particular is it doesnt have any resistance on the zoom/focus but i'll see how full auto works thatnks

[Randy Johnson]

Chris,
Please dont laugh but what about this?
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...hxr_nx100.html

Like you with your back issues I am tired of playing with lenses and filters when im trying to "Run and Gun" I do LOVE the EA-50s images the crushed black levels with the colors that pop out like I get on color setting 2. Do you think I will get comparable images from this camera? if so maybe I should save my self some headaches.

[Steven Digges]

Randy,

Why would we laugh. If you don't need or want 4K this is a great time to buy HD for a bargain. You do weddings. That is one of the few genres that still delivers a large portion of your product in SD DVD! And of course HD does blu ray. Weddings are years away from demanding 4K.

If you look at it from a business side with return on investment 4K is on your side because it is lowering your cost of doing business. Get what works for you and your product.

Remember, HD cams were and still are great cameras, they are just not 4K. That does not make them less of a camera.

Steve

[Randy Johnson]

I love the look of my EA50 but im getting tired of interchangable lensesin the wedding world with me I work by myself I spend too much time messing with lense changes. Id like to go back to a good ole 12 or 20X I think I should wait a little longer though for those HD cameras to come down some more.I cant get my brides to buy HD let alone 4K

[Chris Harding]

Hi Randy

Just bear in mind that the bride couldn't care less if you shot on a Sony, Canon, Panny or whatever. All she wants is a wedding video and as Steve says it's mostly in SD DVD anyway. You could pick up an old MiniDV camera on eBay and do the same thing as you are doing now and she wouldn't know the difference.

I really don't mind the lens changing but the thing that bugged me on the EA-50 was the exposed sensor ..outside in the wind and you have to change lenses you KNOW some dust will get in there..I have even had grass clippings in mine!

Then again if you do commercial shoots maybe the EA-50 is necessary? I however can honestly say that I do prefer a servo zoom shoulder mount camera running in full auto at a wedding. Fixed autofocus lens and simple zoom rocker ...it does make life a lot easier.