Sony 18-105 f4 / fs700 + new firmware ?? at DVinfo.net

Mat Thompson · December 21st, 2014, 08:00 AM

Hi Guys
Has anyone tried this lens with the new correction firmware??

Any good? I'd love to see an example if anyone knows of anything out there...

Mat

Christopher Young · December 22nd, 2014, 09:15 AM

Yes done the upgrade and purchased an 18-105. Works well and is quite sharp to boot. 99% of the horror pin cushioning and barrel distortion has gone. Tend to use the spot 'touch focus' and momentary focus as trying to focus manually is not the best approach with this lens. Nice to have a constant aperture on a short zoom like this. All said and done pretty good value for the money. Seeing as there is an absolute dearth of reasonably priced servo zoom lenses for S35 cameras there is really not too much to complain about. For me the 18-105 is definitely a worthwhile addition to the tool kit.

Also having some good test results using a Sony VCL-HG0872 which is a .8 full zoom through wide angle adapter with it. They appear on eBay quite frequently in the region of $50-$100. This adapter was originally made for the Sony Z1 cameras. It has a 72mm rear which is the same as the filter mount on the 18-105. One word of warning though if you do use one of these the adapters it will only screw into the 18-105 about 50% of its thread due to the rear design of the VCL adapter. I’m getting a Cokin 72mm extension ring, available BH Photo, which should fix this problem permanently. This will basically give you a 14.5 – 84mm lens which is also quite handy range to have to have.

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

Gabe Strong · December 22nd, 2014, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mat Thompson

Hi Guys
Has anyone tried this lens with the new correction firmware??

Any good? I'd love to see an example if anyone knows of anything out there...

Mat

It actually is a great lens except for the crappy 'manual focus by wire'.
Good range for a F4 zoom, about a 6x zoom! Lens doesn't extend,
it has IS, autofocus and iris, is pretty small and light, and a constant
f4. It's not a 'set up' lens, more of a run and gun lens, but it even works
at 240fps on the FS700. I shot this video for the Alaska Governor's office
with the FS700 and the 18-105, all internal AVCHD.

Blog post to set up the video so that you understand what you are
looking at is here:
http://alaskacameradude.blogspot.com

Christopher Young · December 23rd, 2014, 08:08 AM

That left a warm glow inside. Beaut little video. Not a bad little lens is it the 18-105. Where did those swirls come from at the end. They went well with the feeling of the event. At least it looks like Christmas over there. Having hailed from the northern hemisphere I'm still not 100% used to Chrissie in summer time here :)

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

J. David Pope · December 23rd, 2014, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabe Strong

I shot this video for the Alaska Governor's office
with the FS700 and the 18-105, all internal AVCHD.

Happy Holidays Alaska on Vimeo

[/url]

Nice work, Gabe.
What is the music used in the piece?

Shazaam can't find it and I didn't see any music credit.

Gabe Strong · December 23rd, 2014, 01:31 PM

Thanks for the kind words. The swirls at the end are made in Apple Motion.
I actually think the 18-105 is a sweet little lens, perfect range, zoom
actually is pressure sensitive and works great with the zoom rocker, it
has the 'tap to focus' where you tap on the screen where you want the
lens to focus, face detection, image stabilization and so on. Plus constant
F4 and doesn't extend. Auto iris and focus if you need to run and gun.
And still at F4, you can get nice shallow depth of field. Not F2.8 but
still pretty good. Lots of feature film scenes are shot at F4 or F5.6
if you are in the 50-105mm range as you still get that nice smeary look
for the background....but can at least see something other than blobs
of colors, and hint at what is behind the subject.
By the way, I don't know that I could ever get used to Christmas
in summer!

The music is a mystery. A year ago (right before Christmas) a website (I could
have swore it was The Music Bed) had a promotion where they had this piece of
music posted for video people to use....kind of a sample of the quality of their music.
I downloaded it, basically because it was free, and really good....and forgot about it
until I found it in my harddrive a few weeks ago. I got in touch with a music supervisor
at The Music Bed and sent him the music in question and asked for the name of the
artist. He said the music is not from their library. Now I cannot for the life of me
find it anywhere. And I have been trying everything because the artist is really good,
but none of the song recognition programs help and I have hit up any of the music websites
I use and nothing. It's kind of driving me crazy....lol

Mat Thompson · December 24th, 2014, 05:11 AM

Thanks for the comments. I'd forgotten these have those nasty servo focus rings. Not sure that will work for me. Its for a general run and gun application when fast/accurate focussing is important.

Gabe Strong · December 24th, 2014, 12:06 PM

You have to focus differently. If on a tripod, the 'tap screen where you want it to focus'
works good. Handheld I usually run it in manual focus with one finger over the
'Touch to autofocus' button. Find my shot, hit the autofocus button, see my subject
come into focus and release the autofocus button. Face detection autofocus works
very good to track moving people. But if you need to physically rack focus, track
moving objects and such, it is a little hard. I can do it with the manual ring, but you
have to get the 'fly by wire Zen' down and that isn't easy.

December 21st, 2014, 08:00 AM	#1
Mat Thompson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kent UK Posts: 1,397	Sony 18-105 f4 / fs700 + new firmware ?? Hi Guys Has anyone tried this lens with the new correction firmware?? Any good? I'd love to see an example if anyone knows of anything out there... Mat __________________ Mat Thompson www.matthompsontv.co.uk

December 22nd, 2014, 09:15 AM	#2
Christopher Young Trustee Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 1,527	Re: Sony 18-105 f4 / fs700 + new firmware ?? Yes done the upgrade and purchased an 18-105. Works well and is quite sharp to boot. 99% of the horror pin cushioning and barrel distortion has gone. Tend to use the spot 'touch focus' and momentary focus as trying to focus manually is not the best approach with this lens. Nice to have a constant aperture on a short zoom like this. All said and done pretty good value for the money. Seeing as there is an absolute dearth of reasonably priced servo zoom lenses for S35 cameras there is really not too much to complain about. For me the 18-105 is definitely a worthwhile addition to the tool kit. Also having some good test results using a Sony VCL-HG0872 which is a .8 full zoom through wide angle adapter with it. They appear on eBay quite frequently in the region of $50-$100. This adapter was originally made for the Sony Z1 cameras. It has a 72mm rear which is the same as the filter mount on the 18-105. One word of warning though if you do use one of these the adapters it will only screw into the 18-105 about 50% of its thread due to the rear design of the VCL adapter. I’m getting a Cokin 72mm extension ring, available BH Photo, which should fix this problem permanently. This will basically give you a 14.5 – 84mm lens which is also quite handy range to have to have. Chris Young CYV Productions Sydney

December 23rd, 2014, 08:08 AM	#4
Christopher Young Trustee Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 1,527	Re: Sony 18-105 f4 / fs700 + new firmware ?? That left a warm glow inside. Beaut little video. Not a bad little lens is it the 18-105. Where did those swirls come from at the end. They went well with the feeling of the event. At least it looks like Christmas over there. Having hailed from the northern hemisphere I'm still not 100% used to Chrissie in summer time here :) Chris Young CYV Productions Sydney

December 23rd, 2014, 01:31 PM	#6
Gabe Strong Major Player Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Juneau, AK Posts: 814	Re: Sony 18-105 f4 / fs700 + new firmware ?? Thanks for the kind words. The swirls at the end are made in Apple Motion. I actually think the 18-105 is a sweet little lens, perfect range, zoom actually is pressure sensitive and works great with the zoom rocker, it has the 'tap to focus' where you tap on the screen where you want the lens to focus, face detection, image stabilization and so on. Plus constant F4 and doesn't extend. Auto iris and focus if you need to run and gun. And still at F4, you can get nice shallow depth of field. Not F2.8 but still pretty good. Lots of feature film scenes are shot at F4 or F5.6 if you are in the 50-105mm range as you still get that nice smeary look for the background....but can at least see something other than blobs of colors, and hint at what is behind the subject. By the way, I don't know that I could ever get used to Christmas in summer! The music is a mystery. A year ago (right before Christmas) a website (I could have swore it was The Music Bed) had a promotion where they had this piece of music posted for video people to use....kind of a sample of the quality of their music. I downloaded it, basically because it was free, and really good....and forgot about it until I found it in my harddrive a few weeks ago. I got in touch with a music supervisor at The Music Bed and sent him the music in question and asked for the name of the artist. He said the music is not from their library. Now I cannot for the life of me find it anywhere. And I have been trying everything because the artist is really good, but none of the song recognition programs help and I have hit up any of the music websites I use and nothing. It's kind of driving me crazy....lol

December 24th, 2014, 05:11 AM	#7
Mat Thompson Trustee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kent UK Posts: 1,397	Re: Sony 18-105 f4 / fs700 + new firmware ?? Thanks for the comments. I'd forgotten these have those nasty servo focus rings. Not sure that will work for me. Its for a general run and gun application when fast/accurate focussing is important. __________________ Mat Thompson www.matthompsontv.co.uk

December 24th, 2014, 12:06 PM	#8
Gabe Strong Major Player Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Juneau, AK Posts: 814	Re: Sony 18-105 f4 / fs700 + new firmware ?? You have to focus differently. If on a tripod, the 'tap screen where you want it to focus' works good. Handheld I usually run it in manual focus with one finger over the 'Touch to autofocus' button. Find my shot, hit the autofocus button, see my subject come into focus and release the autofocus button. Face detection autofocus works very good to track moving people. But if you need to physically rack focus, track moving objects and such, it is a little hard. I can do it with the manual ring, but you have to get the 'fly by wire Zen' down and that isn't easy.