Lenses for the FS5

[Jeroen Wolf]

I have -amongst a number of vintage lenses- the

Sony 18-105 f4
Sigma Art 18-35 f1.8
Canon 24-105 f4
Canon 70-200 f4
Canon 50mm f1.8

I have a CommLite EF to E-mount adapter and I'm getting the MetaBones Speedbooster. (Anyone know what the difference is between the Ultra and the latest version the T Speed Ultra. Can't find any info on that)

And I was looking into the Canon 24-70 2.8 or the Sigma 17-50 2.8 (anyone used the latter in combination with the FS7/5?) I read the Tamron 17-50 2.8 is not supported by MetaBones' SpeedBooster.

[Doug Jensen]

It's not clear to me if you are asking for lens suggestions to round out the kit or just asking about adapters? The choice of lenses really comes down to WHAT you shoot. Everyone's needs are different, but your kit would not work for me. You've a lot of lenses (and are apparently considering more) that are barely different from each other and have a lot of overlap. Ideally you should be able to get by with a core 2-3 lenses for 90% of your work, and maybe a couple of others for special situations. Your lenses mostly fall into a middle ground of slow f-stops and/or short zoom ranges and mid-range focal lengths.

Your kit (and the lenses you are thinking about) wouldn't work for me. For example, you've got nothing at all under 17mm and nothing at all over 200mm. Is ALL your shooting in that narrow range? Also, you don't have a single lens that I'd want to use as my workhorse lens for traditional sit-down interviews. Either they don't cover the right focal length range, or they aren't fast enough. None of them are in the sweet spot. A speed booster would help a lot with the wide angle end of the range, but what about telephoto and interviews?

Before buying more lenses or adapters and I'd sit down and seriously think about what I really need, what is missing, and what I can get rid of. Maybe you have already done that, but it seems like an odd assortment of lenses no matter what someone's needs are. That's my advice for whatever it is worth.

[Jeroen Wolf]

I just came from the GH4 with these lenses, Doug, and they certainly have served me well with that camera- except for the 24-105. (which could be a nice lens for the FS5, I thought, with the SpeedBooster)

Of course I didn't mention my workhorse there, the Panasonic 12-35 f2.8, because that's not going to do me any good on the FS5

I intend to shoot documentary (portraits) with the FS5 and I am looking for a workhorse lens like a 24-50/70. I know it overlaps but I want a faster zoomlens than the 24-105 and preferably with IS (which the Sigma doesn't have plus it's very front heavy)

Over 200mm is certainly not my priority but I'm curious as to what your suggestions are. Under 17mm? Yes, for these very tight spots. I shot in a small restaurant a while ago and could not get everyone in the frame, by far. Very clumsy... The Tokina 11-16?

I have no problem parting with a few lenses to round out a nice set for the FS5

And since you mentioned it, Doug: what would be the ideal 2-3 lens core for you? (or me, ENG/DOC style)

[Jody Arnott]

Personally for me, these 3 lenses cover everything I need:
Tokina 11-16 f2.8
Canon 17-55 f2.8
Canon 18-135 f3.5-5.6 STM + IS

I don't need anything longer than 135, and the 17-55 is brilliant for interviews.

When my FS5 arrives, I'm probably going to sell the 18-135 in favour of the Sony kit lens :)

[Jeroen Wolf]

Jody,

With what camera do you use them now?

Do you plan to get the Speedbooster for the FS5?

When do you find you use the 11-16 most often? Do people still look 'normal' when shooting ultra-wide?

[Jody Arnott]

Originally Posted by Jeroen Wolf

Jody,

With what camera do you use them now?

Do you plan to get the Speedbooster for the FS5?

When do you find you use the 11-16 most often? Do people still look 'normal' when shooting ultra-wide?

I currently use them with my Canon C100. And I just plan to get a manual adapter for the FS5, I don't see the need for a speedbooster at this stage.

My Tokina 11-16 only gets used for wide establishing shots and when I'm shooting property videos. I've never used it when shooting people, but I imagine it would look a bit strange (unless that's the look you're going for). It does have a bit of distortion, especially at the wide end.

[Doug Jensen]

The lenses I use the most with my FS7 are (in order of use):

Zeiss 15.5-45mm PL f/2.6 (for handheld run & gun and landscapes, establishing shots, etc.)
Red 50-150 PL f/2.9 (for interviews and general shooting)
Sony 85mm PL f/2 (for interviews)
Duclos 11-16mm PL f/2.8 (for getting into tight spots)

I have several other lenses if I need them, but those are my core lenses that account for 99% of my FS7 shooting. They are all PL cinema lenses for the ergonomics and mechanical performance. Very little overlap in focal lengths. All are pretty fast lenses and have constant apertures. No stabilization, no auto iris, and no auto focus because I wouldn't use those things if they had them -- and lenses that have those features usually suffer in other ways to make up for having those features.

For the FS7 I don't need anything over 150mm because I use my F55 for that type of shooting. But I could easily get an adapter to use my Canon 200-400 f/4 if I wanted to.

That's what works for me, but as I said, everyone's needs are different. But it just seemed to me that you had a lot of very similar lenses with lots of overlap.

[Dave Mercer]

I'd also be curious to hear what three lenses people use on FS7 or will use on FS5.

Unlike Doug, I need stabilization. Auto focus and auto iris I not important.

My work is news and current affairs. Right now I use the 17-55 2.8 as the main lens on my C100. I also have a crappy 70-300 that I pull out when I need the reach. A kens this long wouldn't have to have stabilization as id always have it on sticks for these type of shots.

An uktrawide would be nice as well. 12 mm or something. Fixed foxal length no problem.

[Slavik Boyechko]

Just got the FS5 and Metabones Speedbooster (the "T" is the newest version, that's the difference). I've been using several C100's with the 17-55mm, 18-135mm, 24-105mm, Tokina 11-16mm, Canon 10-18mm, and other telephoto and specialty lenses. On the FS5, with the Speedbooster, the 24-105mm is king. It's a a match made in heaven.

The Speedbooster .7x will make the lens 17mm on the wide end, and with the Clear Image Zoom in HD (2x), it'll be a 147mm at the long end, (The actual 35mm equivalent will be different, but nevermind that). Plus f/2.8 with really good IS. So, an affordable 17-147mm f/2.8 IS lens - that's gold.

It also balances nicely and feels like a great fit to the FS5.

Newsshooter.com will have an initial review up soon.

Cheers,
Slavik

[Dave Mercer]

Slavik - what functionality do you get with the canon? Any auto features at all? The one that looked interesting with the Sony 18-105 (?) Was the zoom. Never held the lens though so no idea what it is like to use day to day. The canon 24-105 is great, preferable in function to 17-55, but was never wide enough for my typical shooting.

[Doug Jensen]

Slavik, you make the 24-105mm with a Speedbooster sound very tempting for my FS5. I might just have to take that advice.

[Olof Ekbergh]

I actually got the kit lens, a very maligned lens. But I must say on the FS5 it makes a lot of sense. Being native, AF and iris is instant and stabilization works very well. Yes it is a bit tricky to focus but you get used to it.

In HD it becomes 18-210 constant f4, not bad.

In UHD it becomes 18-160 and in my initial tests it is not bad.

And it is a power zoom and only costs $500. I still think of it as a variable prime, but it is nice sometimes just to do a slight push in on a face.

Other lenses I like:

Canon 1970's FD 50mm f1.4, this is fantastic for SDOF and I always liked this lens.A cheap mechanical only adapter.

I also have an 8mm f3.5 Rokinon that is a great effect lens for shooting in tight quarters like boats, cars or trains, just make sure your feet are out of the shot.

The Canon 70-200 f2.8 L and 100-400 Canon L rounds out the long end.

I also have the 24-70 f4 Sony/Zeiss and my Canon 24-70 f2.8 L those are both nice interview lenses and the 70-200 is as well.

I think for R&G the kit will stay on the FS5 so light and versatile, and for low light the 50mm f1.4 fits in a pocket easily. I actually like the old FD better than my new Canon EF 50mm f1.4.

I think I will be shooting a lot of interviews with the FS7 as A and FS5 as B so it is great I can mix and match all this lenses on both cams, then there is the A7s that also uses all these lenses, the low light king.

It is sort of ridicules I have over 20 lenses to choose from, but I am still glad I spent the $500 on the kit lens.

Almost all my work is still just HD. I shoot some in UHD and crop and stabilize a bit. But I am so used to just framing right in the first place I find myself going back to just shooting HD. It is so much easier in Post.

But for stock footage or incredible scenes I come upon I do switch to 4K, it is so nice to have the choice.

[Rajiv Attingal]

[The Speedbooster .7x will make the lens 17mm on the wide end, and with the Clear Image Zoom in HD (2x), it'll be a 147mm at the long end, (The actual 35mm equivalent will be different, but nevermind that). Plus f/2.8 with really good IS. So, an affordable 17-147mm f/2.8 IS lens - that's gold.]

I have FS7 with speedbooster, .7x magnification will not make much difference in the field of view.
Since the lens is made for FF sensor and FS 5/7 are S35 so some kind of crop factor will be in effect.

Rajiv

[Dave Mercer]

Skipping over to this thread to ask for advice on lenses.

What do you think of Sony kit vs Canon 24-105 f4 with speedbooster.

What comes to my mind from what I've read and my experiences with my canon 24-105:

Canon better built, better focus feel, faster (with speedbooster), a bit shorter (with speedbooster .07x) and a tad wider.

Sony has full auto functions such as push zoom, and has slightly better range.

Cost of Sony lens about the same as the Speedbooster.

What do you think of difference of image quality?

I suppose Speedbooster leaves one open to using other Canon EF lenses ... more selection than Sony.

[Scott Hepler]

I received my FS5 two days ago and have been doing a lot of testing (playing) and I have found it to be a joy to work with and the image quality is really nice. I have gone through the PP's and I am starting to formulate a plan with those. It is so much easier to grade than my XF300 or even the 5D's. And I can match cameras much easier that I was anticipating.
I bought both metabones adaptors and have tried them both out on Canon 14mm 2.8, 24-105, 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8, 90TS and a 300 2.8, all L glass and sonys kit lens as well. There is not AF with any of the metabones adaptors but the iris works with all the glass except the 300-2.8. I will say that the kit lens takes a bit to get used to, especially the focus, but the zoom on the lens is actually quite handy, and the image quality is very very close to the canon's. I can see a difference but you have to be looking for it. The auto focus is supprisingly nice, it isn't fast like a dslr shooting stills or a camcorder style camera but it pulls focus in a very pleasing way, very similar to what one might do to rack focus for effect.
Overall I really really like this camera, the image with the S35 sensor is wonderful yet just a bit forgiving compared to shooting with a DSLR. The native 1000 iso is great with just a little noise showing up at 3200, I probably wouldn't shoot above 3200 unless I absolutely had to.
The form factor is awesome, lightweight and you just want to shoot it. I shot some of the 240fps slow mo and that is the coolest. I am just going to make up reasons to shoot slow mo now.
One thing I must get and maybe someone can help me. I want to relocate the handgrip to the back of my tripod arm for when I am on the sticks. I like having a start stop and zoom on a lanc on the tripod arm when I have the camera on the sticks. I wish it had a separate lanc impute so I could quickly grab it off the tripod and shoot but I don't know how to get that done. I read you can get a standard rosette but I don't see how the hand grip would mount to that since it is a bayonet. Any advice or a rig suggestions would be great. Coming from a XF300 and 5D's this is opening a whole new world for me.

Scott