Is there someone with experience with the EX-3 combined with the canon HJ18ex28biase HD lens on it.
Now I use a Canon XL-H1 with a sigma 50-500 mm and I want to increase the quality of the image. I think the EX-3 with the canon HJ18ex28biase is a very good comination. I hope someone has some experience with the EX-3 with 2/3 HD lenses.
Thanks a lot.

2/3" lenses are not always the best match for the small photosites that a 1/2" sensor has. You should try to compare a dedicated 1/2" HD lens and the HJ18. I have the Canon KH20x6.4 which is a budget lens and not the greatest lens in the world. However when put up against much more expensive 2/3" HD lenses it does hold it's own, especially if you can keep it between f5.6 and f8. Dont forget that if you want to go to 2/3" you will also need the Fujinon adapter, which is not cheap.

Hi Alister,
Thanks a lot, The main reason for the canon HJ18ex28biase is the tele-effect for filming small birds. I hope this lens will work faster and sharper than my older Sigma 50-500 mm.
Tomorrow I'll test the camara and fujinon adapter and lens. I'll post the results on this forum.

Looking forward to hearing about your tests.

Alister, I think the cost of the Fujinon adapter will be a bit insignificant compared to the £25000 lens!
I've used the 18x28 a lot on Varicams etc., and it's fabulous, sooo useable compared to the HJ40. Sharp even at full reach on 2x. Says it doesn't need lens support but it does really, mainly to stop wobble by touching lens to focus.
Agree with Alister on the possible disappointment with 2/3" lenses on smaller sensors, especially if you use the 2x as that's an intermediate optic, plus the Fujinon adapter has glass in it, sounds like too much extra glass to me.
Steve

Alister, I think the cost of the Fujinon adapter will be a bit insignificant compared to the £25000 lens!
Steve

Very true, but what if your renting?

The extra glass in the adapter is essential as it compensates for the smaller prism in the EX3. At the end of the day the light travels through the same amount of glass in a 2/3" camera or the EX3 plus adapter.

With 2/3" glass on the EX3 I look upon it as being a purchase of a 700 but spread out a bit more. I'm loathe to invest in 1/2" glass. Much rather have 2/3" that i can use on a wider range of cameras. At the moment I'm eyeing an HJ11 as it is one of the few zoom lenses that I have ever been impressed by.

Hi All,

Everybody a merry Christmas.
Yesterday and today I do some tests with my sony EX-3 and canon HJ18ex28biase lens.
Everything works fine. The picture is very sharp and good-looking, even with the 2x built in extender. The tele effect is very great (normaly 500/1000 mm and now on a 1/2 inch camara even more). Because of that you will need a very good adapterplate for your tripod.
There is noting wrong with the glass into the adapter. Because of the tele effect it is differcult focusing. Next days I will do more tests.

Hi
Is it nesessary with some kind of support for the lens ? Will the picture wobble when you are focusing? I am considering the big canon 40x contra the 18x28 lens. The tele factor will be close the same and I rare use the full zoom factor.

With a big lens like that on an EX3 you really should be using some decent support rails as without them you are going to be putting a really big load on the tiny EX3 tripod mount. It would be just about impossible to get the whole rig stable without rails.

Rather than rails I tend to like to use a metal plate. Just an 18" length or so of 2" wide aluminium screwed to the base of the camera, then make spacers for your different lenses.
Bo, the HJ40 is not the nicest of lenses to use, it is just so big and heavy, and a real problem I've always found is that the focus ring is so big it's difficult to get a good grip on it to turn it gently and accurately. I've used a focus demand with it but you never seem to be able to get such a precise feel with a demand. The HJ18x28 is far and away my favourite wildlife lens now (and many others agree with me). It does need some support to help stop it shaking when you put a hand on it to focus, and you do need a decen tripod head (choice head at present is O'Connor 2060, but Ronford Atlas 30 and 2004 are also good).
The problem with the adapter for the EX3 I wonder about, is that you've then got quite a few bits of glass to go through then, notably with the extender, I noticed it when I used an F355 with a Fujinon 2/3" HD lens via the adapter, once the 2x was on it started to look pretty yucky.
Simon you may already be aware but Vreative Video have a couple of used HJ11s for sale.

Steve

Oh, and don't get too excited about the Image Stabiliser on the HJ40, it's not that big a deal. Certainly it'll help with a locked-off shot in strong winds but you can't do any sort of move with it/following action etc., as it'll be all over the place as the IS tries to compensate for your pans and tilits - makes you idzzy very quickly!
Check my post http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/general-hd-720-1080-acquisition/140240-cartoni-master-tripod-head.html to see just what a beast the HJ40 is!
Steve

We use the HJ40 for our airshow shoots and it is a great lens, but it certainly isn't a portable lens, more like a slimmed down box lens than an ENG lens.

Hi,

a bit late for this topic, but anyway.

I also have a 18x28 and am wondering if there is a 15mm rod support system for it on the market. There is no thread on the lower side of the lens to mout a support (like on an HJ40), so what support do you use? Just a V or U- shaped bracket? Steve and Alister are writing about such a support thing.
In the moment, Im using it just bare on an HDW 730s.

Thanks for your help,

Steffen

Genus make a lens support for 15mm rods that has a pair of small rollers that will sit under most lens barrels or it has an adjustable threaded support. Genus Lens Support Bracket G-LSP - Adaptor Bars - Genus Video and DSLR products (http://www.genustech.tv/adaptor-bars/genus-lens-support-bracket-g-lsp.html)

ALister

Wow back in 2008 this thread started, cool.

I have experience with the Canon 40x and my old F800. I found the lens soft (my experience with all Canon glass compared to Fujinon glass) but with amazing OS. I used it on my Vinten Vision 100 tripod and Fibertec sticks on rocks shooting the start of the Bermuda Race in Newport RI a couple of years ago.

I rented and it came with a nice lens support that I used with my supper Arri baseplate. Even at 2x full zoom I could follow boats 1 mile away tight. Always wanted to use the 18x28 since it is highly recommended by Steve who knows his stuff.

Hope all is well Steve?

Hi Alister and Paul,

thank you for your resposes.
I made something very similar to the thing Alister has pointed.
The 18ex28 has a very small area for a support though. Just between the zoom- and the focus ring (which goes all the way to the front end of the lens). And the grip is mounted on the side of this area as well. So I think the Genus solution won’t work with the 18ex28. The bracket is too wide. So I made my own thing.
But thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

Steve has absolutely right with this lens. It’s amazingly sharp, from edge to edge, even with the 2x. And with my old 2/3” HDCAM HDW 730s + Nano, there are absolutely no CAs visible. And this camera is a pre ALAC cam.
I absolutely love the lens! This lens works in every range. With 2x, without, on closeups and far distances, everywhere with flat focus plane, great sharpness and great contrast.

But it’s unfair to compare a 18x lens with a 40x lens. It’s easier to compensate the optical faults in a 18x range. It’s all about physics/optics.

If you look on the BBC White paper, WHP034-ADD67_Comparison_of_lenses, you will see, that there are no major differences between Canon and Fujinon. Coming from still lenses, I had the experience, that Canon had always some difficulties with wide angle lenses and long zooms (35-350L). But here, they are pretty good as well. I think its more about the one lens you get.
Anyway...

I have also an EX3 with a non powered MTF adapter and the picture also looks great with the 18x28. I didn’t use it with the 2x, 500mm with ½” sensor is long enouth for me. But I can test it if somebody likes to know.
One thing with the ½” sensor and the 18x28 is, that it’s very hard to focus. This lens has a high gear transmission ratio. So even with a 2/3”, you should have very sensitive fingers. But it makes it a fast-focus lens as well. But with an Ex3 it’s realy hard, even with the more depth of field of an ½”sensor.

But it’s great to have the posibility!
The Ex3 for me is a light handcamera, hidden camera, cranecam, slidercam, macrocam (with MTF adapter and 105 Sigma for Nikon macro, so you get the focus direction right) and an absolutely great sparecamera for long lens stuff, if something happens to the big one. You never know what happens out there...

Im extremely happy with this combination. Just my 5 cents.

All the best to you and thanks again,

Steffen

The greater DoF of a smaller sensor can make it harder to focus sometimes as it's not so easy to spot that moment when your subject comes into sharp focus, the image doesn't "snap" into focus as it would with a larger sensor.

Best support IMO is the Ronford Baker setup. They make a yoke that screws to the bottom of the lens and that interfaces with the support bars. Check out Ronford-Baker Engineering Company Limited - Designers & Manufactures of Academy Award winning professional Film, Television , Video, Grip & allied equipment. (http://www.ronfordbaker.co.uk/video.html)

Steve

I just used the Canon HJ21ex7.5B ITS-ME 21x 2/3" Motor Drive Full-Servo Lens w/ sony adapter on a world football event and the image was spectacular ... also, thanks Alister for the AC Punch settings on the ex3 ... nice!

Thanks Steve,

that's exactly what I'm looking for!
Great!
Have a healthy and beautyful new year!

Steffen

Best support IMO is the Ronford Baker setup. They make a yoke that screws to the bottom of the lens and that interfaces with the support bars. Check out Ronford-Baker Engineering Company Limited - Designers & Manufactures of Academy Award winning professional Film, Television , Video, Grip & allied equipment. (http://www.ronfordbaker.co.uk/video.html)

Steve