I could get a 50mm F1.8 at very low price in FD or Nikon. Does it really worth to pay $300 for this sony e-mount? I could pay about $100 more to get a nikon 50mm F1.2 manual lens.

There are OSS and autofocus for this lens? Do we really need that? I think mostly of time will be on tripod if using a 50mm.

please share some of your experience if you have this lens using on FS100

FD lenses with 13 dollar adapter on each one are great. Use the kit lens for IS when needed.

I just finished a week of filming where I used this lens a lot. I used it hand held quite a bit, and on a tripod somewhat less. I've been very happy with it's performance, especially for bokeh. Low light performance is great, and since I did hand held, the OIS was quite helpful. Here is a not-yet public music video from last weeks filming, all of the shots in the right-hand frame are on the FS100 with the 50mm lens.

This is a password protected video on Vimeo password: patolwell

hope that helps...

I just read a review of that lens on the vg20. It has autofocus and autoexposure support in addition to the ois. I find both push af and push ae are handy even when using tripod. Especially with shallow dof cameras. Ymmv

Jem,

On the left side of the video, I believe it's a VG10, and what lens do you use?
and what picture profile do you use? the image looks sharper than mine

FD lenses with 13 dollar adapter on each one are great. Use the kit lens for IS when needed.

Great idea!

I have a nice collection of FD glass, and just a single "no-name" adapter from eBay ($20 with shipment, working great). Considering how awkward it can be to mount an FD lens on the adapter, I am going to buy several adapters of the same kind/price, and keep them on all my FD lenses permanently...

It's just some $80, and will spare me some stress and time involved in changing lenses :)Thanks for the idea!

Thomas, you are correct, sir, it's a VG10 :) I was using the Zeiss Planar 24mm E-mount, and I was using the 'portrait' image profile, but to be totally honest, I added a tad of sharpening in post. I had the lens wide open at 1.8 and I think the autofocus was choosing the curtains in back, so the people were a little soft. The Zeiss lens is usually very sharp, though. I'm not sure if it was worth spending a grand on, but I have been very happy with it, usually on close up shots and alternate interview shots.

I bought it to use on my jib, I buy the "e" mount lenses to use with my Sony RM-1000BP Multifunctional LANC Remote Commander Unit
This way I have Iris and focus control from the bottom of the jib...
I have a big studio in NY and a staff of photographers and videographers all canon cameras and lenses on the photography side and Sony equipment on the video side.. so I could have used any of the lenses we already own... but I like using the controller when I can. so I am starting the "e" mount collection... lens def looks good...

the lens is in stock on amazon (it was out of stock for a while)

Amazon.com: Sony 50mm f/1.8 Mid-Range Lens for Sony E Mount Nex Cameras: Camera & Photo

Great idea!

I have a nice collection of FD glass, and just a single "no-name" adapter from eBay ($20 with shipment, working great). Considering how awkward it can be to mount an FD lens on the adapter, I am going to buy several adapters of the same kind/price, and keep them on all my FD lenses permanently...

It's just some $80, and will spare me some stress and time involved in changing lenses :)Thanks for the idea!

Yes, it seems every FD lens has it own trick in attaching an adapter, and there's no way I can remember each trick. Get an adapter for each.

i finally got this lens, i like to use it for interview, because the autofocus really help a lot specially when the target is moving forward and backward while talking

but i really hate the infinitive focus ring, it took like 360 degree to pull the focus on a dish of salad from one end to the front

i finally got this lens, i like to use it for interview, because the autofocus really help a lot specially when the target is moving forward and backward while talking

but i really hate the infinitive focus ring, it took like 360 degree to pull the focus on a dish of salad from one end to the front

Doesn't sharp, short ring movement make focusing faster, like with the stock lens?

> but i really hate the infinitive focus ring <

that was the reason I just went for a Sigma 50 mm 1.4 Nikon mount that I can use on my D300 too.
With video cameras I never use any autofocus or auto exposure settings. If the picture is out of focus for a moment - just because the interviewed person had moved - then hopefully nobody will mind. But if the lens (auto)focusses onto something, that just came in between and was not supposed to be there - like mikes on booms, hands or birds ;-) - the picture might be ruined.

The other thing was, that I wanted to be able to do some "focus-ring-postion-reliable" rack-focussing. With the 18-200 mm stock-lens, this was nearly impossible, if it had to be right the first time, like in run-and-gun-shooting.

But of course there might be times where one would miss the stabilizing feature. I hope the 18-55 kit lens can take care of that, when needed.

Have a great weekend
Stephan

For a 50mm (75mm equivalent), OSS is going to be handy. On a 16mm, who cares. But I was taught (pre OSS) never shoot video handheld unless all the way zoomed out, and 75mm is NOT zoomed out. OSS and a decent rig can compensate for that, though.

Autofocus... I never used to use it until recently, but now that I'm doing a lot of steadicam truck/dolly shots, it's pretty much required. Impossible to hold a two-handed steadicam, move, and manually focus at the same time. Maybe for dolly shots, but trucks... you get my drift.

Back when I started doing commercial video work 8 years ago, I shot 90% on tripod, 10% shoulder mount. Now with robust OSS, a steadicam (DIY of sorts), and the increased acceptance of smooth steadicam shots in professional film/video, I can practically reverse those figures. But I couldn't do it without OSS and autofocus.

I'm going to get this lens for my EA50.