Hi Guys

I used the SEL50F18 last night at the wedding reception...the shallow DOF in low light is tricky to master but the image is excellent. However at weddings I think that the focal length is a wee bit too much for practical use BUT I can see it being a rather nice lens for speeches when you have a second cam on a tripod and about 15' away from the person doing the speech...for more intimate work it's just too long sadly! Going around tables and doing guest interviews at tables you definately need something shorter and due to the fact I haven't got $1250 to buy a Zeiss 24mm F1.8 I think the 19mm Sigma might end up as a useful "reception" lens and it's one stop faster than the stock lens.

I'm also looking at the 30mm Sigma ...that equates to 45mm and my Panny's at wide are 41mm equivalent so that might be an even better reception lens??

I'm going to however try the 50mm at bridal prep on today's wedding and see how that works...I have an idea is will be a rather nice lens for bridal prep!!

Chris

Hi Guys

you definitely need something shorter and due to the fact I haven't got $1250 to buy a Zeiss 24mm F1.8 I think the 19mm Sigma might end up as a useful "reception" lens and it's one stop faster than the stock lens.

Hi Chris, at the rate you work you will have very shortly! I used to do the odd wedding in with my corporate work in England but vowed I would never again, when I came to NZ 6 years ago or so- too stressful by half!

Look forward to seeing some more examples of your work with the 50. I have put my last Sony up for sale yesterday , leaving me with the Panny 160A which I am really liking now. (oh if only it was a shoulder mount though!) So, still brooding over the 50 ATM. Definitely uncomfortable about no NDs and a variable shutter speed though. Motion flow consistency is important in my work and requires a constant shutter speed I feel. Still, it's great being here and seeing how everyone is addressing the issues. I have mentioned before, I have no brand loyalty whatsoever and just want the right tool for the job ( and for it to perform to spec- you know what I mean!)

Cheers!
Rod

A 50mm f1.4 on a 1.5 crop camera is more a specialty lens that you would use of creative close up shots or for some talking heads during a reception.
I prefer the 35mm f1.4 as it is a bit more versatile for closeups and for medium close shots. My 85mm is useless for close up's at the minimal focus distance is at least 1 meter but it's an excellent lens for talking heads but also during a fotoshoot to get some posed shots from a distance and if you want to add some nice blur to the background.

Wow, with my EA50 awaiting delivery, I have been contemplating adding the SEL50F18 to my arsenal, but im having second thoughts reading these posts now.

I would love to own the Zeiss lens your referring to as I have seen them sell pre-owned for around the £500-600 mark on ebay, but I don't think I will get enough use of it to justify the purchase.

Are their any specific F1.4, F1.8, F2.8 lenses you would recommend to use with the EA50??? I think we should make a list.

If you are on a budget all Samyang cine lenses are a excellent option, but you will have to master your manual skills as they don't communicate with the body.

Noa, if I had a budget of £400-£500 max to spend on two manual or auto lenses.

Which lense would you recommend for close up shoulder portraits.

Which lense would you recommend for macro.

As I definitely have a purpose for both along with my kit lens, which will be used for general run/gun use.

When I do weddings I use the 85mm f1.4 almost exclusively for talking heads, I can keep my distance while getting close enough to people without they noticing me. It' also easy to create a very nice blurry background with this lens.

The 35mm f1.4 I most use for close ups.

The 14mm f2.8 I only use for steadicam shots.

Next on my shopping list is the 24mm f1.4 and the 8mm f3.5 (also from Samyang) and very likely will be getting the new metabones speed boosters if their claims prove to be right and then I"m all set. That metabones adapater will give me 10 different focal lengths on 5 different lenzes.

For macro I use a Tamron macro 90mm f2.8 but that is a very limited lens to use, shallow dof is crazy with this one and you could use it for a close up of the jewelery like rings etc.

So to answer your question what I would buy on a budget when doing weddings was a 35 and 85mm.

Thanks so much. Exactly what I wanted to know.

Hi Guys

Just got back from the second wedding (it's 1:30am here!!) The 50mm for me is definately a no go unless you have posed shots ... you have to manual focus as the auto is way too slow so things like people dancing is a nightmare with a 50mm prime...People are moving in and out of the shot and changing distance so follow focus is tricky to say the least ... My photog has a 50mmF1.8 prime and even he says it's tricky to use with stills and big groups. I even found the DOF to be too severe with a group of 5 bridesmaids ...they were in a half circle toasting the bride and the outer ones were blurry ...looks arty but the bride wouldn't like it all all. I guess it works great on posed shots where your subject is still but with moving shots I struggle. Mine is going back on ebay and maybe something like a 19mm or 30mm prime at most might work ...Shucks an 85mm prime Noa ....how would you handle a bridal entry with that unless you were 50' away??? Last night the stock lens actually worked pretty well considering.

I guess each to their own style but I seldom use posed shots so my subjects are moving 99% of the time.

Chris

Welcome to the world of pain called large sensor :D Well, not exactly, not if you know when to use your primes. Like I said before, a 50mm f1.4 is a "specialist" lens, I would only use it for close ups. My 85mm f.i. gets used a lot but only for talking heads, like when people sit at the tables or during reception when they have a drink because they don't move then either but for any other shot that involves any kind of movement they are very hard to use. If you would have a 5dIII you could crank up your iso to 10.000 and have a deeper dof but if you don't plan to go over iso 1600 you often need between f1.4 and f2.8 at darker receptions and then only a wider angle lens would save you from messing up a shot.

I would get the 19mm if it's fast enough, that one should cover a wide enough field of view, but again here if it's a fast one your dof will be very narrow as well when wide open.

I think with your shooting style you will be very happy with the stocklens as a multi-purpose lens as it actually is quite good, but it can mean you have to add some light when it gets too dark.

Hey Noa

You are very right too. The stock lens is pretty adaptable to situations. I still could definately use a prime for a lot of stuff but my personal feeling at weddings is that I always felt too far away with the 50mm...The Sigma 30mm might be a nice lens for bridal prep too and isn't as "fierce" with DOF as it's an F2.8 which is more manageable. I did some magic shots with the dress and flowers with the 50mm prime and they are pristine ..then again dresses don't move then they are hanging on the bedroom door!!

I'm still tending to lean towards the 30mm F2.8 to replace the 50mm so we will make that a new chapter.

Chris

If you are coming from a small sensor camera, like I did about 2 years ago, working with a large sensor camera with a interchangeable lens is a learning process. It took me about a year to find out which lenses work for me and how to best adapt my shooting style to it. But as a solo shooter I still could not miss my small sensor camera's as they have proven to be invaluable. I just can not do a full wedding with dslr type of camera alone.

That's why my small sensor camera's serve a very specific purpose during the day, just like the large sensor ones, the small sensor one are exclusively used to cover the civil part and the ceremony in church but also for the speeches, they do allow me to use 2 camera's simultaneously because of their large dof and very good auto function if I need to rely on them. With my larger sensor camera's it's just one camera at a time.

I started with a old 28 f2.8 nikon nikkor lens with an adapter for my 550d which I liked very much, then I got a 50mm nikon nikkor lens, then I got the Samyang 85mm and 14mm and after that the 35mm, the nikkors are not being used now. I also used the Canon 10-22 canon lens from my wife a lot which is a great lens but switched to the Samyang 14mm as it was faster and had a iris ring which makes thing easier to operate.

Eventually you will get there but consider to spend the whole wedding season this year to find out what works best for you.

Noa I was going to ask, what adapter are you using for the Samyang cine lenses you have? and are you having to operate them all on manual? looking at your video 'Casino' it seems due to certain scenes that you have an adapter with autofocus.

looking at your video 'Casino' it seems due to certain scenes that you have an adapter with autofocus.

Ha, I wish! :) Every focus pull you see in that video and there are quite a few where done manually. I have bought a Kipon adapter which has no electronics inside like the metabones, any lens you put on it does not communicate with the camera so yes, any lens you add onto it is an all manual lens. It's not a el cheapo adapter you will find on ebay and has a pretty decent build. Later this year I probably will be getting the metabones speedbooster if it lives up to it's claims, just need to know what side effects it has depending on what type of lenses you use.

Thanks Noa

I appreciate the advice from someone who has already been using large sensors...maybe later with a 50, but for now I'll take baby steps and start a bit smaller. I put my SEL50F18 on eBay and it got snapped up within 30 minutes and with a $50 profit for me.

I'm thinking maybe go for a less intense prime to start like the F2.8 Sigmas ?? The decision now would be do I go for a 30mm or a 19mm ....My stock lens covers both but I think that maybe the 30mm might be neat for bridal prep and also speeches where they isn't too much movement.

A quick question with primes? The Sigma's don't come with a lens hood...if you are shooting outside do you guys use pretty much standard lens hoods or not at all?

Chris

With a prime compared to your stocklens the low light performance becomes even more visible, when you would zoom in to 30mm the min f-stop might go to f4.0 so a 30mm prime at f2.8 will give you a much brighter image.
Also I don't use any hoods on my lenses as I need to attach a variable nd filter to it that I have to adjust during a shoot and this is something you cannot do with the hood attached.

Edit: not sure but you might be able to attach such a rubber hood that you can find on ebay and screw on your nd filter to that?

I was just wondering do you guys actually use the zoom function on the EA50 kit lens ?

Im seriously considering putting the lens up for sale when I get my camera this week, im sure others are in the same boat ... plus it would help fund some of the prime lenses im after.

Im buying this EA50 mainly due to the 'look / form factor' or my VG20 would of sufficed.

And I already own a SEL18200 so im sure if I need a zoom I can just use THAT lens. Rather than the electronic one. I don't ever implement zooming in / out sequences in my edit anyway.

Hi James

When the bride signs the register I do a tilt zoom down to the certificate and also during the cake cutting I tilt zoom down to the knife...apart from those two "motion zooms" all my zooms are purely for framing so there is never any intentional zoom in and zoom outs (the mark of a complete amateur!) However yes, I will use the zoom thruout the day BUT only to frame my shot.

If you do weddings and don't have/need to do the shots above and are happy physically repositioning yourself/camera/tripod for framing rather than using the zoom then there is no reason why you can totally dispense with the zoom and just use primes. I was brought up on video so I think during action, I think I would miss my zoom.

Chris

Old Nikkors are awesome for this. I have a 24mm 2.8 that works wonderfully on the camera. You can get them on ebay pretty cheaply. It may not be as fast as the Zeiss but the image quality will be just as good.

Chris did you have any issues with camera flashes at your wedding shoot? The last few weddings I've shot everything except the ceremony and speeches with a 5D Mk3 and photogs flashes really can screw up a shot - with the Z1 cameras you got a flash frame and it looked ok, but with the 5D you get these sort of half frame flashes that look awful - especially when a photog is really going for it and shooting a ton of frames!

My first wedding of the season is next month so it will be the first real test for my EA50 - expect a report

This an earlier thread on the latest CMU that does correct for flashes. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-nxcam-hxr-nx5u/503099-content-management-utility-ver-2-1-update.html I assume that the CMU that comes with the EA50 is this latest edition.

Ron Evans

Hi Peter

I'm still a bit broke so at the moment I'm still using the Panasonic HMC as a main camera and then the Sony for cutaways and all the reception (except speeches) so it's doing 100% handheld stuff. I'm selling the second Panny to my mate who is getting into weddings and then using the Panny/Sony combo until I can afford the 2nd Sony.

I'm busy doing 3 edits at the moment and I'll check them as I go and see if I find anything untoward.

What exactly are you worried about? I must admit the first edit is done already I never noticed anything that jumped out at me... I my books if it doesn't worry me, then it shouldn't worry the bride.

I did notice a bit of moire on the chair back of the bride's chair during a cutaway but I know Noa would worry about it .... Nothing so far disturbing has been generated by the camera to give me concern which is great!!

Not overly sure about prime lenses at this stage ..It's nice to know that you could quite easily pull off a wedding just using the stock zoom if you needed to!

Chris

Not overly sure about prime lenses at this stage ..It's nice to know that you could quite easily pull off a wedding just using the stock zoom if you needed to!


Then I think you will never use the camera what it was build for, I see the stock lens as a bonus, a multipurpose lens that enables you to do most run and gun eng style of productions where low light is not a big issue and it will provide you with decent images, this I think is a zone where you feel most comfortable in as you always have worked with camera's that are good in "almost" anything.

But this camera allows you to step over those borders of being able to do "almost" anything and give you images your other cameras or the ea50 with stocklens are never able to provide and that can be in lowlight, shallow dof and lenschoices ranging from macro to fisheye to supertele. In my latest Casino video I have tried to utilize that strength by using just a few lenzes I have and it lifts your production imagewise to a higher level, something a stocklens could never do.

Each lens has often a very specific purpose and especially at weddings it's a hassle changing lenzes all the time just getting a macro shot from the rings, a fisheye view from a castle or a very shallow dof shot just fro creative purposes etc. but it's those single shots that make all the difference. If your filming style at weddings is strictly documentary then I think this is not the camera you should be using. I compare this a bit with buying a BMC and filming in prores because it's more convenient, this camera is build to film in raw which opens up a whole other level of possibilities and if you don't plan to use it, why buy the camera?

Also at weddings it is very important to choose the right lens for the right shot, if you choose wrong you are sc****d and in tricky situations the stocklens will always be the safest bet.

Hi Noa

Before I start please realise that this post must be taken in the spirit that it's intended and I'm simply going to totally disagree with you, but only in a fun way because we all have different uses and different methods especially with wedding videos and run 'n gun shoots. I really do respect your creativity with the EA-50 but I didn't buy it for that. In my humble opinion if Sony wanted to sell it as a big DSLR they would have done so and left off the shoulder mount and certainly left off the zoom lens and all the "video camera" functions including all auto functions too. For your type of use, you don't want the lens, you want a manual camera, you don't need the form factor so in short you need a more ergonomic DSLR.

Now take me ... Apart from one camera on a tripod at ceremony and speeches, I shoot shoulder mount ALL the time so all my shoot apart from those two are handheld so voila, Sony gave me a shoulder mount camera...they also gave me a zoom lens, brilliant!! They also gave me auto controls when I need them (most of the time actually) and some really neat controls and good audio channels. Ok so I got a really good video camera that just happens to have a big APS-C sensor in it so IF I want to use primes I can and if I want to do stuff like Noa the option is there.

See? We all have different uses and different styles and I like the fact that if I do have a chance to do some creative stuff I have a camera that can do the job but for now I bought it as a shoulder mount video camera and it does exactly what I want it to with the stock lens.

Different strokes for different folks???

Chris

Hi Peter

It seems to handle flash much like my Panasonics so I get a bar across maybe a 1/4 of the frame now and again ..I'm used to it and the brides never say anything either. Until cameras have a global shutter we have to live with flash bars... With weddings they tend to be accepted as the bride knows and sees the flash going off.

I have picked up one instance of moire so far, a little bit on the bride's chair back during a speeches cutaway ...the last three weddings BTW had lots of patterned brick work and the camera handles that with no issues.

Chris

Different strokes for different folks???

that I cannot argue about :)

I"m just saying this because I have seen other people complain about the fact that the stock lens is too slow on autofocus or that the zoom is too slow as well or that it doesn't hold focus zoomed in and then out again and I know for sure those people do not have a dslr background.

If you have a dslr background this camera only improves on several limitations we all had to deal with so far so I exactly knew what to expect from the camera. I only wished it had no moire and aliasing issues and a bit less noise and ND's but you get what you pay for I guess.

I think there will be more people dissapointed about the camera that expect it to act like any other 1/3 inch fixed lens camera but it's not fair to expect that.

Hi Peter

It seems to handle flash much like my Panasonics so I get a bar across maybe a 1/4 of the frame now and again ..I'm used to it and the brides never say anything either. Until cameras have a global shutter we have to live with flash bars... With weddings they tend to be accepted as the bride knows and sees the flash going off.
Chris

Chris if you use the CMU V2.1 it will remove the partial flash effect on transfer. At least it does on my NX5U so no reason it wouldn't for the EA50.

Ron Evans

James,

I understand money matters. With that said I still think it would be a shame to sell the kit lens. We all know it is not perfect, we have beat the pros and cons to death here, but it is a GOOD lens. It was designed for this camera and it is a very versatile tool to have in your quiver.

Steve

Hi Peter

It seems to handle flash much like my Panasonics so I get a bar across maybe a 1/4 of the frame now and again ..I'm used to it and the brides never say anything either. Until cameras have a global shutter we have to live with flash bars... With weddings they tend to be accepted as the bride knows and sees the flash going off.

I have picked up one instance of moire so far, a little bit on the bride's chair back during a speeches cutaway ...the last three weddings BTW had lots of patterned brick work and the camera handles that with no issues.

Chris

That's exactly what I got - with my old Z1 the worst I got was flash/overexposed frame which was OK as somehow it's what your eyes see but with the 5D (and I'm hoping not with the EA50) I get an overexposed bar covering about a half of the screen which just looks strange - the last wedding i shot with the 5d the photog shot everything in multiples so his flash was going off like a strobe all the time - very annoying!

Hi Steve

Exactly! I really cannot see any point in paying for the complete camera and then just keeping the body..I find the kit lens is nice and sharp..with the big sensor at F3.5 I get the sort of DOF that I like, not over done at all but just right with a decent, but not all, especially the background, out of focus. I don't think brides would be too happy with half the wedding party in focus and half out. I can see a prime being of great value during a photoshoot if it's done the conventional way ..I do the entire photoshoot on stedicam so I have to rely on AF and a reasonably large DOF at that point.

What would be the advantage of owning a body only EA-50 used as a DSLR only with prime lenses, compared to the far better sensor and lenses of something like a 5D III???? I think if I was going to shoot that way and not use the useful features on the EA-50 and shoot using it as a full DSLR then surely just buy a proper DSLR like the Canon??

Chris

100% agreed Chris...My new Metabones adapter, Sony EX to Canon EF, not the new power booster, should be here within an hour. I will have the entire 16MM to 350MM range covered by Canon glass. I have no intention of it replacing my kit lens at all times.

Steve

Hi Steve

I guess for guys like Noa who will never use the stock lens then the body only option might have been worth waiting for. GlobalMedia show the K option but it's still listed as a preliminary item so it's not yet in stock. The zoom rocker even if you use a prime still allows the 2X zoom which could be very useful.

I don't have a barrage of lenses like you do so that would be a huge cost for me getting them from scratch and as my work (especially Realty which I do every day) is mainly video based footage rather than creative footage the stock lens works very well for me. Then again I might look at a Sigma 19F2.8 for Realty as I rarely zoom and everything is shot wide so an extra stop might help in dim and dingy rooms inside the properties.

Anyone with a Sigma 19mm here?? I'd like to know if the autofocus is slower or quicker than the Sony stock lens???

Chris

Hey Chris

I owned the 19mm Sigma for a while before I sold it.

It's a fantastic lens, with fast autofocus, but I didn't get much use from it as I had a SEL18200 which sufficed for my needs on my VG20. But it was definitely faster than the SEL18200 which practically matches the SELP18200 on the EA50.

I guess for guys like Noa who will never use the stock lens

This I never said :) I will use that lens quite often but it will completely depend on what I am shooting, I only don't plan to use the camera at weddings a lot, just because it's too big to carry around all day, I bhought the camera to get into another market then weddings only.

Hi Noa

My sincere apologies then!! I assumed (wrongly!) that you were only using your primes on an adapter as the stock lens was too slow.

I was actually just edited footage from the bridal prep on Sunday and at F3.5 you can still squeeze a little DOF from the lens ...it looks a lot better than a camera with small chips where everything is in focus.

James? Thanks for that ..with Realty shoots (which could be done with a domestic camcorder actually) the EA-50 stock lens is a little slow especially on big white surfaces (walls and ceilings) but it does get there OK!! I think the 19mm F2.8 might be worth a try..if I need to hilight anything I simply move closer ..space is no problem as these are empty homes!!

Everyone here is a big help too!!

Chris

I"m actually very pleased with the quality of the footage from the coalmine video I shot with the stocklens. As long as I don't need a faster lens (when it's too dark) or when I don't need a shallower dof or a focal length above or below 18 and 200mm I certainly will be using this lens as my main lens as I found it's very easy to quickly changing focal lengths without the hassle of constantly changing lenses.

That's exactly what I got - with my old Z1 the worst I got was flash/overexposed frame which was OK as somehow it's what your eyes see but with the 5D (and I'm hoping not with the EA50) I get an overexposed bar covering about a half of the screen which just looks strange - the last wedding i shot with the 5d the photog shot everything in multiples so his flash was going off like a strobe all the time - very annoying!

This thread certainly spans across many issues but its a great read. I believe the flash issue is called "flash banding" and it's in pretty much all CMOS sensors. Some worse than others. Cameras like the Z1 that Peter mentioned are CCD sensor which do not usually have the same flash banding issue so a flash looks like one single full frame pop and is much more pleasing. I know that Panasonic's HVX250 has "FBC" (flash banding compensation) which can help eliminate that issue on its CMOS sensor and there are other ways mentioned in this thread of removing it in post (or if you have a global shutter cam) but from what I know its a CMOS issue so it'll most likely be there to some extent in the EA50. However, it doesn't seem to bother "most" regular people in my experience. Or at least I've had only a few people actually bring it up saying that it bothered them seeing it in other peoples videos.

Now I come from a small sensor world. I shoot Weddings exclusively all year long. In my price range the majority of my "competition" use DSLRs. But I know full well that they can't get much of what I get with a smaller sensor camera just as I really can't get some of what they get with a larger sensor and faster lenses. That's why I found this thread fascinating. Different strokes for different folks. I personally see a great value in the EA50 stock lens. But that's due to my style of shooting. And by the way, I disagree with the notion earlier that zooms are sign of an amateur. Allow me to go on a bit of a tangent for a second here about this. I've read that about zooming being amateurish a few times in various forums and it is true in a lot of ways. Fast zooms, yes (unless of course its an artistic choice). But really slow zooms, especially at a higher frame rate slowed down even further in post can look fantastic and anything but amateur. That's the beauty of a versatile lens like the stock lens. If you want to, you can! In fact for most weddings I probably do a crawl type zoom (again, in slow motion which makes it feel more like a dolly than a zoom) with an additional move laterally or craning up for the majority of my detail shots and I'd say some of my detail shots can easily rival the best detail shots you'll see from any DSLR shooter. But that's my style. It's not for everyone. It's fun to be unique and a bit different sometimes and it can't be all that bad because business is great. And trust me, I've seen it when its bad, and yes, it can look amateurish, but it doesn't have to be. The stock lens gives someone like me the ability to do things that I previously couldn't do on any larger sensor camera. That is one of the main reasons I'm looking into investing in 2 or 3 of these cameras at some point...or possibly a couple FS700's. We'll see.

Noa said it best when he said that the stock lens gives you that flexibility and comfortability of the run n gun cameras that allow you to catch "almost" everything, but the real beauty is that this camera allows for you to step outside that "comfort zone" into a new world of creativity and filmmaking with other lenses should you choose to do that. For that reason (and because it's a hell of a lot less than the FS700 since I'm looking at grabbing 3 cams) this camera has really peaked my interest since it was first released. I'm not sold yet, but I'm lurking :)

I look forward to more posts with actual footage here on these forums. I loved reading here how each of you used different lenses for different purposes and which ones we're your "go-to" lenses for certain circumstances. Good stuff.

Hi James

One thing I do find is at 18mm on the stock lens the autofocus is sometimes a little slow and you do have to watch DOF even at F3.5.

I'm also going to step out of my comfort zone and try the Sigma 19mm ..F2.8 is better for my indoor (usually) video guestbook where I'm flitting from guest to guest who say "something nice to the couple" ..I have had to wait a bit with the stock lens until the focus peaking tells me I'm sharp .. the Sigma is supposed to be a bit quicker for focus BUT I will need to watch DOF even more....I just found for up close video the 50mm was a bit too much so I was losing my ideal mic distance.

It is still the nicest cam I have used for a long time and I have been with Panasonic for over 20 years starting with an NV100 recorder and WVP100 camera with a Saticon tube so that must say something..the second cam is about to be ordered for me too!!

Chris

Most CMOS chips scan in a sequence rather than the whole chip at once. So simplistically when a still flash fires its duration is less than a full scan time so that not all the chip is scanned when the flash is present. Hence only some of the image is overexposed. It should thus be possible to interpolate from the frame in front and behind to correct for the flash. Not sure how either Panasonic or Sony do this. CCD's accept a full frame charge and then are read out in sequence so will have the full frame overexposed. Global shutter CMOS have a similar response.

Ron Evans

The duration of an average still flash is 1/10,000th of a second.

Steve I think it depends what flash unit, from what source and for what purpose. In the studio or using flash to stop motion you are correct and it can be even faster. If the flash is from a Compact CMOS camera with an integrated flash unit it is likely to be a lot longer as the camera will have the same scan issues as the CMOS video camera the flash will be extended just the way it would be for a focal plane shutter sync. A focal plane still camera is close to how the data is read from a CMOS sensor in a video camera. A studio flash unit at max speed may not be noticeable on the CMOS video camera but a bunch of people with Compact cameras set on EASY mode all shooting at the same time will be noticed I think with varying degrees of effect. I don't shoot weddings, except my two daughters weddings. Flash on these showed anywhere between 1/4 to half the frame overexposed. Clearly in the dark the cameras were shooting at 1/60 sec ( all were shooting 60i AVCHD for the last daughters wedding) so flash must have been there for up to half a field. 1/120 sec in the worst case less time for the shorter effect. Simplistically each row of the sensor is read in 0.000016 sec so a 1/1000 sec flash would have the effect of overexposing about 10% of the 1920x1080 image as an over exposed horizontal band. In my daughters wedding case all still camera flashes were from compact cameras or cell phones no fancy high end camera flashes.

Ron Evans

Thanks for the update Ron. I will refrain from stating facts 25 years old when I "studied photography". I should have known better. Does Vivitar 285 mean anything to you. I think there is still one in my bone yard. Best damn flash ever made!

Steve

For anyone considering the Sigma 19mm, B&H currently has a special - the 19mm *and* 30mm for $199, what either one costs normally. Currently out of stock, but if you order, they will ship when in stock. For 50% off, probably worth a short wait!!!

Since neither of the Sigmas are image stabilized, I was wondering if anyone has considered or tried the Sony E-mount 35mm f1.8?

The only non-stabilized lens I own is the Sony E-mount 16mm, and personally, I don't find it usable except on a tripod, so while the Sigma lens deal is tempting, I'm just not sure if I'd get any real use out of it, as most of my work is hand held / run & gun.

Disappointing that the new Sony 20mm f2.8 is not image stabilized, but I guess they are aiming that one at the NEX stills camera owners, what with the pancake format / size and all.

... Does Vivitar 285 mean anything to you. ..
Steve

Yes I remember those. Showing my age again my early flash memories are of buying a box of flash bulbs for my cameras !!! My Minolta Maxum 7000 is still in its case. Went to check if it was a Vivitar but the flash is a Minolta Maxum 2800AF. It looks like a have two lenses too. An AF 70-210 and an AF 35-70 . My Sony HX30V is a lot more convenient has a 20x optical zoom and shoots 60p video as well or better than my CX700 and fits in my pocket !!!

Ron Evans

Strange, no one has mentioned the E mount 35mm f1.8 with OS, is a nice focal length and with a price between the Zeiss 24mm and the SEL50mm.

I agree with Chris. The kit lens is terrific. Sharp, steady and very well made. Is it the fastest, no, but for the money, you can't go wrong. I sue mine all the time, in conjunction with primes, as needs warrant. 'Nuff said.

Hi Rob

It also, of course, depends on what you are doing...with weddings when I'm in tight spaces, no time and rushing around then yes I need a quick lens with OSS and AF....If I'm shooting masterpieces like Noa does and have the time to set up the camera, use a slider or redo the shot a few times then a prime lens is the obvious choice!!

James is selling/has sold his stock lens so he obviously is doing stuff like Noa does only and doesn't have the need for a zoom or AF and can afford the time to not have to "shoot from the hip" like event guys do!

Chris

All I do is use a wide prime, my fisheye lens for the introductory shots of the venue and then a manual portrait prime for a few close up face shots.

Other than that Im always using my SEL18200 non-powerzoom lens which came with my VG20.

If I didn't own the SEL18200 I wouldn't have sold my SEL-P18200 which came with the EA50.

They are both identical. One has power zoom the other is a manual zoom. But both have autofocus and OSS.

I even kept the hood that came with the SEL-P18200 and use it on the SEL18200.

If I was being really picky, I would say the kit lens on the EA50 may be slightly sharper and more contrasty ... but nothing I have noticed. Only because it's newer tech do I say this.