FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

hello there

i have the A7S and am very interested in buying this lens for my camera

up to today i was and am still working with a TAMRON 24-70 2.8 VC and a metabones adapter III but i want very much to go for an e mount lens and get rid of the adapters and other mount lenses.

the 28-135 on papers is my perfect lens but i have seen some very negative reviews regarding this item especially about the very sensitive and weak mount this lens have..

many reviews around the net say that many users had mount broken after some use or during transfer

is this true? is this lens so weak ?

does anybody have it to tell me his opinion? is it worth it?


thanks
Anthony

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

I've rented the lens a couple of times. Once to use with my FS700 and once to use with my A7S. Pretty decent lens I'd say.
Regarding the lens mount... It might be on the larger size for the e-mount system. But with an A7S, you mount the lens on a tripod and let the A7S hang free or if using hand held, you hold under the lens and it shouldn't be a problem. If used with bigger camera, lens support might be a good idea to be sure.

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

The lens is fantastic. The mount is fine but treat it with caution like all fragile things. I mount either on the Movcage or the lens mount. The lens mount can be taken off for packing, transportation etc..

Here is one I just finished shooting today, mounted the camera via the lens mount upside down with all the weight on the mount, no problem.

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

i have plans to work with this lens on the camera mount and not with the lens mount

i am working with an edelkrone pocket grib on my a7s and its difficult to mount it there.

my other option is the 18-105 lens but i feel that this lens is far inferior than the 28-135

ofcource i dont want to buy something that will brake easily

thank you all for your replies

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

Anthony the 18-105 is for APS-C the 28-135 is for full frame

Pete

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

The 18-105 works great on the A7S as well, but as said, only in S35 crop mode. Which means, still pictures are only 5.1mb and if you want to shoot 4K, camera has to upscale, which probably isn't a very good idea.
But for shooting HD, it works well. I find f4 sometime limiting in S35 (on the A7S only from depth of field reasons) while f4 on full frame seems adequate for most shooting situations.

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

If your budget fits get the 28-135mm you will not be disappointed. This lens for me also has a beautiful coating on the lens. I also have a 18-200mm Sony lens but sadly this sits gather dust.

I have also read and re read every review and watched all the videos but I think you'll never know unless you try it for your self. This lens with the A7s is a great combo.

My next lens to complete the package will be the 10-18mm SonyF4 which ia APS-C.

I'm also going to add that, a lot of reviewers were trying to use the camera and lens as a typical ENG setup, yes you can but those ENG rigs are shoulder mount with B4 mount lens designed for that application.
I own and use an ENG rig with B4 lens. Now the A7s and 28-135mm is a different beast size wise and ergonomically but it's the closest I have found for a lens to work on a DSLR in an ENG way.

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

thanks for the updates! :P

i have an a7 with the 55m for photos and the rx10ii

i want to buy the 28-135 but the only things that worries me a lot is that i have seen loads of users saying that they broke the mount on transfer ..... and sony do not fix this lens ....

this is what is takes me away

mayne a 24-70 with 70-200 FE to be a better option but i dont like changing lens when in video

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

i do have the 10-18 . great lens.

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

Please don`t ever think about this. With 28-135 will the system be very very front heavy. It will be not comfortable and the E- mout will be very stressed.
If you don`t like changing the lens and you will still have a relativelly small and light system - try the 24 - 240 lens. Its a mechanical zoom - so you can change it a lot faster but of course without smooth motorized zooms. Ist much cheaper, uses common 77mm instead of 95mm filters - and the optical quality for video is very good. It goes wider and has much better minimal focal distance too.
Its a big lens, but the 28-135 is much bigger and heavier:

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

That's true Ivan and the reason the mount is on the lens. I guess one could get rails and some kind of lens support which you could then mount via the bottom of the camera or if you use a cage that would work.

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

I should chime in that I just got an A7s and the 24-20 lens, and I must say, except for the sweet 10x range, the 24-240 is horrible for video. It is NOT PARAFOCAL, and my ENG type use of it is made extremely difficult, because something as simple as a wide medium and telephoto shot of the same angle requires lots of work to refocus. Also, the zoom mechanism is extremely TIGHT, so that zooming is a grip and twist several times, like unscrewing a stuck jar lid. Expect the camera to rotate on it's axis as you do this. Manual focus is no better, and the lens has no infinity stop, which wouldn't be too horrible if not for the fact that the free spinning focus dial will pass infinity by a huge margin and blur everything.

Now on to the 28-135, which I want to upgrade to. The A7s when attached to the 28-135 should present a lens mount stress issue. The people breaking lens mounts are hanging the heavy lens off the front of a heavier camera. The A7s is more like a tiny attachment to the lens, so the light weight of the camera won't do anything. It's sort of like the cap on a 2 liter bottle, the A7s being the little cap!

What can you guys tell me about the manual operation of the 28-135 for ENG type work, I am assuming it IS parafocal? Is the zoom the servo type with a fixed maximum speed, so if you crash zoom you get the equivalent of if you held down a camera zoom rocker at it's maximum detent? How about focus, heard some rumors the lens focus is decoupled to a ridiculous extent? Reading that it can continue changing focus for up to a second after you stop turning, and is impossible to use manually?

Paul

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

Another question, when using the zoom control on the lens, will it automatically continue into the A7s's "clear image" or "digital zoom" range????????

Paul

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

thanks for the reply! i will not go forward with the 28-135 for this reason .

as for the 24-240 as Paul Anderegg said it have some major issues in videos..

i was thinking of this lens but instead of this for my run and gun outdoor shots i went directly for an RX10II... i know its different but the little camera is giving me great results with its 24-200 lens

Re: FE SONY 28-135 - question
 

The lens is parfocal.
You can't make crash zooms using the servo motor, it's fixed speed.
The lens has an image stabilize (OSS) and works really well.
On the a7S you can switch between full frame and APS-C crop mode.
In APS-C mode this is around 42-202 mm.

You will need ND filters:


Is it an ENG B4 lens, NO but it's about as close as one will have on a small rig like the A7s.

I find the lens easy to focus in manual using peaking and if the lens mount is an issue grab some rails and secure the lens to this.