Hi there. I am looking at buying a HAS 18X7.6 BRM-48 for my PDW-700. Is anyone out there using this on their camera? If so are you happy with it and the picture quality? I don't need the 2x extender.
Cheers, Sparky

I used one recently. It was fine.

Hi Mark,
Seems to be a lot of chat about this lens lately!
I bought one for my Varicam. Tested as usual against my standard, decent benchmark lens, a Fuji HA22x7.8. It was very close, close enough for me to be happy. It seemed to perform well with the 2x, possibly even a tiny bit better than the HA22.
It's light, small, handles well, and "relatively!" inexpesnive.
Steve

Thanks Steve

I saw a used one on TVBAY for a great price, but was a little worried that it was one of the nasty cheaper HD lenses. I didn't think it had a 2x extender or did you mean the camera's digital extender? I think the lack of extender reflects its price - but I am happy not to have one.

Thanks again!

Sorry Mark, didn't read the post properly!
I have tested that lens here http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdcam-hd-cinealta/137814-hd-2-3-lens-tests.html
Steve

I am currently using a Canon J14 x 8.5 B4 IRS lens on the PDW-700, seems to produce a lovely image. Do you think I would notice a noticable difference with the Fujinon HAS 18X7.6 BRM-48? Thanks.

I had exactly the same lens on the 700!
I did comparisons http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdcam-hd-cinealta/144334-more-hd-lens-tests.html

Just read through all the posts there again, really interesting stuff. I think I am going to stick with the J14 for a while esp after reading your tests! I am happy with the pictures. I think I'll look into getting an nice old wide angle sd lens as well for the odd time I'd need it. Is there any sd wide angles you'd recommend. The Funijon 8x you reviewed looked nice.
Appreciate your time and assistance..

Mark

The Fujinon was good, but it did flare a lot which could be a pain.
It's a funny thing with testing, as you often have to look quite closely at side-by-sides to see differences and when you do you can convince yourself that the one that doesn't look quite so good is a bad lens, whereas if you'd not done s-b-s and just looked at the images on-screen you'd have been perfectly happy with and so would your clients! And it's keeping the clients happy that is the main reason for buying HD lenses I reckon. If they're paying for HD they expect HD lenses, if you say you haven't got them you've got a tough explaining job to do to convince them that your tests have shown the results are as good as HD.
Have you checked BBList? they usually have a big seletion of lenses.
One thing I would tend to think is that if you're going for SD lenses go for the high end ones, ie the ones that were top-drawer in their day (like your Canon) and steer clear of the YJ lenses and other "Pro" lenses.
Steve