If only 1 lens?

[Kent Beeson]

Hi

Hope to get the FS700 soon - if I can only afford one GOOD lens (probably zoom) which would you recommend? Yes, I can get an adapter if it's Canon lens...is the supplied SONY 18mm-200mm lens sharp, any good?

[Wilf Davies]

Hi i have had my fs700 a few weeks now baught it with kit lens, last few weeks i have baught Tamron 24-70 Tamron 70-300 Samyang full manual lens 35mm t1.5 and a couple of others. I have done test after test with all the lenses and the conclusion that i have come to! it simpley depends on what your situation is and what you are filming. Will give you an example of the differance between stock lens and 24-70 2.8 my friend stood vertualy in the dark smoking a cigerete filmed him with stock lens not a lot to see same thing with 2.8 the glow of the cigerete lit his face up realy cool look. the stock lens still i think is very good it focusis very quick its got is its fully auto if you want it to be so its not bad at all i use it quite a lot its not as good as my 24-70 in sharpness etc but its not bad. lastley i have just sold on ebay a Tamron 2.8 zoom lens i only paid £200.00 for it the pictures from it were brill i only sold it to get a lens with is in it because i have a shake in my left arm and the is sorts any shake out. so in my humble opinion get stock lens and do what i am doing build up your lenses as you go along because one lens dos'nt do all jobs. Hope that helps you a little Thanks Wilf.

[Kent Beeson]

Thanks very much for info - would the Tamron 70-300 be as good as say these guys with a metabones adapter?

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS

And do you need metabones adapter for the Tamrons?

[Wilf Davies]

The lenses i baught Tamrons etc i got Canon fit and yes i use a metabones adapter because of resale Canon is more popular and easier to sell. Tamron 70-300 is not as good as Canon 70-200 2.8 (i have one} Canon is 2.8 rite threw. In low lite situations when you zoom in with Tamron picture will go dark but not the canon it stays just as brite. I have watched test after test on Tamron 24-70 vs Canon 24-70 Tamron is half the price but also has vibration controle (is) and believe me it works a treat. The pictures are fantastic. honestly it depends on what you want out of your lens Thanks Wilf.

[Greg Waite]

i have had the fs700 for about 3 months now, and have done alot of shooting - if you only can aford 1 lens, get the kit lens, it is very good (for what it is). then save up and get a number of canon lenses and adaptor. we have 5 different canon lenses and use them all for different shoots, but we still use the kit lens a fair bit, especially for the run and gun stuff, it is also a good lens for the learning the camera. Remeber the quality of glass it where the quality of the shot begins! hope this helps

[Wilf Davies]

Hi i agree with Greg 100% stock lens is a good allrounder Thanks Wilf

[Olof Ekbergh]

The Canon 24-70 f2.8 L is the one on my 700 75% of the time.

I also use the Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS L a fair amount.And the 17-40 f4.

The kit lens is OK but slow, so the SDOF is not great. The IS and auto focus are very useful, this is the first lens I ever used auto focus on for video, it actually works well.

A great all around lens is the Canon 24-105 f4. It is small has IS and is very sharp.

[Sergiu Macarescu]

I love wide angle shots. But because of the crop factor compared to full frame the 24-70 is not wide enough, I have to use the 16-35mm L II

[Mark Kenfield]

If I could only have one lens on an FS700 it would be a 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom. That gives you a genuine wide-angle and a mild telephoto at the long end. I'd recommend the Nikon 17-55mm as it's been an absolute workhorse lens for me. But I hear you can come very close to it image-quality-wise with the Tamron 17-50mm.

[Kent Beeson]

Thanks for everyone's input - helpful to know...metabones plus Canon 24-70mm might be the one I go for if can only get one.

[Dave Sperling]

If you're not already getting Canon lenses, you should definitely look at the Sony/Zeiss Alpha mount 24-70 2.8 with the Alpha to E-mount adapter. Iris and even autofocus work with the camera, and the image quality is stunning. I've been using this setup the last few days (producer owned- not mine) and have been extremely happy with the results.

[Keith Moreau]

I second the Canon EF-S 17-55 2.8. It has IS unlike the 24-70 L, is lightweight but as sharp or sharper than the L series zooms (I have a bunch). Because it is made for APS-C it doesn't have a lot of extra glass you will not use. The Tamron zooms have tiny focusing ring travel, making it tough to focus precisely, though are not bad lenses. The 24-105 is good too and has good IS but not as sharp as the 17-55 and because made for FF is bigger than needed.

[Matt Davis]

One lesson I've learned over the years is: VIDEO LOVES IS.

Image Stabilisation on any lens except perhaps superwides.

Simply loving the Canon 24-105 f4 - did a recent job, 9 days shooting, was on the camera for about 80% of the time. F4 doesn't sound much, but hey - I use the kit lens at f8 most of the time.

Would concur that the kit lens will do many jobs well. You're not going to extract the full benefits of a big sensor camera, but you'll bring home great shots and can almost make the FS700 a R&G camera (just need to tame the viewfinder chimney).