Lenses for the FS5

[Jody Arnott]

I love almost everything about my FS5 - unfortunately however the 18-105 f4 kit lens is a constant annoyance due to the frustrating focus mechanism. Manual focus is difficult, and smooth focus pulls are almost impossible.

I purchased a Commlite adapter so I can use my Canon glass, and that works well for more controlled shooting situations. However much of my work is very fast paced run and gun, and I like to be able to use the reliable auto iris and good OIS of Sony's e-mount lenses.

So my question is - are there any decent E-mount zoom lenses with a regular manual focus ring? I would love something around the 18-100mm range with good stabilisation and manual focus. Speed doesn't matter so much - constant f4 is nice but I can live with f3.5-5.6 or similar, as long as the optics are good.

Any suggestions would be grealy appreciated :)

[Ray Lee]

I am 90% sure the only one is the 28-135 Sony E mont, real shame because the "fly by wire" or electronically controlled focus isn't actually the issue its the way its implemented with the "speed ramping"

Turn a quarter inch slow to the right and the focus point moves 2 feet move it slowly back to the left and it could be 1 foot or 20... you just never know what going to happen.

I say its a shame because the physical feel of the focus rings is actually pretty nice vs. using twitchy AF DSLR lenses and they are tiny, light weight a the OS is really nice to have. My favorite lens for my Sony video cameras was the Sony 35mm 1.8 OSS but just couldn't get used to the focus and ended up selling it on Ebay

I read and I believe Doug Jenson also mentioned auto ND is coming to the FS5, so if someone wanted auto exposure with other lens brands they could set the shutter and a reasonable aperture and auto the ND... granted it would only work in bright light.

[Marcus Durham]

What would people consider a good prime for interviews? I see Sony offer a 35mm for a reasonable price but suspect this is probably too wide.

Must get an adapter for my Nikon glass as I've a superb Tokina 11-16mm lens I've been using on a VG10 for the last few years. Despite the awful sensor in that camera, that lens gave great wide shots when required.

[Peter Brinkman]

Asked myself this question to. Needed a faster lens with better focusing. Because I was in a hurry for a shoot I bought the 'cheap' Samyang 35mm 1.5 vdslr e-mount. With the clear image zoom a nice lens with a great focusing ring. No regrets.

[Marcus Durham]

Anyone have any feelings on what lens weight you should be looking to add extra support?

The stock lens is 427 grammes. The Tokina I've been using with the VG10 is 570 grammes. I'm guessing that is probably top end for unsupported.

[Steve Rosen]

A related question would be - which adapter is best for using EF or EF-S lenses? I haven't sprung for the FS5 because I don't like Sony lenses and have several Canons from my C100. I don't mind manual iris - if it's responsive - and I'm not too concerned about auto focus either - I'm reliably fast at both of those if the electronics allow for crisp control (OIS would be nice though).

On other cameras the Metabones adapters are hit and miss... some work well (like the Pocket Camera Speedbooster) some not so well (like the original EF-MFT). What kind of luck have people had with the EF-E for this camera?

Also, on the C100 the 24-105 essentially "acts" parfocal. How does it behave on the FS5?

[Chad Johnson]

I'm loving the Sigma 24-105. Canon EF mount version. With Metabones Speedbooster Ultra EF to E mount the crop factor is .7, and using the Sigma 24-105mm f/4 lens I get an effective range of 17-73mm, and with Clear Image Zoom I get 17-146mm. And the lens gains a stop making it a constant f/2.8 because of the speed booster. So my f/4 lens is now a 2.8 that is much better suited for low light. Canon also has a version of the same lens, but I hear the stabilization is loud, so I went with the Sigma, which is sharper, quieter, better all around, but a half pound heavier. I use it on a tripod mostly though, so that doesn't matter.

The 18-105 f/4 Kit zoom is effectively 27-158mm equivalent.

[Chad Johnson]

Oh, the Sigma is 2 lbs, and needs no support.

[Mark Joseph]

I am looking at FS5K 18G105 kit lens but augmenting it with Nikon F-mount primes for interview work. I used a Kocay AI-NEX E-mount to Nikon F-mount (lensless adaptor without aperture control) with Zeiss 85mm 1.4 & Nikon 50mm f1.4 both have aperture rings. I don't know the crop factor, but I'm guessing it is 1.5x so the 50mm becomes 75 - 150mm (equivalent 35mm focal length) using the clear zoom function. This is ideal for MCU interview work. The other FOV option is going with 35mm prime which equates to 52.5 - 105mm (35mm equivalent FL).

[Chad Johnson]

Don't Nikon lenses focus in a different direction than most other lenses? I think if you're starting from scratch you should use a lens that focuses in the same direction as the sony lenses, and any Canon's one may get later. I'm not of course saying that Nikon lenses aren't great, but it is worth noting about the focus direction. Could be confusing if you swap brands in the middle of a shoot.

[Mark Joseph]

Not starting from scratch, have Nikon F-mounts for our F5 incl a set of Zeiss ZF.2 primes plus our creative area has range of Nikon gear incl 17-35 and 24-70 f/2.8 zooms which we can grab if needed. So will be building on that as we add FS5 to the studio.

[Jeremy Cole]

Originally Posted by Chad Johnson

Don't Nikon lenses focus in a different direction than most other lenses? I think if you're starting from scratch you should use a lens that focuses in the same direction as the sony lenses, and any Canon's one may get later. I'm not of course saying that Nikon lenses aren't great, but it is worth noting about the focus direction. Could be confusing if you swap brands in the middle of a shoot.

Yep, they do focus in the opposite direction, and it is confusing at times, but the lenses are very nice and you can learn to cope with the issue!

[Chad Johnson]

Oh definitely. It's just something I would have never thought of if I were starting from scratch buying lenses. I learned this in Vortex Media's FS5 course. It's already bad enough that some of my lenses have the zoom in front, and some have the focus in front.

[Marcus Durham]

Originally Posted by Chad Johnson

Don't Nikon lenses focus in a different direction than most other lenses? I think if you're starting from scratch you should use a lens that focuses in the same direction as the sony lenses, and any Canon's one may get later. I'm not of course saying that Nikon lenses aren't great, but it is worth noting about the focus direction. Could be confusing if you swap brands in the middle of a shoot.

Never found it an issue and I used Nikon glass on the VG10 (and hence have just ordered a Metabones for the FS5).