which lenses for A7S II

[Tim Fraser]

Could someone help by referring to a previous thread or share what they suggest as a good set of lenses for the A7S II in a general videography business please?

Is there any sense in utilising the Sigma 18-35mm with speedbooster then shooting in Crop frame on the body? other than reduced rolling shutter?

[IronFilm]

Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 with a focal reducer will cover a MFT sized area approximately. 
Not a good idea!
With a straight adapter it would be a good idea with a Sony a7R mk2, but not an a7S mk2.

 

What is your budget and purpose? As there are HEAPS of options for lenses!
Do you want to go mainly adapted or native mount lenses?

Personally if it was me I'd go for a mix, I could get together a nice little set at a very low cost:

You can pick these up second in Nikon F mount for cheap cheap:

Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8

Tokina 28-80 f/2.8

Tokina 80-200mm f/2.8

Then throw in one of the cheapest Sony FE mount lenses, which makes it quite a good value (unlike most Sony FE lenses):

Sony FE 50mm f/1.8

All in cost is not much at all, and you've got four nice lenses which cover a lot of uses.

[Justin Bacle]

pick a set of old lenses : Minoltas, Russian M42 lenses, Konicas, Fuji AX, Contax, Canon FDs, ... and the convenient adapter and you'll be able to get a 35,50,85 set for less than 200€  
(I use minoltas on my mirorless and russian lenses on my dslr myself) 

Any information about what you plan to shoot would be helpfull to help you btw

[Timotheus]

Just weighing in on the 18-35: own it, brilliant lens. It is for APS-C camera's, so you can use it in crop mode on the a7s2.
It then gives a FOV / DOF comparable to something like a 27-52mm F2.7 fullframe lens.
Using the Clear Image Zoom function, the Sigma can also function as a normal / slight telephoto zoom!

Adding a speedbooster won't help as the lens' image circle doesn't fill the fullframe sensor.

[Davey]

I bought the following (though I am just a hobbiest at present that does the odd wedding and party):

FE 28mm f2.0

FE 16-35mm f4.0

FE 55mm f1.8

FE 70-200 f4.0

The only lens I have barely used as yet in the six months I have had the a7sii is the 16-35mm, but that is because it isn't fast enough for indoor shooting at night under disco lights. The other three lenses have been used equally and I love them all. I guess if money had been a bigger stumbling block at the time of purchase I would not have paid the Sony premium and instead gone down the adapter route, though the 28 and 55 are (in my opinion) worth the money.

If I'd had more money, I would have waited and gone for the following:

Sony Zeiss 35mm f1.4

Zeiss Batis 85mm f1.8

Sony 90mm f2.8 macro

Sony 24-70 f2.8 (g-master)

Sony 70-200 f2.8 (g-master)

 

[The Chris]

6 hours ago, Tim Fraser said:

Could someone help by referring to a previous thread or share what they suggest as a good set of lenses for the A7S II in a general videography business please?

Is there any sense in utilising the Sigma 18-35mm with speedbooster then shooting in Crop frame on the body? other than reduced rolling shutter?

Budget?

Native lenses or adapted?

AF or legacy?

Favorite FL's?

Too many options without knowing more specifics.

[Geoff CB]

14 minutes ago, The Chris said:

Budget?

Native lenses or adapted?

AF or legacy?

Favorite FL's?

Too many options without knowing more specifics.

This.

Personally, I'm collecting sets of old manual focus primes and adapting them. But if you need AF or zooms this is obviously not an option.

If you can rig them, an old Nikon 28-70 and 80-200 can create some gorgeous images.

[Tim Fraser]

Thanks for the suggestions and questions, it seems my colleague is starting out with weddings so run and gun I imagine will be involved.  I know you filmmakers who do short films will use MF, but anyone successfully using AF for wedding vids with Sony full frame mirrorless?

One of the most usefull suggestions I thought so far has been get a 2.8 zoom...  the G-master is the ticket except the ticket is large ;-)  Is there a good mid range zoom with AF alternative?

I've also suggested to him that he hire a lens from hireacamera people then purchase later.

[TheRenaissanceMan]

If you've got the money, a Zeiss Loxia set is ideal for video shooting. Beautiful focus action, clickless aperture rings, and an elegant, transparent rendering ideal for both clean client work or more creative grading. 

If you want to get something more affordable or more broadly compatible, I'd recommend buying vintage and fitting the set with gears from followfocusgears.com and uniform 80mm front rings from Duclos. I'm building a Leica R set that way right now, as I believe they're the best of the best vintage stills glass for cinema. Other great choices: Contax Zeiss, Minolta MD, Olympus OM, Nikon F, and Canon FD (in that order). 

A lot of low-level industry people are buying Rokinons these days, but they're relatively sterile, mediocre performers that don't match terribly well and suffer from quite a bit of sample variation. They're also-- let's be real here-- big pieces of plastic, and I'm not optimistic about their longevity compared to all-metal vintage glass. Besides, building a unique set could give you an edge over your competition, both in prestige and the looks you're able to achieve.

Edit: If you're looking for something more run and gun, I highly recommend the CY Zeiss 28-85mm and 80-200mm. AF on the A7SII isn't something I'd use in a fast-paced doc situation, and both those zooms combined will cost you less than a third the price of a new G-Master.

[noone]

I mainly use my A7s (original not ii) for stills but I have found the cheap(ish) 28-70 FE kit lens is actually a fairly decent lens for video and while the A7s is hopeless for AFC for stills, it is actually ok with the 28-70 for AF in video as long as the movement isn't too fast.     The 55 1.8 is a very nice lens too.     Apart from those, plenty of nice adapted lenses (I like Canon FD L primes mainly but I also love the Canon 17 f4 L TS-E lens though it is huge and expensive).      Lots to choose.     

I do like using adapted Canon EF lenses on the A7s but not for auto focus in video (ok for stills in many cases but way to slow for video).

 

[Laurier]

If you have the budget go for Sony PZ 28-135mm, It s all you need , it don t look as  glamorous as some vintage lenses but if you are a single operator that the most convenient lenses you can get . IF it s too sharp you can always diffuse it.

It s stabilized , parfocal , constant aperture , good manual/autofocus and it s have a servo zoom .

If you work with a crew and have a remote focus puller then you can go for rokinon .

Otherwise everything else is 4k+ in term of professional equipment .

 

 

Adapted lenses are always compromising.

 

 

[ricardo_sousa11]

Anyone know if this will work on the a7sII ?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tilt-shift-Lens-adapter-ring-for-M42-mount-lens-to-Sony-NEX-7-Support-AV-M-Mode-/201249846631?hash=item2edb6cf567:g:6N4AAOSwNSxVNhEN

I have a cheap Mir-1B and would love to make it tilt-shift lens.

[Davey]

11 hours ago, Laurier said:

If you have the budget go for Sony PZ 28-135mm, It s all you need , it don t look as  glamorous as some vintage lenses but if you are a single operator that the most convenient lenses you can get . IF it s too sharp you can always diffuse it.

It s stabilized , parfocal , constant aperture , good manual/autofocus and it s have a servo zoom .

If you work with a crew and have a remote focus puller then you can go for rokinon .

Otherwise everything else is 4k+ in term of professional equipment .

 

 

Adapted lenses are always compromising.

 

 

I gave this lens serious consideration for months but kept coming across sporadic reviews that slaughtered it for various reasons. Last time I looked it got an average of 7/10 on B&H, which is worrying for a £2,000 lens.

[IronFilm]

Very likely a large portion of that low score is due to dumb FS7 owners buying and it expecting something totally different from it than what it is.

[Davey]

1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

Very likely a large portion of that low score is due to dumb FS7 owners buying and it expecting something totally different from it than what it is.

Maybe - I think that one of them might have been, having skimmed through the reviews briefly again. I know that one was moaning that it was so heavy that you just could not run and gun with it unless on steroids.

[jcs]

I pretty much only use the Sony 24-240 with auto ISO for live events on the A7S II. Using AF with manual override (and vice versa) it works well enough (not nearly as good as Canon PDAF, but workable). Covers everything you need and is sharp enough. A lot of folks put that lens down, however online reviews also rate it highly: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1126138-REG/sony_sel24240_fe_24_240mm_f_3_5_6_3_oss.html , https://www.amazon.com/Sony-SEL24240-24-240mm-3-5-6-3-Mirrorless/dp/B00U29GNC8 .