GH5 - What lenses?

[Ki Rin]

I'm curious to know what your main go to lenses are for your GH5 (or will be if you don't have the camera yet).

Personally, I was all set to get the 12-60 /2.8-4 but I'm having second thoughts now..especially because the aperture seems to go to f4 very quickly.  I actually regret selling my Oly 12-40 /2.8.

 

I also have the Panasonic 100-300 II for telephoto stuff. And I think i'll pick up a used 25mm/1.4. 

I also have a couple of OM lenses (50/1.4, 135/2.8).

I also have the oly 9-18 which I'm not sure if I'll keep yet or not. 

 

I guess a lot of people here are using adapted lenses with speedboosters, which is very tempting. But I need to keep size/weight to a minimum for my work. 

 

But back to the topic, what is your main lens for using with the GH5?

[Borbarad]

Are those lenses you're looking for for stills and video or Video only?

The 12-60 is an amazing lens. Yes you loose on f stop, but you gain on focus speed and versatility. 

A perfect daytime travel lens. 

If you need f stop I think you will not be happy with f2.8 as this is not enough in reality.... especially during the blue hour and later.

My favorite m4/3 lenses.

Panaleica 12-60 f2.8.4

Panaleica 8-19 f2.8-4 ( not available  yet but on paper it's superb)

Panaleica 50-200 f2.8-4 ( not available yet but I loved the original Olympus 4/3 one)

Panaleica 12 f1.4 

Panaleica 42.5 f1.2

Olympus 25 1.2

Olympus 75 f1.8

Olympus 300 f4 (amazing wide open!)

 

Sadly the Panaleica 100-400 is to soft at the important long end. 

I would love to see a m4/3 of the 4/3 150mm F2 (on of my favorite lenses of all time. Just brilliant). And if possible please do something like a 200-400mm f4. Don't care for weight and size, but please do Panasonic / Olympus!

 

B

 

[Orangenz]

PL12-60. Was the 25mm 1.4 prior to getting it. Depends on what your work is. Rokinon 7.5 fisheye is great but can be used with the 4k crop mode for less warping. Prolly go the coming PLwide angle eventually. Love the PL100-400. The Oly300 is too restrictive and sadly too heavy to be carried around by anything less than 2 Kenworth trucks and a strongman

[Borbarad]

38 minutes ago, Orangenz said:

PL12-60. Was the 25mm 1.4 prior to getting it. Depends on what your work is. Rokinon 7.5 fisheye is great but can be used with the 4k crop mode for less warping. Prolly go the coming PLwide angle eventually. Love the PL100-400. The Oly300 is too restrictive and sadly too heavy to be carried around by anything less than 2 Kenworth trucks and a strongman

The 300mm heavyweight... well I don't give a damn. Easily walkable for long  walks (15-20km). Have it dangling over the shoulder most of the time.

Just image you carry a 600mm full frame one and the weight is not an issue anymore

B

[Ki Rin]

33 minutes ago, Borbarad said:

Are those lenses you're looking for for stills and video or Video only?

The 12-60 is an amazing lens. Yes your loose on f stop, but you gain on focus speed and versatility. 

A perfect daytime travel lens. 

If you need f stop I think you will not be happy with f2.8 as this is not enough in reality.... especially during the blue hour and later.

My favorite m4/3 lenses.

Panaleica 12-60 f2.8.4

Panaleica 8-19 f2.8-4 ( not available  yet but on paper it's superb)

Panaleica 50-200 f2.8-4 ( not available yet but I loved the original Olympus 4/3 one)

Panaleica 12 f1.4 

Panaleica 42.5 f1.2

Olympus 25 1.2

Olympus 75 f1.8

Olympus 300 f4

 

Sadly the Panaleica 100-400 is to soft as important long end. 

I would love to see a m4/3 of the 4/3 150mm F2 ( on of my favorite lenses of all time. Just brilliant.

 

B

 

Ideally for both stills and video, but with the emphasis on video. I also shoot with the A7RII so that is my main stills camera, but I only have primes for it. So for a general walkaround lens and telephoto, I plan to use the m43 kit. I feel that is what the m43 system is ideal for (in terms of stills). 

For video, I decided to get the GH5 even though the A7Rii has very good quality, because of a few reasons. Mainly, the articulating screen, slow mo, stabilization, and usability (I find the user interface etc much easier and enjoyable to use on the Panasonic and Olympus cams). 

I plan to still use the Sony for low light, shallow DOF, and gimbal work. For everything else, the GH5. Hopefully I can match the footage fairly easily in post. 
But I will have to see what ends up happening in reality. It would be much easier to just stick with one system, but there's a lot of things I really miss about the m43 system when I use only the Sony. And I can't give up the stills and low light IQ of the FF Sony now... So I am stuck carrying two systems for now. 
If Sony adds an articulating screen and better stabilization in the future.. I will re-evaluate. 

[Fredrik Lyhne]

The 15mm Pana Leica is excellent, my favorite among the cheaper lenses. I don't think you can go wrong with a used 25mm 1.4 used or a new Sigma 30mm 1.4 either (similar priced and the Sigma is probably a little bit better, but also a little bit bigger). The primes @Borbarad mentioned is the best lenses in the system but they come at a high cost. And obviously there are great native manual lenses but I'm guessing you want AF.

[Ki Rin]

42 minutes ago, Orangenz said:

PL12-60. Was the 25mm 1.4 prior to getting it. Depends on what your work is. Rokinon 7.5 fisheye is great but can be used with the 4k crop mode for less warping. Prolly go the coming PLwide angle eventually. Love the PL100-400. The Oly300 is too restrictive and sadly too heavy to be carried around by anything less than 2 Kenworth trucks and a strongman

I think that sounds like a good setup. I forgot about the Samyang fisheye. I have that too actually, but didnt think about using it in crop mode (I assume you mean the ex.tele option?) to mitigate some distortion. Thanks for the tip!
The new PL 8-18 looks nice.. but a bit too expensive IMO. I also wanted to get the PL100-400 but couldn't afford it right now, so went for the 100-300.  Hopefully in the future. 

2 minutes ago, Fredrik Lyhne said:

The 15mm Pana Leica is excellent, my favorite among the cheaper lenses. I don't think you can go wrong with a used 25mm 1.4 used or a new Sigma 30mm 1.4 either (similar priced and the Sigma is probably a little bit better, but also a little bit bigger). The primes @Borbarad mentioned is the best lenses in the system but they come at a high cost. And obviously there are great native manual lenses but I'm guessing you want AF.

Thanks. I'll have to consider the 15mm too. 
I would prefer the option of AF since I will be doing travel run and gun stuff mostly. 
But in some cases, manual lenses are a good option I think. 
I have the OM 50/1.4 already and I like it a lot. Also the OM 135/2.8 is nice on FF. I haven't used it on the GH5 yet. 

 

[Borbarad]

6 minutes ago, Ki Rin said:

Ideally for both stills and video, but with the emphasis on video. I also shoot with the A7RII so that is my main stills camera, but I only have primes for it. So for a general walkaround lens and telephoto, I plan to use the m43 kit. I feel that is what the m43 system is ideal for (in terms of stills). 

For video, I decided to get the GH5 even though the A7Rii has very good quality, because of a few reasons. Mainly, the articulating screen, slow mo, stabilization, and usability (I find the user interface etc much easier and enjoyable to use on the Panasonic and Olympus cams). 

I plan to still use the Sony for low light, shallow DOF, and gimbal work. For everything else, the GH5. Hopefully I can match the footage fairly easily in post. 
But I will have to see what ends up happening in reality. It would be much easier to just stick with one system, but there's a lot of things I really miss about the m43 system when I use only the Sony. And I can't give up the stills and low light IQ of the FF Sony now... So I am stuck carrying two systems for now. 
If Sony adds an articulating screen and better stabilization in the future.. I will re-evaluate. 

Same here. I have a Leica M as my main camera.

So m4/3 for me is and always was about zooms and the long Tele end.

Therefore the 12-60 was a nobrainer for me. Same for the 300mm.

might think about the Panaleica 8-19 and a Prime for Video 

 

B

 

[Orangenz]

21 minutes ago, Borbarad said:

The 300mm heavyweight... well I don't give a damn. Easily walkable for long  walks (15-20km). Have it dangling over the shoulder most of the time.

Just image you carry a 600mm full frame one and the weight is not an issue anymore

B

My opinion is more important if I repeat it. But lots of bonus points if you make it funny at the same time. Minus points if too serious, that's only for facebook.

19 minutes ago, Ki Rin said:

. I also wanted to get the PL100-400 but couldn't afford it right now, so went for the 100-300.  Hopefully in the future. 

 

I prefer the 100-300 for portability/weight. The stability of the longer lens is amazing though. Yes the ex tele. Mode.

[jonpais]

1 hour ago, Borbarad said:

Same here. I have a Leica M as my main camera.

So m4/3 for me is and always was about zooms and the long Tele end.

Therefore the 12-60 was a nobrainer for me. Same for the 300mm.

might think about the Panaleica 8-19 and a Prime for Video 

 

B

 

Why is m43 all about zooms and the long tele end? For one thing, none of them are fast. And why was the 12-60 a 'no brainer'? There is no debating that fast primes are not only small and lightweight, but also optically superior to the zoom lenses. 

Edit: The prime lenses you mention are some of the very best in the micro four thirds system, but I wouldn't discount the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN either. Do you own any of these lenses?

[Borbarad]

1 hour ago, jonpais said:

Why is m43 all about zooms and the long tele end? For one thing, none of them are fast. And why was the 12-60 a 'no brainer'? There is no debating that fast primes are not only small and lightweight, but also optically superior to the zoom lenses. 

Edit: The prime lenses you mention are some of the very best in the micro four thirds system, but I wouldn't discount the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN either. Do you own any of these lenses?

I'm a long time 4/3 User since the E1. I know all the 4/3 TopPro and Pro lenses and also used them incl the brilliant 150 f2, 90-250 f2.8 and 300mm 2.8 ( and they render better then anything on m4/3). The most used lens was always the 12-60 Zuiko Pro. Used also the brilliant 14-35 F2 TopPro Zuiko. Still optically the best 4/3 m4/3 Standard Zoom.

At one time a was even under NDA with Olympus....

Now for m4/3 I have personally only a few lenses, namely

Panaleica 12-60 f2.8-4

Panasonic 14-140 3.5-5.6 (for sale)

Olympus 12-40 f2.8 ( for sale)

Olympus 300mm f4

 

I have access to most m4/3 lenses. So used the 40-150 f2.8, 7-14 f2.8, 12mm 1.4, 25mm 1.2, 42.5 1.2 & 75 1.8 etc..

 

Am I interested in any other lens to own?

Well there are a few that may end up in my bag...

8-19 Panaleica

12mm Panaleica

42.5 Panaleica

Will I keep the 300m f4? For now yes, but it depends what long lenses are to come based on the rumors. Would love to get the amzing TopPro rendering back. Do I care about the weight? Nope.

 

B

 

 

 

[Ki Rin]

To me, it makes a lot of sense to use m43 for the tele end especially because of the 2x crop. To get similar focal lengths on FF would require HUGE lenses. And conversely, adapted wide lenses seem better suited to FF sensors (again because of the crop factor). 
Of course, you can shoot with wide native lenses on m43 though. There are just less options. 

Zooms vs primes are a preference. But IMO, m43 has some advantages with zooms because of the much smaller lenses. Of course, I would still use primes on a m43 system. But I find that I am more reluctant to use zooms on the sony FF. 

 

[Borbarad]

20 minutes ago, Ki Rin said:

To me, it makes a lot of sense to use m43 for the tele end especially because of the 2x crop. To get similar focal lengths on FF would require HUGE lenses. And conversely, adapted wide lenses seem better suited to FF sensors (again because of the crop factor). 
Of course, you can shoot with wide native lenses on m43 though. There are just less options. 

Zooms vs primes are a preference. But IMO, m43 has some advantages with zooms because of the much smaller lenses. Of course, I would still use primes on a m43 system. But I find that I am more reluctant to use zooms on the sony FF. 

 

Exactly my point. The size advantage comes withe zooms and especially the long end. Love the D5 with an 600mm F4. Amazing IQ and System but the size and weight well... 

Therefore I'm in the camp:  m4/3(4/3) for zooms and long stuff and 35mm for Primes and DOF.

 

B

[noone]

8 hours ago, Ki Rin said:

Ideally for both stills and video, but with the emphasis on video. I also shoot with the A7RII so that is my main stills camera, but I only have primes for it. So for a general walkaround lens and telephoto, I plan to use the m43 kit. I feel that is what the m43 system is ideal for (in terms of stills). 

For video, I decided to get the GH5 even though the A7Rii has very good quality, because of a few reasons. Mainly, the articulating screen, slow mo, stabilization, and usability (I find the user interface etc much easier and enjoyable to use on the Panasonic and Olympus cams). 

I plan to still use the Sony for low light, shallow DOF, and gimbal work. For everything else, the GH5. Hopefully I can match the footage fairly easily in post. 
But I will have to see what ends up happening in reality. It would be much easier to just stick with one system, but there's a lot of things I really miss about the m43 system when I use only the Sony. And I can't give up the stills and low light IQ of the FF Sony now... So I am stuck carrying two systems for now. 
If Sony adds an articulating screen and better stabilization in the future.. I will re-evaluate. 

Since you are using both, I would suggest maybe just one or two native lenses for each and use Canon lenses with smart adapters so you can use them across systems.

There are focal reducer and non focal reducer smart adapters for M4/3 from both Metabones  and Kipon and a gazillion different EF to E mount smart adapters for FF E mount.

Video AF will be very hit and (mostly) miss or even non existant but MF and AFS and depending on the combination of camera/lens/adapter even AFC might be somewhat usable (though maybe not).

[Rava_Rama]

42.5 1.2 & 12-60 2.8-4

is just win combo i cant complain with this set both have Ibis 

[Ki Rin]

4 minutes ago, noone said:

Since you are using both, I would suggest maybe just one or two native lenses for each and use Canon lenses with smart adapters so you can use them across systems.

There are focal reducer and non focal reducer smart adapters for M4/3 from both Metabones  and Kipon and a gazillion different EF to E mount smart adapters for FF E mount.

Video AF will be very hit and (mostly) miss or even non existant but MF and AFS and depending on the combination of camera/lens/adapter even AFC might be somewhat usable (though maybe not).

That's actually a good idea. 
I don't know much about canon lenses though. Do you have any suggestions for some lenses that would work well with both systems (for video mostly). Preferably lenses that aren't too big/heavy.

 

 

[webrunner5]

2 minutes ago, Ki Rin said:

That's actually a good idea. 
I don't know much about canon lenses though. Do you have any suggestions for some lenses that would work well with both systems (for video mostly). Preferably lenses that aren't too big/heavy.

 

 

Canon 24-105mm f4 lens is pretty much the video standard on even top end video cameras.

[noone]

40 minutes ago, Ki Rin said:

That's actually a good idea. 
I don't know much about canon lenses though. Do you have any suggestions for some lenses that would work well with both systems (for video mostly). Preferably lenses that aren't too big/heavy.

 

 

Not really.

I use mine mainly for stills and I am using a pair of CDAF only cameras (M4/3 GX7 and FF A7s) and I use a non focal reducer Kipon smart adapter for the GX7 and a few different smart adapters for the A7s.

I do like the 40 2.8 STM which is small and light even after adding an adapter, Sigma 150 2.8 APO macro and EF 100 f2.

Even the cheap and cheerful 18-55 IS ii kit lens works for me.      It covers FF from about 24mm and up with Sony as well as being able to use it in APSC mode and on M4/3.

I have used a few others too and they were all ok for AFS on the GX7 (with Kipon and latest firmware).     On the Sony it is combination dependent but should be much better with the A7Rii.

AFS at least is very fast with the GX7 and Kipon and all but one of my EF lenses.     AF (again AFS) is very slow with all my adapters and A7s.

The only lens that doesn't AF at all on my GX7 and Kipon is an ancient 28-90 kit lens from an old film camera but it is not a good lens (it does AF on the A7s though slowly).

IS works with both (not needed on your cameras) though with the Kipon adapter, Canon lenses don't allow IBIS to work even with non IS EF lenses for some reason (not much of a loss with the GX7 and no loss for video).

 

Be careful with Canon APSC EF-S lenses with some smart focal reducers, I am led to believe there is an issue mounting.      Not something I have encountered but I think I have seen posts about that.    

I want to try at least an APSC 10-18 STM lens on the GX7 and at least see what it covers FF (if anything) on the A7s and the same with the APSC 55-250 STM lens.

 

[Thpriest]

I like the Voigtlanders and SLR Magic with my GX85. Lovely images and they are lovely to use. The Voigtlander is exceptional if you like manual lenses. I just don't really like the Panasonic lenses although I haven't tried the 42.5 1.2 Nocitron nor the Sumilux (?). The normal Panasonic lenses are just too rubbish if you want to manual focus and I feel f0.95 - f1.4 can really dig you out of a mft lowlight hole!

[Rinad Amir]

Hey peeps have anyone tried 12mm 1.4 Sumilux on GH5? I know there is tons of videos on youtube i just wanna get some opinions from fellow EOSHD?