zenpmd Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 Please let me know if you think this is a good idea.. I am a total beginner, looking to learn how to shoot. I am therefore interested in starting on a budget. I managed to pick up a gh2 for $500. When I started to look at the price of the best m43 primes I started researching going to a Nikon camera, and then spent some weeks wondering what to do. Now I have decided to stay with gh2, but I'd quite like the versatility of using m43 lenses as opposes to legacy ones. I already have the Oly 45mm, Pansonic 14mm and I am thinking about getting the 40-150. Do you think I can do everything with the 3 lenses, at least when I am starting? Is there anything else I should consider? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOONGOAT Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 That's more than enough to get started. Don't fall into the trap of spending money unnecessarily. Also there's nothing wrong with MFT lenses, but it might be wise to invest in something like Canon or Nikon glass with a good adapter rather than MFT. I don't think MFT is going anywhere any time soon, but there is almost no downside to investing in something like fully manual Canon lenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy lee Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 you need a 24mm prime on a gh2 this is your standard lens with a FF equivilant of about 50mm I use Yashica f2.8 24mm and a Sigma 24mm f2.8 I only use legacy lenses as I prefer the look and I dont like soulless m4/3 new lenses A great lens on the GH2 is the Canon FD Mount L series 24-35mm f3.5 - insanely sharp L series glass and a stunning lens this is highly recomended Canon FD lenses are cheap very very good and superb I recomned you kit out with Canon FD's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirrorkisser Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 Can only recommend the canon fds aswell. very good and cheap. the minolta mds are not bad either. my starter kit contained the canon fd 20,35,50,85 and the lumix 14mm f2.5 and that was already more than enough for everything i needed. a fabulous lens for the price is the vivitar 28-200mm f3.5-5.3 with macro, its a very good run and gun lens during the day. the best cheap low light solution is the canon fd 50mm 1.4. And yes, dont fall into the trap of buying too much right away. i expanded too eary and too fast, now i got plenty of stuff i hardly use. I would also recommend getting something in the 17.5-25mm range as a standard to go lens. Regarding expensive m43 lenses: dont worry, i think they are here to stay. nobody knows what will happen tomorrow, i am also sometimes unsure whether full frame is a thing of the future (for photography for sure, but for videograpy?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenpmd Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 Thanks guys. What is the best way/best place to buy used lenses? I cannot seem to trust anything on ebay! I should add that I am using this for documentary work, as opposed to anything "creative", and value flexibility and speed over certain lovable characteristics of a lens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenpmd Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 Christ on a bike the vivitar 28-200mm f3.5-5.3 is cheap! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy lee Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 ebay is the best place also you want to buy constant apperture - parfocal zoom lenses for video That Vivitar is cheap but its a push pull zoom and it stops down as you zoom in - so it goes darker ! - not good! Canon FD 35-105mm zoom is razor sharp parfocal and constant apperture f3.5 Canon FD 24-35mm zoom L series f3.5 - insanely sharp! with those 2 lenses you can shoot almost very thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderbanks Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 ebay is the best place also you want to buy constant apperture - parfocal zoom lenses for video That Vivitar is cheap but its a push pull zoom and it stops down as you zoom in - so it goes darker ! - not good! Canon FD 35-105mm zoom is razor sharp parfocal and constant apperture f3.5 Canon FD 24-35mm zoom L series f3.5 - insanely sharp! with those 2 lenses you can shoot almost very thing! Thanks for the tip for the FD 35-105..I'm gonna be ordering one from eBay now. I just got the Panny 45-200. I've mostly shot stills with that, and it's been great for that. For crash zooms and such in video though, not the greatest. That 35-105 will do the trick. On topic..I also second FD lenses. I have a Canon 50mm/1.8, Toyo 28mm/2.8 and Makinon 135mm/2.8 in FD mount. The Toyo is the only one I bought, the Makinon and Canon were my dad's from his AE1, which I still use. I have two m42 mount lenses, a Zenitar 18mm/2.8 'fisheye' that I never use now, and a new favorite, an SMC/Takumar 55mm/1.8. I also have an assortment of C mount lenses that are fun to mess around with, but not very practical. They're super cheap though, so I don't mind having a bunch of them scattered around.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrad Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 I should add that I am using this for documentary work, as opposed to anything "creative", and value flexibility and speed over certain lovable characteristics of a lens Perhaps you should look at the M43 f/2.8 zooms, 12-35 and 35-100. Very expensive, but probably all you'd ever need, outside of an extreme situation every now and again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOONGOAT Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 I gotta say I disagree with a lot of posts in this thread. It says in the title 'total beginner'. I don't think recommending $1000+ glass is necessarily a good idea. As great as some of these recommendations are, dropping a large amount of money on a new hobby is never a good idea. Julian 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenpmd Posted May 12, 2013 Author Share Posted May 12, 2013 Its very interesting that some people have said m43 are "too sharp" and digital looking, because thats precisely why I don't particularly like the output of the OMD for stills, and, conversely, why I love my Fuji x100s! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOONGOAT Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 You can soften sharp in post, you can't easily sharpen soft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 The important question.. what do you want to shoot? I'd say go with cheap manual glass from eBay to fill in the gaps between your 14mm and 45mm. I bought tons of Minolta MD/MC lenses for prices varying from €5 to max €50. For example: 28mm 2.8, 35mm 2.8, 50mm 1.7, 58mm 1.4, 100mm 2.5, 135mm 2.8. If you find yourself using the 35mm all the time, invest in a 35mm 1.4 or 1.8 maybe. But it all depend on what you want to do with it... If you just want to make homevideo's of kids playing soccer or something, then a stabilized autofocus zoom lens is a better idea. Anyway, even in that case I'd say buy some manual lenses and fall in love with them :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucker Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 you can technically shoot everything with 1 lens :P stop shopping, start shooting,... that way you can figure out yourself what you're missing/needing. MOONGOAT and jgharding 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenpmd Posted May 12, 2013 Author Share Posted May 12, 2013 Thanks everyone. My first project is going to be a short film of a tribal group of people in Arunachal Pradesh, North East India, but since this will involve a lot of travel I can just tell a lot of it is going to be handheld... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenpmd Posted May 12, 2013 Author Share Posted May 12, 2013 The other issue I have come across, in my research, is that if this is for travel work, to remote places, if I hack my GH2 will it take up crazy space on my memory stick and burn through batteries? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOONGOAT Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 It wont affect battery life but most hacks will use more card space. I would hugely recommend you bring a laptop to offload footage. It'd also be a good idea to test different hacks. In my experience some hacks are not so reliable with certain cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 Thanks everyone. My first project is going to be a short film of a tribal group of people in Arunachal Pradesh, North East India, but since this will involve a lot of travel I can just tell a lot of it is going to be handheld... Do bring a tripod! even if it's a small one. Handheld with the 14mm can be ok, with the 45mm, it's going to be shaky. But it will be nice to use for close-ups / interviews with people from a tripod. A standard lens with stabilisation could be quite useful for handheld work. There aren't much options sadly. Either the standard 14-42mm kit lens, the 14-42mm X lens which is a lot smaller and pretty good quality, or the superb but pricey 12-35mm f/2.8. If you want to keep cost down, go with a kit lens for handheld work, or maybe a 14-140mm if you really think you'll need long reach. Add a 28mm or 24mm 2.8 prime, so you have a nice set of 14, 28, 45mm when you can control your shots on a tripod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucker Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 some hacks will take up loads of space,... on 64gb, apocalypse now boom gives me under an hour at 24p. and in camera playback is a bit dodgy. plus offloading takes forever. but it looks great! i'm liking the bkmcwd valkyrie patches at the moment, but the other ones, moon and slipstream i think theyre called are easier on the SD cards and pretty nice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderbanks Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 I have used GOPstoppa, Sedna, Canis Majoris and now Moon Trial 5. Moon has been my favorite so far, though trial 6 is supposedly coming soon. I use Sandisk 45MB/s 64GB cards and don't have issues. Occasional card speed errors in high detail, fast motion, 720p/60fps with autofocus, but I think I've figured out how to keep it from happening now. It has happened with all of those patches, I just can't consistently make it fail. I'm sure if I sprung for the 95MB/s cards I'd be fine. For all of those patches, 64gb gets me about one hour of footage. The OEM battery I get around 1.5-2+ hours, depending. I have 5 third party batteries, those last about the same, just no battery indicator so they'll just cut off. You can pick them up from eBay for pretty cheap, OEM batteries are not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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