Lenses to keep throughout GH4 > BMCC 4k > RED SCARLET

[UnFstudio]

Hello everyone,

My name is Gleb, I'm starting a production company to shoot feature films, and commercials / music videos on the way before that.

 

For my camera package for the first 2-3 feature films I'm going to buy GH4 as the camera body (Now have 2xGH3), and after I will have a transition to BMPC 4K and then to RED Scarlet / Epic

 

Now I own a speed booster alternative RJ speed booster (Nikon mount)

And was thinking about the idea of buying a full Rokinon cinema lenses set (Nikon mount)

Than use it on the RED scarlet before buying better primes, but than I will not be able to have my middle switch from GH4 to BMPC 4k.

 

1.) So is it better to buy all lenses EF mount and buy the EF speed booster and than EF mount for RED cameras, or buy Nikon to EF adapters for the BMPC 4k?

 

2.) Another idea was to avoid speed booster and by ROKINON lenses in MFT mount direct, to partially avoid the crop factor, and after 2-3 films sell the full kit and buy PL Primes for BMPC 4k and then move to PL RED?

 

3.) For our second feature film we are planning to shoot anamorphic x1.5 adapters style, any ideas on working (Anamorphic / Rokinon / Speed Booster / GH4) or avoiding Speed Booster will be better?

 

4.) Buy one vintage PL zoom lens and a PL adapter for GH4? Any lens suggestions in that case please.  

 

Now I have only 2 nikon zoom lenses to use with my speed booster and I can sacrifice that if needed.

 

Thank you for your answers!

[andy lee]

if you want lenses you can keep long term then dont buy micro 4/3 Rokininons

I would get a Nikon 28-70mm f2.8 IF D , it is a steller lens as used on THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, CASINO ROYALE, QUANTUM OF SOLICE etcetc

no focus breathing , very sharp and covers the range of 4 primes , 28, 35, 50 and 70mm plus if you put it on a speedbooster it becomes a 20-50mm f2 monsters lens !! very fast for night shooting and even sharper and wider .

 

I have 2 of these and they are now my main go to lenses !!

 

you can shoot wide open at f2.8 all day long an it is pin sharp with a superb bokeh and very very filmic look

this lens is the closest you can get to a £15,000 Carl Zeiss 28-80mm f2.8 cinema PL mount lens

http://***URL removed***/articles/4439044609/carl-zeiss-presents-28-28mm-t2-9-cinema-zoom-lens

 

AND it has less focus breathing than the Carl Zeiss.....it is an amazing lens get one it will last a lifetime.

 

its sister lens is the Nikon  80-200mm f2.8 IF D also used on Bourne Ultimatum - this the is killer!!

 

with these 2 lenses and a speedbooter you can shoot 90% of a feature film!

all with a constistant glass look and matched colours so no issues in post as its all the same great Nikon glass !!

it works !

[jasonmillard81]

Andy is this the lens you are referring to?  http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-28-70mm-Nikkor-Digital-Cameras/dp/B00005LEOR

 

and that would work well on a gh4?

[Inazuma]

Highly recommend the sigma 18-35m f1.8. Terrific performance even at f1.8. In fact when I had it, the colours and sharpness seemed better at f1.8 than at f4, which was strange. Also with the metabones nikon > mft speed booster, it was parfocal (or at least very close)

[andy lee]

Andy is this the lens you are referring to?  http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-28-70mm-Nikkor-Digital-Cameras/dp/B00005LEOR

 

and that would work well on a gh4?

yes thats the lens - it is superb on micro 4/3 cameras GH4 , G6 GX7 etc , 80% of Bourne Ultimatum was shot on this lens , also used on Captain Phillips and Green Zone all directed by Paul Greengrass - Its a very very good

lens

 

it has fully manual apperture , which you need ,

as all the later Nikons are neutered and have electric fly by wire appertures .....like the 24-70mm and the 70-200mm all useless with no manual apperture , this 28-70mm is fully manual apperture

 

as it is Nikon mount it is future proof as it will adapt to almost all cameras like Red / Arri etc

[Julian]

They didn't shoot those movies with 2,4x cropfactor though.

 

It will act as a 67-168mm telezoom on the GH4 (in 4K). Even with a speed booster you're not getting any wide angle.

[lafilm]

Gleb, use your money and buy a cam that has filmic properties. GH4 screams video and your movie will suffer in the long run. Just my 2 cents.

 

Good luck.

[DevonChris]

 

 

I would get a Nikon 28-70mm f2.8 IF D , it is a steller lens as used on THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, CASINO ROYALE, QUANTUM OF SOLICE etcetc

 

I bought one of these a week ago and it is superb. I use it on my hacked Nikon D5200 and the video quality is amazing.

 

Thanks, Andy, for enthusing about this lens so much!

[andy lee]

They didn't shoot those movies with 2,4x cropfactor though.

 

It will act as a 67-168mm telezoom on the GH4 (in 4K). Even with a speed booster you're not getting any wide angle.

I'm using it with a speedbooster and it gives a Super 35mm field of view like on a Panavision/Arri camera on a GX7 , G6 , as I said the glass is future proof and when he gets a Red Scarlet it will still be superb - these lenses are great, stick some Tiffen NDs on the front shoot wide open at 2.8 its looks great .

 

if you want even wider while retaining the great Nikon glass look these lenses have slap a Schneider /Century x0.7 wide adapter on the front and you get the wides

I have 2 schneider /Centrury  wide adapters I use a x0.7 and x0.55 both have 77mm rears so they cover the front glass nicely .

[andy lee]

I bought one of these a week ago and it is superb. I use it on my hacked Nikon D5200 and the video quality is amazing.

 

Thanks, Andy, for enthusing about this lens so much!

 

glad you like it , I love these lenses , if they had a PL mount on the back you would be paying 15k for a lens this good !!

 

get the Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 to go with it

that lens is insane its so good , I do prefer the long lens look as the subject separation / bokeh you get looks great , Im really not a fan of shooting with wide angle lenses , I rearly ever go below 20mm on Micro 4/3 camera most of the time I shoot on the longer end of a lens , I prefer the look.

[Inazuma]

Devon/Andy could you show us some samples with those lenses? :)

 

Btw Andy I really suggest you take a look at that Sigma. At 18mm wide open, you still get good background separation and combined with the angle of view you get an almost out-of-this-world kind of look.

 

Gleb, use your money and buy a cam that has filmic properties. GH4 screams video and your movie will suffer in the long run. Just my 2 cents.

Just buy the camera that works well for you and learn to get the best image out of it.

[DevonChris]

 

 

get the Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 to go with it

 

Uh oh. I probably will, once the bank account recovers!

 

 

 

 

I'm using it with a speedbooster and it gives a Super 35mm field of view like on a Panavision/Arri camera on a GX7 , G6

 

 

This is one of the reasons why I like the Nikon DSLR's so much. You get the Super 35mm look straight out of the camera and with great colours too.

 

The combination of that and the 28 - 70 is superb.  I like my AI-S lenses (particularly the 85mm F2), but this zoom covers all the bases really well, and actually handles well, given its size.

 

I was particularly pleased to see almost no barrel distortion at the 28mm end - doorway verticals look vertical!

 

 

 

 

Devon/Andy could you show us some samples with those lenses?

 

I'll see what I can do, when I get a bit of spare time.

 

[j.f.r.]

They didn't shoot those movies with 2,4x cropfactor though.

 

It will act as a 67-168mm telezoom on the GH4 (in 4K). Even with a speed booster you're not getting any wide angle.

 

 

No but they shot all of the scenes when the Pirates board on S16 film which is obviously much more cropped.........

 

DOP choose this for the close ups which he felt was more intimate vs S35 which the rest of the film was shot on. I have the magazine of ICG with the article.

 

Also GH4 is not a camera I would use for a film unless I had a good budget. You can adapt some great anamorphic lenses which is the only way I would shoot a feature using that camera. For low budget stuff I would use a Blackmagic, Sony A7s. In the end though only my opinion and your story/concept will be the most important thing as most of these modern cameras with good glass are great.

[UnFstudio]

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for your participation,

Special thanks to Andy Lee and his overview of the Nikon lenses used on Bourne Ultimatum.

 

I did a research on both lenses:

Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 AF-S ZOOM-NIKKOR (2007)

Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 AF-D NIKKOR ED (2007)

(Both are great glass) and with your idea of using it with 77mm wide angle filter x0.45 was the one I found it makes it a very interesting crop factor

 

Originally GH4 in 4K mode gives x2.3 crop

With a focal reducer it will become x1.7 crop

And with the wide angle filter of x0.45 it is going to give a x1.25 crop (Now the crop factor is not the case)

 

The DOF on GH4 for a f/2.8 lens will be the equivalent to f/5.6 on a full frame sensor, the focal reducer gives us an extra 1 F stop, making the lens f/2.0 and the DOF equivalent on the full frame sensor of f/4.0 what is not so crazy cinematic but is something to play around with.

 

With the wide angel x0.45 filter and the focal reducer we will end up haven our two Nikon lenses covering:

not 28-200mm, but 35-250, making it a great option.

 

On ebay for both lenses I found Follow Focus gear rings that fit the lenses perfectly giving the option of using the FF strait on the lens.

 

The only other problem is to get a wide angle lens, that will have the 77mm filter thread and the nikon mount, hopefully something as well build as the lenses mentioned above.

 

The set of Six (6) Rokinon lenses that we budgeted for costs $2.9k

And the Two (2) Nikon Zoom Lenses (Used) are going to be around $2.2k with the wide angle filters and FF gear upgrades

Still giving an option to look for something affordable and we still can always add an extra, in our Rokinon set the only two lenses that we have not covered with the nikons are the 10mm and the 16mm, with the focal reducer it will be 17m and the 27mm.

 

For the choice of the GH4 as the camera body with the internal 4K and the new firmware update I think it stands out good for the first low budget feature film. And for the total Camera + Accessories + Cage being in the range of under $4k it is a great option to follow.

 

Any thoughts on the wide lens for this set up and the idea of the package for the first feature film? 

[Inazuma]

What do you mean by the package?

Try the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8. Cheap but very well regarded!

[andy lee]

just as a point of note on lenses for films :

David Fincher shoots most of the time with the same lens focal lengths even when he changes his DOP

so even if it is Jeff Cronenwerth, Harris Savides or Darius Khondji on camera for him he is still using a 27mm 40mm most of the time and a 75mm for the close ups , at f2.8 with nds and at f2 at night , thats about it , most of the film is shot on those 3 lenses thats all he needs

(page 162 of the book 'New Cinematographers' gives you a look at Harris Savides note book for the film 'The Game' he lists scene by scene what lens he uses and its f stop ....its mainly all 27mm 40mm 75mm at f2.8 or f2....

 

The late great Gordon Willis shot 90% of The Godfather series for Francis Ford Copolla on a 40mm f2.8 lens - if you get this months American Cinematographer magazine OCT 2014 its a special edition all on Gordon Willis - The Prince of Darkness and it reveals all on how he shot these great films .

 

Then you have Paul Greengrass who uses long zooms all the time and the late Tony Scott who shot almost always on long lenses and used x2 extenders too, thats his 'look '

 

And then the great Sergio Leone shot all those Clint Eastwood 'Dollar' series films on a single Angenieux 25-250mm f3.5 zoom

 

So my point is you dont always need very wide lens to make great films .....

 

as long as you have in Super 35 field of view a 28mm. 40mm and 70mm which the Nikon zoom gives you ,you can make a film.....what camera you use to get those lengths is upto you , you may need speedboosters or adapters but those are the numbers that work for me most of the time.

[AaronChicago]

Interesting. I wonder why they choose 40 instead of 50mm? Or instead of 35mm.

[DevonChris]

 

 

as long as you have in Super 35 field of view a 28mm. 40mm and 70mm which the Nikon zoom gives you ,you can make a film.

 

Definitely interesting.

 

There does seem to be a synergy between my APS-C Nikons and the 28-70 for video. The image just looks right.

 

I don't get that when I look at footage from my MFT camera (without speed booster) - it just doesn't seem as pleasing to my eye, and I struggle to explain why.

 

The aesthetics of the APS-C frame mean that I don't feel the need to move up to a full frame camera, at least for video, which is great news for my bank account!

[andy lee]

I don't like the look of Full frame at all ,

...they dont shoot movies full frame in Hollywood! (Vistavision is dead!)

I shot with Canon 5ds for 2 years then stopped and switched to micro 4/3

I personally do like the look of the Nikons with a speedbooster on micro4/3 it looks pretty stunning to me, as its closest to Super 35mm film cameras -

[andy lee]

Interesting. I wonder why they choose 40 instead of 50mm? Or instead of 35mm.

 

I think its because a standard lens on Super 35 (human field of view ) is a 35mm lens , so a 40 mm lens is just that bit tighter but not getting telephoto , Gordon Willis said its good for shooting in rooms , and he actually got Panavision to make him a special 40mm lens to his specs.