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Cine m43 lens set topic
  • Hoping to start a useful thread on building a MFT lens set from scratch.

    I thought this could be it's own topic, as I think there are more and more people in a similar scenario, whether as photographers moving over into video, DP's that want a run n' gun MFT setup for travel, or budget film makers. I (like many of you) have grandfathered a fairly random set of different mount primes into my MFT setup, but I thought it would be an interesting "what-if" to think about starting from scratch.

    There are a lot of new lens options in the last year from some new guys - SLR Magic, Nokton and as well as some zooms from Pana - I'm really interested to see which of these are must-haves for you guys.

    Parameters:

    -Please keep suggestions to lenses that are available new, or used from a reputable seller (ie. I like/own vintage primes, but let's assume you need to be able to buy and expense this equipment through a corporate finance dept.)

    -For budget, let's say you have $2500 - $3000. And you don't want to blow it all on one Leica.

    -Let's assume you're using MFT because you're traveling and need a light, yet flexible kit - everything from two camera interviews mixed with lots of run and gun art-docu type shots (let's say you have something standard, like a couple of tripods, a small slider and a Steadicam arm/vest).

    Given that - what are the three/four/five lenses you would buy for your set?

    PS. In the spirit of keeping things short and readable, please do not list a bunch of lenses that you don't recommend and all your reasons for not recommending them.

  • 6 Replies sorted by
  • Ideally, for run and gun and keeping things simple. Either Olympus or Panasonic m4/3 lens. 12-35 + 35-100mm should take care of everything you need plus one or two Lumix Pancakes/Olympus primes.

  • tjnavyblue With that budget one option that comes to mind would be to get 2 Voightlander lenses. The 17.5mm and the soon to be released 42.5mm. Both are F .95 I believe. If memory serves me, a recently released trailer for a feature is on this site (check showcase section) and it was shot primarily with the 17.5 and Sedna AQ1 setting. It looks very nice. With those 2 focal lengths you should be able to cover almost all situations.

  • For your purposes:

    • Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 - Image-stabilized, run & gun friendly

    • Lumix 35-100mm f/2.8 - Image-stabilized, run & gun friendly

    • Voigtlander Nokton 25mm f/0.95 - For low light situations (and wide enough to not be hurt too badly by lack of image stabilization)

    Not the most interesting glass in the world, but this should meet your needs.

  • The title says Cine so do you mean all primes or what? I see people recommending zoom Pany glass which is not what most people consider Cine. So what's your definition?

  • Let's assume you're using MFT because you're traveling and need a light, yet flexible kit - everything from two camera interviews mixed with lots of run and gun art-docu type shots (let's say you have something standard, like a couple of tripods, a small slider and a Steadicam arm/vest).

    vicharris is right. This doesn't sound like you are looking for Cine glass (hence my recommendations). Maybe change the title of this thread?

  • Yeah and a steadicam with vest is not standard. This question is all over the place if you ask me.