05Jun Next GH4 lens buy, the Panasonic 35-100mm f2.8
The most impressive thing about the m4/3 format for me is the size of the lenses. This Panasonic 35-100mm f2.8 is equivalent to my Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS in focal length yet it’s less than half the size and much lighter. With gear this small I can fit 2 or 3 primes, a couple of zooms, and the GH4 into a small shoulder bag and still have room for audio gear, batteries, and a few extras. That’s basically a full kit (minus lighting) in something the size of a messenger bag at less than half the weight. The trade off is that you give up some depth of field compared to a full frame combo. On m43 body f2.8 is closer to f5.6 on a full frame camera and f4 is closer to f8 on a full frame body. (credit to Dave Dugdale for reminding me to add that to this post)
The box that the Panasonic 35-100mm f2.8 came in is pretty large compared to the lens itself, but the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS towers over both of them. While the 70-200 is one of my favorite lenses, leaving it at home reduces the amount of weight i’m carrying around by a little over 3 pounds (35-100mm is about 3/4 of a pounds). Plus the Panasonic 35-100mm has image stabilization and very good optics so there isn’t a big compromise in usability and quality.
I’ve only had the Panasonic 35-100mm f2.8 for a few days, but so far i’ve been pretty impressed with the results for such a compact lens. I’ll be taking it out on it’s first shoot this weekend and I’ll report back once I’ve spent a little more time with it.
While I wont be selling off my Canon gear anytime soon, i think i’m starting to fall in love the with the m4/3 form factor. If I only need to bring a single camera with me and i’m not shooting low light, the GH4 is most likely the camera i’m going to use.
June 5th, 2014 at 8:25 pm
how much did you paid for it?
June 5th, 2014 at 8:55 pm
Managed to pick it up for $850 plus shipping used on ebay. Seemed like a pretty good price.
June 6th, 2014 at 3:01 pm
I am interesting in this lens, to complement my 12-35mm lens. Those two lenses would cover a wide range of shooting options. Your thoughts about the small size/weight of MFT lenses are point that many people overlook.
June 16th, 2014 at 10:39 pm
One thing to note is that with the crop factor, the 35-100/2.8 is really much more comparable to the 70-200/4. You’ll get significantly shallower DOF with the 70-200/2.8 on a s35 or FF body.